Richard WarnickBritish Bailing Out of Basra by Friday
The Christian Science Monitor has the story: the British army is withdrawing from Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, this week. A small force left the Provincial Joint Coordination Center (PJCC), site of a British-Iraqi security task force, Saturday. The vacated PJCC was the scene of a four-hour looting frenzy. The last 500 soldiers will leave Basra Palace (pictured above) by Friday. The complex of four Saddam-era palaces has been under daily mortar and rocket attack for weeks.
The departing force will join 5,000 soldiers at the Shaibah air base, about 10 miles southwest of the city, also home to the US and British consulates. The air base will be the last foothold of the British in Iraq.
Recently radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr declared victory over the Brits. Sadr’s Mahdi Army has an estimated 17,000 fighters in the Basra area.
“The British have given-up and they know they will be leaving Iraq soon,” Mr Sadr said. “They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt.”
August 28th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
You sure they’re not 17,000 al Qaeda fighters? Bush said they were…;-)
It might be an interesting experimental microcosm of what would happen if the coalition forces left Iraq entirely. It will be interesting to see what happens in the south over the next few weeks.
August 28th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Sounds like the “insurgency” has accomplished what the english coined American “insurgency” accomplished in the decade following 1776. 11 years of getting your ass kicked about does it. The brits are just calling it short, due to the obvious failure.
That said, history as my guide, we have 5 years left in Iraq, no matter who is in power. Both parties sanctioned the debacle, so there is no reason to think otherwise.
As Ben Franklin said, “experience is the best teacher, and fools will learn by no other”.
IF we’re lucky.
August 29th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
The Coalition Of The Unwilling.
September 18th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
[...] the British Army withdrew from Basra Palace, US commanders and planning officers at CENTCOM and in Iraq were forced to once again evaluate the [...]