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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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 Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:24 pm Post subject: Basra attacks down 90% since British troops left |
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http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8SULV8O0
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General: Basra Violence Down 90 Percent
By LAUREN FRAYER � 2 days ago
BAGHDAD (AP) � Attacks against British and Iraqi forces have plunged by 90 percent in southern Iraq since London withdrew its troops from the main city of Basra, the commander of British forces there said.
The presence of British forces in downtown Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, was the single largest instigator of violence, Maj. Gen. Graham Binns told reporters Thursday on a visit to Baghdad's Green Zone.
"We thought, 'If 90 percent of the violence is directed at us, what would happen if we stepped back?'" Binns said.
Britain's 5,000 troops moved out of a former Saddam Hussein palace at Basra's heart in early September, setting up a garrison at an airport on the city's edge. Since that pullback, there's been a "remarkable and dramatic drop in attacks," Binns said.
"The motivation for attacking us was gone, because we're no longer patrolling the streets," he said.
Last spring, British troops' daily patrols through central Basra led to "steady toe to toe battles with militias fighting some of the most tactically demanding battles of the war," Binns said. Now British forces rarely enter the city center, an area patrolled only by Iraqis.
The majority of attacks now target Iraqi forces, but overall violence now is still a tenth of what it was in May and June.
"They're increasingly in the frame � more at risk � as they take over more responsibility," Binns said of his Iraqi counterparts.
In mid-December, British forces are scheduled to return control of Basra province back to Iraqi officials � officially ending Britain's combat role in Iraq.
"We've been in that de facto role since we moved out of the palace...but we hope the (December) transfer will symbolize the end of a period many in Basra city perceived as occupation," Binns said.
With an overwhelmingly Shiite population, Basra has not seen the level of sectarian violence that has torn Iraq apart since the February 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine north of Baghdad.
But it has seen major fighting between insurgents and coalition troops, as well as between Shiite militias vying for control of the city and its security forces.
British officials expected a spike in such "intra-militia violence" after they pulled back from the city's center, and were surprised to find none, Binns said.
"That's because the Sadrist militia is all powerful here � more powerful than Badr. If Badr was allowed to take on JAM in Basra, they'd lose pretty quickly," he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The Badr Brigade is a rival militia tied to Iraq's largest Shiite party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. The two militias have fought open street battles, most recently in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.
British officials have been talking with members of al-Sadr's militia since before this past summer, Binns said, in hopes of bringing them into the political process in Basra. He refused to give details of those talks.
"We may get to the point where the main Sadrist strain will support the Iraqi security forces � that's the goal," Binns said. "But not everyone gets it...because there are those who remain irreconcilable. For them, the offer of money to attack us is still too tempting."
Still, Binns said he believes violence is down to a level where it is manageable for Iraqi security forces.
Last month, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that Britain will halve its remaining troop contingent in Iraq next spring � bringing the number of troops down to 2,500. The scaling back of forces has already begun, and by the year's end Britain will have 4,500 troops based mainly at Basra's airport.
British officials have also said they cannot guarantee that any troops will remain in Iraq by the end of 2008.
Britain's participation in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion � and the continuing presence of troops in the country four years later � remains deeply unpopular at home. A total of 171 British soldiers have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.
The British presence in Iraq peaked with 46,000 troops � Binns among them � during the March 2003 invasion. It was reduced to 18,000 that May, and 8,600 by the end of May 2004. This past May, there were about 5,500 British troops in Iraq.
Meanwhile Friday, a roadside bomb killed one civilian outside a motorcycle shop in central Baghdad, police said.
Four others were wounded by the blast and transferred to a nearby hospital, they said. Some damaged was sustained to buildings next to the shop.
About an hour earlier, gunmen opened fire on the same spot, wounding one civilian, police said.
The attacks took place near the Abdul-Qadir al-Gailani mosque, a Sunni shrine in central Baghdad's Sinak district, a mixed area.
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Middle Land
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| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:20 am Post subject: |
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I don't understand your point.
Attacks down 90%, but...
...the number of troops also down 90%?
This just in:
Yesterday, 1000 people in red shirts went to [insert name] restaurant and it was very noisy! 100 complaints were filed.
Today, 100 people in red shirts went to the same restaurant and only 10 ten complaints were filed.
Therefore, people with red shirts caused the noise and should never again be allowed to go to that restaurant.
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:36 am Post subject: |
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| The Great Wall of Whiner wrote: |
| I don't understand your point. |
You have to read the article carefully to understand the point. This is the key sentence:
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| British officials expected a spike in such "intra-militia violence" after they pulled back from the city's center, and were surprised to find none, Binns said. |
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twg
Joined: 02 Nov 2006
Location: Getting some fresh air...
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| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 8:58 am Post subject: |
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| See, the surge IS working, it's just got to flow in the other direction. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:29 am Post subject: |
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| twg wrote: |
| See, the surge IS working, it's just got to flow in the other direction. |
Crusaders ' surge back home to loved ones, yes.
How ironic.
"Oh ye MASTERS OF THE WARS ..."  |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:25 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting. This seems to lend some support to those in the "once we withdraw, there will be no reason for violence," camp.
However, this peace would have to be lasting. Secondly, we also need to remember that this is happening concurrent with al-Sadr's instruction for a cease-fire. Thirdly, its my impression that Basra is largely Shi'a: there's little incentive for ethnic strife in such a diverse place. Fourthly, we could be starting to see the start of war weariness in Basra, which is merely coincidental (or contributory) with UK retreat. After all, arguably war weariness is what contributed to the turnaround of Anbar.
At any rate, always nice to see some good news out of Iraq. |
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Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
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| Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:23 am Post subject: |
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| I think what this shows is that Basra is much more stable than Baghdad (as well as that the British made themselves highly unpopular there). If I'm not mistaken the Americans mostly stick within their green zone and the rest of Baghdad is a raging warzone for competing factions. |
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