British hand over Basra to Iraqi control

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

British forces formally handed over responsibility Sunday for the last region in Iraq under their control, marking the start of what Britain hopes will be a transition to a mission aimed at aiding the economy and providing jobs in an oil-rich region beset by militia infighting.

With the handover of Basra, in Iraq's far south, nine of the country's 18 provinces have reverted to Iraqi government control.

The commander of British forces in Basra, Maj. Gen. Graham Binns, said the city had been pulled from the grip of its enemies.

"I now formally hand it back to its friends," Binns said shortly before adding his signature to papers relinquishing responsibility for the overwhelmingly Shiite region, home to most of Iraq's oil reserves. "We will continue to help train Basra security forces. But we are guests in your country, and we will act accordingly."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071216/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[acmavm]

1. This is just so pathetic. The only thing the British Government is doing

is covering its ass and trying to cut down on casualties while not appearing to leave the bush** administration in the lurch. Take a look at the real situation and then judge for yourself:

Basra's militias murder 'un-Islamic' women

Tossed from a car and shot in cold blood
Marie Colvin in Basra

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3103157

But what they hell, they're only women. Right?

[hollowdweller]

2. we should do the same declare victory and get the hell out

IMO only the Iraqi's can build a country they want after we effed it up.

We need to get over the fact that it's not going to be as secular and as western than what we destroyed, and realize that there will now be thousands of local Saddams instead of 1/.

[acmavm]

7. Yeah, we need to get out. There will be chaos, but there is already chaos

so we need ot let them sort it out for themselves.

But the lie that Basra is peaceful and happy, just a little slice of EDEN don't cha know, is so maddening. They're doing this for the exact reason I said, to cut down on the casualties and not pull out completely. Which amounts to giving this corrupt administration and the useless Irqi government political cover while maintaining ties to the illegal and immoral war.

[struggle4progress]

3. So what did we achieve? After four years and 174 dead, Britain's lead role in Basra is over

Published: 16 December 2007

The symbolism will be overwhelming. Today, at the last British military base in Iraq, Britain will formally hand over security in Basra, the last of the four Iraqi provinces for which it took responsibility after the invasion in 2003, to the local authorities. Bands will play; there will be a reading from the Koran; and speeches will declare this to be a historic moment.

In reality, however, nothing will change today. British forces stopped patrolling the rural areas of Basra province well before early September, when they finally quit Basra Palace, their last foothold inside Iraq's second largest city.

At that point, more than three months ago, the Iraqi army and police effectively took over security in the area which contains more than 70 per cent of the country's proven oil reserves and supplies 90 per cent of government revenue. Nor, after the ceremony, will hundreds of British soldiers be relieved of their duties in time to fly home for Christmas ...

Despite their retreat from the streets of Basra, British forces are not completely out of danger. Last week Guardsman Stephen Ferguson of the 1st Battalion, the Scots Guards, was killed when his Warrior armoured vehicle slid into a canal. He was the 174th British soldier to die in Iraq since the invasion. And, though the British force has not suffered a death from "hostile activity" since September, rocket and mortar attacks on the COB continue. Many of the troops still sleep in tents, with blast walls made of breeze-blocks or sandbags surrounding each bed, so that, while a direct hit would be fatal, the rest of the tent's occupants might escape without serious injury ...

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article3255705.ece

[struggle4progress]

4. Basra residents blame UK troops (BBC 14 December 2007)

14 December 2007

... The Public Attitudes in Basra survey carried out for Newsnight by the UK-based polling agency, Opinion Research Business (ORB), interviewed a random sample of 922 adults across the southern city of Basra between 3 and 8 December.

The survey's results suggest that only 2% of Basra residents believe that British troops have had a positive effect on the province since they helped the US overthrow Saddam Hussein in March 2003.

An overwhelming majority of 86% felt British troops had had a negative effect.

More than half felt the troops' presence had actually increased the overall level of militia violence over the past four years, while 14% said they believed the British forces had made no difference at all ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7144437.stm

[struggle4progress]

5. UK troops return Basra to Iraqis (BBC)

16 December 2007

... Col Bob Stewart, former British commander with UN forces in Bosnia, told BBC News 24 that Britain's only real achievement in Iraq had been to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

"We've got rid of Saddam, but we haven't given the Iraqis a great life," he said.

"If you were to actually grade it, one to 10, from the point of view of someone who lives in Basra... probably we would score it about three." ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7146507.stm

[struggle4progress]

6. ‘Run out of town’: how we got it wrong

A failure to provide enough troops left the army at the mercy of the militias
Michael Smith

... Although British troops were on standby to deploy after dark it was largely left to a hopelessly inadequate police force. The city by night became increasingly anarchic with sporadic bursts of gunfire. Anyone seen assisting the British by day found themselves visited by “the bad men” at night. Intelligence dried up.

Reconstruction was underfunded and difficult with criminality hampering attempts to repair power and water supplies.

“By late 2003 the locals had had enough, the streets were full of sewage, power was limited and jobs were scarce,” another officer said. “With the Iraqi army disbanded, thousands of men were walking the streets.”

Lack of money, and uncertainty over the future provided easy recruits for the militias, particularly the Mahdi Army, which went from being the weakest of the main groups in the south to the strongest ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article3056729.ece