The Brits are getting out. End of story.
"UK hands control of Basra to Iraq forces" See how easy it is George?...you just hand the keys over and go home.
This is why there will always be an England...they know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. I am worried about the United States, however....
But, it's not that the Bush administration isn't bright enough to realize they've been whupped. Bush's plan for withdrawal has nothing to do with Iraq, it has everything to do with him holding on long enough to hand this mess over to the next president as he withdraws his sorry arse out of the White House.
He thinks it will look better on his legacy report card. Boy do I have news for him.
Anyway, thank you Britain, you have been a remarkable ally and friend...and I suspect you'll be happy when a sane person occupies the White House again.
"Dec 16, 2007, BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Britain handed over security in Basra province to Iraqi forces on Sunday, effectively marking the end of nearly five years of British control of southern Iraq.
Thousands of Iraqi police and troops paraded along the embankment of the country's second-biggest city in the largest show of Iraqi military force since the days of Saddam Hussein.
...Control of Basra will be the biggest test yet of Iraq's ability to keep the peace without troops from the United States or its main ally.
With Iraq's second-largest city, only major port and nearly all its oil exports, Basra is far more populous, wealthier and more strategically located than any of the other eight of Iraq's 18 provinces previously placed under formal Iraqi control.[..]"
We cross our fingers that what we have left behind doesn't turn out to be just as tragic as the chaos that we helped create. But, believe me, it's going to happen whether we leave in five days or five years. They have to sort it out themselves.
Just like in Afghanistan, local militias have played a mighty part in bringing peace to certain areas...they can also destroy peace whenever they see fit.
And why does Basra get to run its own affairs while the rest of Iraq doesn't? After all, Basra holds 80 percent of the country's oil reserves, and the key to Iraq's economy.
A BBC poll shows that Basra is glad to see the Brits go. 85% thought the British occupation had had a negative impact on Basra...83% wanted British troops to leave Iraq...63% wanted them to leave the Middle East...and 72% thought security would improve in Basra after the Brits are gone.
The one the Brits handed over control to, Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf (has survived 20 assassination attempts since he became police chief six months ago), is outspoken in his assessment of the situation--“most of Basra’s ports, especially Um Qasr, are under the control of militia gangs....they left me militia, they left me gangsters, and they left me all the troubles in the world.”
What is so sad is that the women in Basra can still be murdered--beheaded!--for being ‘unislamic’. More than 40 have been killed and their bodies dumped in the streets in the past five months...for wearing makeup or appearing in public without a headscarf.
And now we have armed the militias with weapons supposed to bring peace. Too bad they're the Iraqi militias and jihadist tribes, not the government we wasted so much blood and treasure to install, but you can't have everything.
Especially democracy.
