Basra attacks down 90% since British troops left

[Robbien]

Source: Ireland Independent

The British army says violence in Basra has fallen by 90% since it withdrew from the southern Iraqi city earlier this year.

Around 500 British soldiers left one of Saddam Hussein's palaces in the heart of the city in early September and stopped conducting regular foot patrols.

A spokesman says the Iraqi security forces still come under attack from militants in Basra, but the overall level of violence is down 90% since the British troops left.

Britain is scheduled to return control of Basra province to Iraqi officials next month, officially ending Britain's combat role in Iraq.

Read more: http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/world-news/middle-east/basra-attacks-down-90-since-british-troops-left-1221511.html

---

Occupiers leave and citizens stop being so angry and aggressive. Funny how that works.

[Judi Lynn]

1. You bet it's funny how that works! Very interesting.

Really glad to have read this. Thank you.

[spooked911]

18. my thoughts exactly

:)

Now, if only the US would leave...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. Psst! Hint, hint!

amazing. But if we do that, we are traitors, cutting and running!

[Supersedeas]

17. shhhh...nothing to see here -- feed them more Hillary bashing and OJ updates

[ChairmanAgnostic]

19. WHAT? no brit-knee news brakes?

shucks.

[Xipe Totec]

3. In other news, hornet stings down after farmer stoped beating nest nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

20. Only cowards cut and run from nest beating. Traitor!

Evil Librul SCUM! Arab-loving anti-american DEMOCRAT!

[Gman]

4. The Un-Surge is working

The US needs to try it too.

[papau]

5. ethnic cleansing is working well in all parts of Iraq - those they wanted to kill are now dead.

[RaleighNCDUer]

21. Well, not quite ALL -

2.5 million internally displaced (out of dangerous neighborhoods or towns to safe neighborhoods or towns of their own ethnicity) and 2.5 million having fled the country - such as to Syria, where Shia, Sunni, Kurd and Christian all live in the same refugee areas without conflict (funny how they couldn't do that in their OWN country - what's different? No American tanks on the corner?).

5 million refugees, from a population of 25 million. That's what ethnic cleansing is about - you only have to kill ten to make a hundred flee, kill a thousand to make a million flee.

[Historic NY]

6. Imagine that..............

the troops were the source of the problem not the solutiion.

[Auggie]

7. Once those independent contractors leave it'll be a virtual Eden.

[rAVES]

8. Why do they hate america!!!11ONE!!

[jzodda]

9. Basra is still a scary place though

I was listening to the BBC and even though the overall violence is down the repression, especially against women is going up in direct relation to the militants growing power in that city. The report on the BBC paints a lousy picture for that city's future.


"Basra militants targeting women
By Mona Mahmoud and Mike Lanchin
BBC World Service

The chief of police in the southern Iraqi city of Basra has warned of a campaign of violence against women carried out by religious extremists.

It has, Maj-Gen Abdul Jalil Khalaf said, included threats, intimidation and even murder.

Some victims were dressed in indecent clothes by their killers or had notices attached to them, he said.

Women interviewed by the BBC said they no longer dared venture on to Basra's streets without strict Islamic attire.

"There is a terrible repression against women in Basra," Maj-Gen Khalaf told the BBC.

"They kill women, leave a piece of paper on her or dress her in indecent clothes so as to justify their horrible crimes."

Forty-two women were killed between July and September this year, although the number dropped slightly in October, he said."

Article continues at link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7095209.stm

[Robbien]

10. That is the same situation all over Iraq now

With or without troops, the hardline Muslim fundies have taken control of the streets.

Without troops, the IEDs and attacks on police lessen/stop.

Whether we ever leave or not, I expect Iraq will be a very militant Muslim country for many years into the future.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Kinda like the way violence declined in the provinces after

we pulled troops out of the provinces to put them into the 'surge' in Bagdhad.

Gee, I wonder what would happen if we pulled them out of the country entirely?

Surely the country would collapse in ethnic violence and outright civil war, right?

[conspirator]

12. The irony nt

[underpants]

13. AND their giant badgers

Giant badgers terrorise Iraqi port city

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22056684-5001028,00.html

THE Iraqi port city of Basra, already prey to a nasty turf war between rival militia factions, has now been gripped by a scary rumour – giant badgers are stalking the streets by night, eating humans.

The animals were allegedly released into the area by British forces.

Local farmers have caught and killed several of the beasts, but this has done nothing to dispel the rumour.

Iraqi scientists have attempted to calm things down. However, the story has spread like wildfire in the streets of the city and the villages round about.

Mushtaq Abdul-Mahdi, director of Basra's veterinary hospital, has inspected the corpses of several badgers and tries to reassure Iraqis that the animals are not a new post-war arrival in the region.

“These animals appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They are known as Al-Ghirayri and locally as Al-Girta,” he told AFP. “Talk that this animal was brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific.”

Not everybody is convinced.

“I believe this animal appeared following a raid to the region by the British forces,” said Ali Mohsen, a farmer in his 40s from Karmat Ali, near the air base used by the multinational force.

“As we are close to the airport, they probably released this animal into the area.”

British troops have been based in Basra since the 2003 US-led invasion overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, and the 5500 that remain still face the threat of Shiite militias battling for the region's oil resources.

They also have to battle the Iraqi rumour mill, as locals are quick to blame them for almost any calamity that befalls the area – including an apparent plague of vicious badgers with long claws and powerful jaws.

British army spokesman Major David Gell said the animals were thought to be a kind of honey badger – melivora capensis – which can be fierce but are not usually dangerous to humans unless provoked.

“They are native to the region but rare in Iraq. They're nocturnal carnivores with a fearsome reputation, but they don't stalk humans and carry them back to their lair,” he said.

Both the scientists and the soldiers agree that the badger ought not to be a danger to humans, but so far they have failed to reassure the populace.

“I was sleeping at night when this strange animal hit me on my head. I have not seen such an animal before. My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer,” Suad Hassan, a 30-year-old housewife said.

“It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey. It runs so quickly.”

Cell phone video of the badgers circulating in Basra shows a stocky skunk-like animal with long front claws.

The honey badger, or ratel, is known as a brave predator capable of killing a cobra. It weighs up to 14kg.

Sattar Jabbar, a 50-year-old local farmer from Abu Sakhar north of Basra, believes the badger can tackle even large prey.

“I saw it three days ago at night attacking animals. It even ate a cow. It tore the cow up piece by piece. I tried to shoot it with my gun but it ran away into the orchards. I missed it,” he said.

[salib]

14. Remember Kucinich's answer in the debate last night?

"The occupation is feeding the insurgency."

[0007]

15. cough cough!

Mademoiselle from America
Par ley voo,
Mademoiselle from America
Par ley voo,
You might forget the gas and shell
You'll never forget the Mademoiselle
Hinky, Dinky Par ley voo.

[DutchLiberal]

16. All Dutch news media today reported an enormous increase in violence against women in Basra.

In the whole country of Iraq, the rise in violence against women is astonishing, but Basra was explicitly mentioned, because it seems to be worst there. The police commissioner, Abdul Khalaf said religious extremists threaten, rape and murder women for driving cars, going to work, wearing 'indecent' clothes and leaving the house without a male chaperon.

So no, life has NOT gotten less violent after the British left.

[Auntie Bush]

22. I wonder how George feels about all the Freedom he brought Iraqi women?

What does Laura have to say now?

Speaking of Laura...haven't seen her around lately. It's got to be 1 or 2 reasons. 1..Laura is getting another face/body lift.
2. She is so ashamed of bush she doesn't want to talk about him and she can't think of anything positive to say that's truthful. Better to say nothing than lie.