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Basra Riots Trouble British Sector in Iraq
The British zone of occupation in Iraq has been handled much differently than the American zone. Whitehall likes to say it has a “softly, softly” approach to occupied territory, something it learned while running an empire covering one quarter of the planet. The Yanks, by comparison, come in guns blazing like Rambo. Until earlier this week, the British approach worked quite well. Then, Her Majesty’s troops broke two of their own out of an Iraqi jail and rioting ensued. The Basra Governing Council (Iraqis) now says it won’t cooperate until it gets an apology.
As usual in a situation like this, agreeing on the facts is unlikely. According to the Iraqis, two British undercover troops, dressed in traditional Arab attire, shot and killed a civilian, beat a cop and had several weapons on them. They were arrested and in police custody awaiting justice. The British story is rather different.
Brigadier John Lorimer, the Brigade Commander of the 12 Mechanised Brigade, said in a statement that the two men in question should have been handed over to the Consul-General and were not. He also says the Iraqi Interior Minister ordered the men freed. The statement makes no mention of whether they actually killed anyone. However, his statement does say:
From an early stage, I had good reason to believe that the lives of the two soldiers were at risk and troops were sent to the area of Basra near the police station to help ensure their safety by providing a cordon. As shown on television, these troops were attacked with fire-bombs and rockets by a violent and determined crowd.
Later in the day, however, I became more concerned about the safety of the two soldiers after we received information that they had been handed over to militia elements. As a result I took the difficult decision to order entry to the Jamiat police station. By taking this action we were able to confirm that the soldiers were no longer being held by the IPS [the Iraqi cops]. An operation was then mounted to rescue them from a house in Basra.
Mohammed Al-Ubadi, head of the Basra Governing Council, later said, “Our decision is to cut off our relations with the Multinational Forces until we receive a formal apology from the British government for this act. We also ask for the return of two detainees to Iraqi custody, compensation for the casualties that resulted, and compensation to the major crimes unit for the destruction of the facility.” He might get some money, and maybe an apology, but he isn’t getting the two men back.
Which means that the city of Basra is on the knife’s edge. The majority Shi’ite have been handed Iraq by the Anglo-American troops, and they have been happy to play along so far because they are getting control of the entire country after years of second-class status. Now, though, it appears that there are militia elements in the police force there. So, the Governing Council probably isn’t calling all the shots there. And when the militiamen decide to illustrate that fact, there probably aren’t enough Tommies on the ground to stop the violence that will follow. The brigadier said, “Looking ahead, I should stress that the situation in Basra is now calm.” But it probably won’t stay that way.
© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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