Article

2004-05-18 Iraq-Jordan

Just after midnight, British tanks and armoured personnel carriers rumble into action. They are hunting down their enemy here, Shia rebels loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada Sadr. Around Amara, it is not so much a question of peacekeeping as war fighting. The British troops fire flares to light up the landscape. Infantry then fan out and pursue four suspected insurgents who have been spotted through night sights. The flares set fire to vegetation. Just the night before, the British were ambushed down the road from here. In the end, they killed more than 20 of their attackers in close combat. [See yesterdays posting] The British troops even fixed their bayonets. They say they canât afford to take any chances. "The Mehdi Army are a very ruthless and determined enemy," said Major James Coote of the Princess of Walesâs Royal Regiment.

"They will use any tactics available including using children to attack us, or to hide behind children, as they have done within the city in the last week or so. Unfortunately they are also very well armed. We have certainly won a few battles but we havenât yet won the war."

For the British, the idea of this operation tonight is to show that they, not the Sadr rebels, own this road and to ram home the message that anyone thinking of carrying out more ambushes here had better think again. The British have seized from the Sadr rebels in the last few days everything from heavy machine guns to mortars - antiquated perhaps but still dangerous, as we found out. Sirens wailed as the British base where we were staying came under attack. We took cover inside. This is a regular occurrence in and around Amara. Sometimes the British have felt under siege here. Indeed, itâs only recently they have dared patrol these streets on foot. Before, Sadr rebels ruled the roost in downtown Amara. Then a few days ago the British drove them out in a battle they call "Waterloo". Even so, the troops steer clear of a mosque that is still a Sadr stronghold. With frequent ambushes on the road out of Amara, the safest way for us to leave was by helicopter. This province has always been unruly, full of criminal gangs and warring tribes. Even Saddam Hussein struggled to control it - now the British are struggling too.

Thanks Aunty - ruin it in the last line. I hope some of the 3000 reinforcements will be posted here - didnât look too different to the Bogside. No surrender.
_{Shep - sneer marks duly noted in title!}

Posted by Howard UK 2004-05-18 5:09:33 AM|| || Front Page|| [11137 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Typical moral relativization on part of Beeb. Nothing about the professionalism of the POWRR. No, they not "dare" patrol. Of course. The brown masses are seething. I watch the world news fairly regularly and have yet to hear a peep on the Palaces-for-Oil program. The current canard is "Cut and Run". I heard plenty of it last night on how Tony was getting ready to do so. How did the Beeb determine this, you ask? By his answering a question on if he'd cut and run from places like Amara. He said three times he wouldn't. The Beeber said that his repeating vigourously only could mean he was going to cut and run. Logique, non? Next time Tony, tell them the exit strategy is victory.

Having just read a great book "The Boer War" by Thomas Pakenham, the Beeb seems to be still in a self-flagellating mode over its non-coverage of the Boer War and Milner's quest to gobble up all the gold in the Rand for the Empire! This is an opportunity to make up for lost time so the dead horses to beat are Oil-for-Haliburton and Prisoners, not how oil and electricity production now surpass Saddam-era levels. Quoi?, you say. You didn't see Moore's news conference at Cannes? The knives are out from the lefty media. Simple as that. It's all about the Cowboy. Let's stand up.

Posted by Michael 2004-05-18 12:47:05 PM|| 2004-05-18 12:47:05 PM|| Front Page Top

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