A British flag flutters as British soldiers sit atop their armoured vehicles during a handover ceremony in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, 20 March 2007. The British military handed over a key base in Basra to local forces today as part of its gradual withdrawal from war-torn Iraq, a provincial official said. Al-Saee base, known as the Old State Building, was handed over to Iraqi forces after having served as headquarters of British troops in Basra since the US-led invasion exactly four years ago From The Independent:
British commanders in Iraq made an astonishing secret deal with a Shia prisoner to withdraw from Basra which left the city at the mercy of criminal gangs, one of the UK's senior military officers serving in Iraq has said.
Colonel Richard Iron said the "understandable but inexcusable" deal was one of several "terrible mistakes" the British have made during their occupation of the south of the country.
In an exclusive interview with The Independent on Sunday, Col Iron, who leads the teams mentoring the Iraqi army in central Basra, said the deal had included the release of 120 prisoners and had the effect of leaving the city in a lawless state.
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My Comment: This is not how you run a counter-insurgency campaign. Knowing all of this, I can understand why Iraqi PM Maliki, with the help of U.S. combat advisers, ordered the Iraqi Army to retake the city 4 months ago.
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