"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
Posted on 04/06/2003 1:27:11 PM PDT by KriegerGeist
UK TROOPS STORM BASRA
Large swathes of Iraq's second city are under the control of British troops after the Desert Rats and Royal Marines stormed into Basra.
Three British soldiers were killed during the attack.
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in Challenger tanks, along with the Black Watch in armoured vehicles and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, pushed into the city from the south west.
In a second wave of attacks elite Royal Marine Commandos also moved into the south west outskirts backed by heavy shelling.
"This is it, we're in and we're not coming out," a military source said.
"The decision was taken by the commanders on the ground who saw the opportunity to liberate the people of Basra and they went in. It's the end game."
The success of the troops saw a brutal response from civilians who turned on Saddam loyalists.
Colonel Chris Vernon of the British Army Field HQ said 95 tanks and 80 Warrior fighting vehicles were in action in Basra.
Sky's Emma Hurd is with British forces. As heavy gunfire interrupted her live telephone reports she described how troops were preparing to enter and search the Ba'ath party headquarters in a central part of Basra.
UK military spokesman Group Captain Al Lockwood, said it appeared Basra's Ba'ath Party leadership had either been eliminated or fled.
Capt Lockwood said: "At the start of the operation, 7th Armoured Brigade on three different axes moved in towards the centre.
"Our initial objective was to control the outskirts of Basra, set up vehicle and civilian checkpoints and stabilise that area.
"We had resistance initially on the way in, but that appears to have disappeared."
"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
Fantastic.
Great. I do hope that this means that the Brits didn't accept the terms of surrender from the Ba'athist scum. Yesterday, it was reported that a Shite cleric was trying to negotiate a surrender that would include giving the Ba'athist scum & Saddam loyalist hold-outs jobs in the post-Saddam Iraqi police force. No way should that happen!
It must be unconditional surrender with no Ba'athist scum dictating the terms! As if these monsters--who used civilians as human shields, fired on fleeing residents and murdered the young children of families they suspected of aiding the enemy or refusing to fight against the enemy-- should have any say in a post-war government. It only stands to reason that as a police force, the Ba'athist scum would just revert to their terrorizing, murderous ways...
There will be justice--swift and cruel if these residents of Basra have their way. These poor people have been oppressed long enough by the Ba'athist vermin. Payback time is nigh.
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