Posted on 05/06/2006 7:40:43 AM PDT by Wiz
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A British military helicopter crashed in Basra on Saturday, and Iraqis hurled stones at British troops and set fire to at least one armored vehicle that rushed to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said.
Police Capt. Mushtaq Khazim said the helicopter was apparently shot down in a residential district the city. He said the four-member crew was killed, but British officials would say only that there were "casualties."
British forces backed by armored vehicles rushed to the area but were met by a hail of stones from the crowd of at least 250 people, who jumped for joy and raised their fists as a plume of thick smoke rose into the air from the crash site.
The crowd also set at least one British armored vehicle on fire, apparently with a rocket-propelled grenade, but the British soldiers inside escaped unhurt, witnesses said. British fired weapons into the air in an effort to disperse the crowd.
Shooting broke out between the British and armed militiamen, and at least two people, including a child, were killed, Khazim said.
Crowds chanted "we are all soldiers of al-Sayed," a reference to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an ardent foe of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.
The chaotic scene was widely shown on Iraqi state television and on the Al-Jazeera satellite station.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Why? Were they under attack from birds?
I have to say the British softly softly approach is paying all kinds of dividends. Remember what that ass Bin Laden says about the weak horse...
I am near certain Sadr had the helicopter shot down as a warning to the US and Britian not to go after his Madhi Army.
The consequences for letting this dirt bag (Sadr) live instead of greasing him while we had the chance. Now he is a hero to these people.
He has bought the support of thousands of poor Shia. Something the US have never been willing to do.
Consistantly our government has screwed up in Iraq every time they back down and think the enemy can be dealt with peacefully be it in Fallujah or with Sadr.
Reminds of VIETNAM....
You know where the enemy is, but you can you are not allowed to fight it!
That's Vietnam...
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