Bloomberg reporting that civilians are being used as human shields
03/25 14:27 Basra Becomes Military Target as Red Cross Works to Fix Water
By Todd Zeranski
Washington, March 25 (Bloomberg) -- British forces on Basra's outskirts clashed with Iraqi army and guerrilla fighters, some of whom used civilians as shields, as the Red Cross worked to restore water supplies to the city, Iraq's second largest.
The U.S.-led coalition, which earlier intended to move past Basra in the drive toward Baghdad, declared some parts of the city a military target because of entrenched fighters striking at U.S. and U.K. soldiers. The British Broadcasting Corp. reported that a popular uprising has begun in the city.
``Our intent is not to siege the city, for sure,'' U.S. Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told reporters in Doha, Qatar, at the American command post for the war. ``Our intent is to attempt to return security to the city as rapidly as we can and root out those forces that would fight in the city, use the residents as shields and try to create targets.''
The Iraqi resistance is preventing the allies from operating in the center to take over the city and get humanitarian aid to residents, British military spokesman Colonel Chris Vernon told reporters in Kuwait. The United Nations today said it is concerned for Basra's more than 1 million people because the water supply was disrupted when power was cut in attacks on the city.
There are signs that the Iraqi regime's control over Basra may be slipping. Iraqi soldiers were firing mortar rounds on their own people, a BBC reporter outside the city said in a telephone interview. U.K. forces are trying to knock out the mortars.
``If Basra does rise up, that is really a useful omen,'' Vernon said after being asked about the reports of an uprising.
Treasuries Fall
U.S. Treasuries fell after the BBC report. ``If the locals in Iraq are going to stand up and be against what the Republican Guard are fighting for, it's going to make it a lot more difficult for them to fight'' against the U.S., said John Spinello, a government bond strategist at Merrill Lynch & Co.
British soldiers raided an office of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's Baath Party during operations in the area of Basra, seized a politician and killed 20 fighters, Vernon said. Allied air strikes were called in to hit an Iraqi battalion that responded to the British action, with about 20 Iraqi tanks and other armored vehicles destroyed, he said.
About 1,000 members of Hussein's ``Fedayeen Saddam,'' a regime militia used to repress internal dissent, are in the city leading fights against British forces, Vernon said.
Air Marshal Brian Burridge, the commander of U.K. armed forces in the Persian Gulf, told the BBC earlier in the day that the Iraqi fighting didn't amount to ``serious resistance.''
Is this conjecture, or documented?
Well... it's pretty much verbless, at any rate.
So, was he series? Was he logged in?
Maybe it's haiku. Nah, too many syllables.
Dan