[Forgiven_Sinner]

Breaking . . . article is 18:24 GMT

[ladtx]

[johniegrad]

Cubicle bound. Any progress reports on this engagement will be greatly appreciated.

[RightWhale]

possibly a tactical retreat from Basra

Headed southeast? Perhaps trying to get to the border and into Iran. Makes no sense otherwise, since they are moving away from Baghdad and away from resupply.

[Semper Paratus]

heading south-east from Basra towards the al-Faw peninsula.

Heading toward the Gulf!?
This would have been a good scenario for a battleship.

[Blood of Tyrants]

This is a stupid move. They must realize that leaving the city is suicide. I hope they haven't loaded up the vehicles with civilians and had a few future martyrs drive them out to be slaughtered.

[TADSLOS]

Deja Vu all over again.

[Salvation]

BTTT!

Prayers for our troops.

[itsinthebag]

The BBC's Andrew Gilligan, at the scene in the northern Shaab district of the city, says it appears that two missiles hit a busy parade of shops, several hundred metres from any military buildings.

How does he know that those missiles weren't fired by the Iraquis?

[Yankee]

Highway of Death Part II.

This time finish the job!

[ewing]

tatical rereat..I was smeilling that this morning when the Brits said they had control of the Iraqi South.

[JeeperFreeper]

It's a retreat. And the Iraqis will die in a storm of high explosive and steel. Out in the open, these thugs die. In the cities, these thugs die. It's the beginning of the end in the south. The line to hell will be long tonight.

[merrin]

He says the movement of Iraqi armour may be a counter-attack to recapture ground lost over the last two or three days, or possibly a tactical retreat from Basra because of the possibility of an uprising in the north of the city.

The incident is believed to have been suicide. Friends said the column had been "very depressed lately."

[Mister Magoo]

Good news. The Achilles' heel of the Iraqi forces is their inability to maneuver. If they move, air power will annihilate them. The only possible way for the Iraqis to defeat our attack is the force us into a battle of attrition. But that simply won't happen with our armor and air. Here's what I think will happen -- at some point, the Kurds and 101st will launch an offensive. Simultaneously, the forces in west Iraq will smash the Guards at the western approaches to Baghdad. And finally, our air power will carve lanes of entry through the Guard divisions in the South. Once those lanes are created, our armor will move through the Guard lines and attack the entrenched units from the rear and flanks. I have no doubt whatsoever that the Guard units will be crushed in due haste.

[agitator]

this column is soon to become the "Republican Charred"

[bootyist-monk]

The idiot newshole on MSNBC just said that this is a setback for our "bogged down" military.

[G.Mason]

"An angry crowd of several hundred people gathered in the area following the strike, waving the shoes and clothes of victims."

Only a very few days ago these same "alibaba's", and the dead "civilians", were jumping with glee, while looking at pictures of our boys from the 507th lying dead, having been shot in the head while trying to surrender.

Die you arab scum!

[BurbankKarl]

anyone know if that SkyNews audio feed is still up?

[Fury]

BBC says about 100 vehicles have left Basra, some are coming under artillery fire.

[houstonian]

[azhenfud]

Tape released of the Iraqi RG Commander's latest radio transmission here.

http://users.1st.net/pjs/tobekild.wav