Uprising By Shiites in Basra Underway; British Pouring Artillery into City

Sky News Live Feed ^ | 03/25/03 | TonyInOhio

[TonyInOhio]

Just monitored on Sky News: embedded reporter says Shiites in Basra have begun, in his words, a "popular uprising" against the Saddam forces still in the city. British Army units are "pouring" artillery into the city (likely isolated areas) preparing to move in.

[adam_az]

Tom Daschle has been quoted as being "very dissapointed."

;)

[finnman69]

Ooooppsss

The BBC got it wrong

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/875095/posts

Basra: Why they are not cheering
BBC ^ | 3/25/2003 | Paul Reynolds


Posted on 03/25/2003 11:51 AM EST by a_Turk


They were supposed to be cheering in the streets as the American and British tanks rolled in, just as they did in France in 1944.



On 18 March, the New York Times reported: "Military and allied officials familiar with the planning of the upcoming campaign say they hope that a successful and 'benign' occupation of Basra that results in flag-waving crowds hugging British and American soldiers will create an immediate and positive image worldwide while also undermining Iraqi resistance elsewhere."

The fact is that Basra is not undergoing a benign occupation. It has just been declared a military target by British forces which have come under attack from inside.

This was a city which the British spokesman Colonel Chris Vernon said early on was not of military importance.

In the scheme of things, it still isn't. But it has become a problem.

[Poohbah]

SADDAM: ALL YOUR SHI'A ARE BELONG TO US NOW

[Illbay]

WAIT! Shi'ites are still Muslims, so we have to kill them after this, right?

Oh, and we also need to kill all the Muslims that have been helping us in Afghanistan, don't we?

[Alberta's Child]

As someone pointed out yesterday, President Bush has a higher approval rating in Basra than in San Francisco.

[mwl1]

good news bump

[ken5050]

Watch..you'll soon see the Iraqi troops and secret police fleeing to the Brit troops to protect them from the Shiites...

[ladtx]

GREAT NEWS!

[mabelkitty]

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!

[PianoMan]

YAHOOOOOOOO

[JohnHuang2]

[goldstategop]

And Fisk is muttering the Brits must have paid the Shias to rise up against Saddam.

[JohnHuang2]

Exactly

[grimalkin]

Hehe

[KansasCanadian]

told ya! (on another dup thread) :-)

[TADSLOS]

Looks like our SF boys and the Iraqi expatriates have convinced the local Shiites to pick up arms and fight. This is a dress rehearsal for Baghdad IMO.

[randita]

Great news. This means that the Shia feel confident that Saddam is history now and trust us to see this thing out to the bitter end. These brave folk will be richly rewarded.

I guess the brutal Fedayeen could only bully people for so long.

[CFC__VRWC]

Didn't the New York Times tell us this morning that the inhabitants of Basra loved Saddam?

Oh no! How many more of these crushing defeats can our forces take? Nothing left to do now except surrender. </hysterical Chicken Little quagmire mode>

[nicmarlo]

PING!!!

[oyez]

Will someone please tell the dope on Basra. We got. We don't got it. We got it. Irregulars have taken it. No, Shites have it. What the Hell?