[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?

[merrin]

We got. We don't got it. We got it. Irregulars have taken it. No, Shites have it. What the Hell?

It's called "war."

[dawn53]

From what I've read, we held the airport, but the allied forces were not entering the city.

Guess now we know why.

Saddam's men were mixed in with the civilians waiting for urban warfare.

Alot easier for the Shi'ites to determine who the bad guys are than for us.

[FBD]

fog of war...pretty confusing there in Basra, I'm sure.

[glory]

My best guess is we had it, Shiites were seeing it being taken back by Saddam's boys(at least temporarily) and were hesitant until then to get involved(because of reasons stated in other posts). They want us to win and they realize we need their help to do so(ok, we probably would win anyway, but what's the difference between dying when we start shelling the whole area to protect our troops or dying trying to win their land back--honor!) These people want their land and want us to win and they've realized that perhaps they may die whether by the regime or our shells at some point and like patriots of old, they have decided to go out fighting and dying if necessary instead of cowering to a bunch of bullies(Saddam's guys). Good for these Shiites...the more Iraqis are willing to take back their land with our help, the harder it will be for Saddam to stay in power--like someone said, the ants realize they are more powerful than the grasshoppers...by sheer numbers alone.


OH, and I thought eventually we would see these folks do this. It just took them getting p*ssed enough to forget about the fears of us pulling out. Good for them. God willing, they will be liberated and they will be remembered as patriots in their country.

[browardchad]

Will someone please tell the dope on Basra.

U.S. forces virtually bypassed Basra on the way to Baghdad, so as not to get bogged down and delayed. The British followed in to secure it, and an Iraqi division there (51st?) surrendered and went home. According to Rumsfeld and Myers' press conference just now, the 51st did not return (as has been reported in the media), but their equipment was instead commandeered by the Fedayeen (irregular thugs and murderers in civilian dress) and possibly some of the Republican Guard, traveling south from Baghdad. These two groups are skilled in terrorizing civilians, using them as shields, etc., which is making the fighting dicey as we try to avoid civilian casualties.

Rumsfeld was careful not to encourage civilian uprising, giving the example of uprisings in Communist countries where the freedom fighters didn't have a prayer in hell, and were summarily slaughtered.

If the residents of Basra are rising up, I hope they're not doing so prematurely -- before the Brits are in position to help them -- since we will, of course, be blamed (unjustly) for all civilian deaths.

[TheDon]

The war strategy is a bit confusing for those on the sidelines. But the press is finally getting upto speed on what is going on, why even MSNBC explained it quite well last night! I see other replies have explained it for you already. I think this war plan may go down in history as a masterpiece! The execution is also amazing! Go troops!

[mdmathis6]

Basra is spread out and has inner urban as well as suburban areas... we have it bottled up but there are many neighbor hoods where we don't have control!