US Troops to move into? Basra? WTF?

That's right folks, the Bush gang's War in Iraq is taking a "wider spread" in Basra.

The US military is ready to intervene in southern Iraq to quell any unrest as British forces prepare to pull out from their last base in the oil port of Basra, the Pentagon says.

Press reports in London suggest that the British departure and handover of security control to Iraqi forces may be imminent, although the official line is that it will take place before the end of the year.

US ready to step into Basra as British pull out

It's a port city, so hopefully it's needed for an exit from Iraq.

This is unexpected ... No?

More below ...

We're moving into Basra? Now I wanted to get this story out, but haven't we heard the last couple weeks that police and other posts were being taken over already? This article makes it appear as if the British are "handing over" something, are the British down to like 90 troops there now?

When the 500 British troops evacuate a former palace of Saddam Hussein in Basra and withdraw to a desert airbase, they will leave behind a city in the grip of a brutal turf war between rival militia.

-

The AFP piece on it, via Raw Story ends on a cheery note.
Cheerios, wishful thinking and all that.

Nevertheless, Iraqi forces and war-weary civilians are hopeful that the redeployment, which will leave just 5,000 British troops in the country to train and support Iraqi forces, will herald a new start for Basra.

Us Says Ready To Step Back Into Basra

 

If we were to move in? Why weren't we waiting to take over as the British left? WTF?

Where are they finding the troops for this broadening?

I see it's breaking on Raw Story too. So I'm going to get this out quick before another diarist better then me .... gets the scoop.

•  "Ain't Gonna Study War No More."

  Don't forget the tip jar!

  by ZappoDave on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:11:17 PM PDT

  •  Can I get a ?

    BREAKING?

    by ZappoDave on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:17:15 PM PDT

  •  "Ain't gonna work on Bush's Farm no more" n/t

    by Thomas Twinnings on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:32:33 PM PDT

•  If we have to evacuate

  won't we need Basra?

  by annetteboardman on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:17:24 PM PDT

  •  Nope

    They'd exit via Kuwait.

    by egarratt on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:18:02 PM PDT

    •  Check out the AAA guide to Iraq

      Unless the caravan exits by crossing open desert, greater Basra controls all the roads between Kuwait and the rest of Iraq.

      by craiger on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:39:54 PM PDT

      •  Which is the reason for this bug-in.

        No way out of Dodge without Basra.

        The US fighting retreat out of Iraq may be starting much sooner than we imagined.

        by Night Owl on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:46:48 PM PDT

        •  I think diary is about using the port of Basra

          They can make it to Kuwait without troops in Basra.  

          by egarratt on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 08:29:58 PM PDT

  •  Supplies for our troops....

    ........come through Basra.

    by Ekaterin on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:29:16 PM PDT

  •  evacuation plan:

    We can always land and depart helicopters on Green Zone rooftops.

    by craiger on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:34:53 PM PDT

  •  Absolutely.

    Just like old Winston C's if-all-goes-wrong plan:  split Mosul, consolidate in Baghdad, then out through Basra.  The only other option is north through Turkey, which they'll allow, probably for the price of turning our backs on their squashing the Turkish Kurds after we're gone.

    by Crashing Vor on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:47:14 PM PDT

•  They may have put up with the Brits

  But they ain't going to like "mericans" moving in.  I predict ugly days ahead.

  by egarratt on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:17:26 PM PDT

•  There were reports from

  a couple weeks ago mentioning that the British were having problems with Basra:

  The Simple Basra Truth...

  A Failure? Or was Basra Just Mission Impossible?

  by kredwyn on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:17:46 PM PDT

•  Somebody probably needs to secure the perimeter

  as the Brits leave. Otherwise they might get attacked as they beat a retreat. Would make for very bad publicity.

  by minorityusa on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:17:47 PM PDT

  •  They've been working

    on this retreat for a long time now.

    My guess with this announcement, there are less then 100 brits there.

    The "handover" will probably take place about a British vessel.

    by ZappoDave on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:21:34 PM PDT

    •  I don't know where your number comes from

      but according to this article there are still over 5,000 Brits in Iraq.

      by minorityusa on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:34:49 PM PDT

      •  Ok ... 5.000 total

        in Iraq ...

        Last 500 in Basra and no British troops will be involved in fighting.

        When the 500 British troops evacuate a former palace of Saddam Hussein in Basra and withdraw to a desert airbase, they will leave behind a city in the grip of a brutal turf war between rival militia.

        by ZappoDave on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:39:33 PM PDT

        •  The 500

          Brits made a deal with militias that would guarantee the safety of the 500 who need to move to the airbase.

          Who's going to guard the oil port now??

          by willb48 on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:41:02 PM PDT

        •  5000

          The 500 mentioned are in central Basra, the rest are just outside in that airbase, which is currently getting mortared and missiled to pieces.

          I wonder how many Americans are going to be required to do the same job 5000 Brits are/were doing.

          by Grass on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:49:12 PM PDT

          •  further clarification

            In this informative article the Christian Science Monitor correspondent tells us that the 5000 soldiers are located in an air base 10 miles outside of the city.

            This quote makes it clear what the sentiment is in Basra:

            On the streets, there is a sense of jubilation and victory over British forces. In central Arousa Square, a street was renamed after the "martyr Jaafar Muhammad," killed in clashes with the British. "He's one of my guys. One of the valiant heroes of the Imam Mahdi Army," says a bearded company commander who gave his name as Uncle Abed. "God has blessed us with victory over the occupation."

            by minorityusa on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 08:11:19 PM PDT

  •  Another reason

    Just about every time the Brits have withdrawn from a base in Iraq, Sadr's forces took it over the next day. Maybe the US commanders have wised up and decided to fill the gap before Sadr can.

    by Cecrops Tangaroa on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 06:26:24 PM PDT

•  I'm sure W has had this in mind all along.

  When the Brits leave they will leave behind a mess (that only a short while ago was heralded as a bastion of security and cooperation!) that the generals all knew would need to be bolstered in their void IF we're the only ones left in the center of this mess.

  Where are we going to get the troops?  

  Damned if I know.

  Damned if the generals know.

  Hey W, where are these troops coming from?

  by ShaShaMae on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:21:30 PM PDT

•  This diary had some good info

  The British Have Lost Basra

  Very serious situation which seems to have fallen off the radar of the MSM....if it was ever there in the first place.

  by Ekaterin on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:28:24 PM PDT

  •  We could never have anticipated ...

    losing Basra

    by ZappoDave on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:30:39 PM PDT

•  Watch this handover closely

  If significant numbers of US troops are deployed to Basra, that would be a very bad sign.

  by Marie on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:30:05 PM PDT

  •  Bingo!

    That would be the invasion force for Iran.

    by corvo on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:32:02 PM PDT

    •  You could very well be right

      but where the hell would they get troops from? South Korea? Abandon Europe?

      I guess they could do any of those ...

      by ZappoDave on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:33:41 PM PDT

      •  Remember, it's not all of Iran they want,

        only Khuzestan.  That's where all the oil is.  The rest of the country can choke on fallout.  And I'm sure they figure that because the population of Khuzestan is majority Arab, it will welcome our liberation with flowers and chocolates.

        by corvo on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:41:35 PM PDT

      •  What about those private mercenaries

        there are tens of thousands of security people in Iraq earning serious dollars. Rambo for hire..they do most anything if the price is right. Aren't they on some kind of crusade for the boss.

        by ohcanada on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:58:27 PM PDT

    •  Or just a bulwark

      to repel an Iranian invasion of Iraq in response to US carpet bombing of Iran.

      by Marie on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:42:02 PM PDT

      •  Well, yes, but they want Khuzestan too. n/t

        by corvo on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:52:49 PM PDT

      •  Perhaps it's more like

        "to repel massive waves of Iranian refugees in response to US carpet bombing of Iran" . . .

        by corvo on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:53:25 PM PDT

  •  The handover has already happened

    over the course of the last year - everywhere the British have pulled out, local militias have moved in.

    Police buildings ... everything.

    by ZappoDave on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:32:21 PM PDT

•  sort of a relief

  hate to think what would happen to the current situation if both the US and the UK abandoned Basra.

  But that takes troops away from other parts of iraq......

  by ksh01 on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:34:19 PM PDT

  •  Isn't our goal?

    To ---->

    take troops away from other parts of iraq......

    by ZappoDave on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:40:45 PM PDT

    •  Yep, it was just a comment

      on the logistics and how difficult it would be to maintain whatever "progress" the Bush/Petraeus Report is going to claim.  It wasn't a lament.

      Of course, I want withdrawal, but I wouldn't want it done with the kind of "planning" BushCo has done thus far in the war.

      by ksh01 on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 06:08:56 PM PDT

•   Fighting in Afghanistan

  between the tired of corruption student's of the  Taleban and the  corrupt drug smuggling Mujihadeen of the Northern Alliance must have been something like this. At the end the people were so glad to have peace at any price over the horrific violence that's what happened , for better or worse. Hobsons choice in Basra for the people.

  by ohcanada on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:34:46 PM PDT

•  I know where W will find the troops!

  It just dawned on me.

  Because the splurge has been such a success and violence is under control in Baghdad, all of those kids can just trek on down to Basra.

  So stoopid of me!

  by ShaShaMae on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:35:45 PM PDT

•  Yeesh

  Looks as though as the American troops stand up the Brits can stand down.  I didn't think that's how it was supposed to work.........

  by TomFromNJ on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:46:02 PM PDT

•  The biggest problem of all

  From the longer AFP article:

  An entire brigade of 3,500 US troops is being lined up to replace British forces as they pull out of southern Iraq, the Sunday Telegraph has learned...

  3500 US troops are replacing 5000 British ones.

  If the Brits can't hold Basra with what they had, what makes Bush think he can hold it with even less?

  This is going to get real ugly, real fast.

  by Night Owl on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 04:54:38 PM PDT

  •  Can't find this quote in the

    linked article anymore.

    by srkp23 on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 05:06:44 PM PDT

    •  From the original Telegraph article:

      link

      An entire brigade of 3,500 US troops is being lined up to replace British forces as they pull out of southern Iraq, the Sunday Telegraph has learned.

      The move, which will put an additional burden on US forces involved in the "troop surge" further north, risks plunging the special relationship between the British and American military to a new low, according to an advisor to President Bush.

      Looks like the scrubber gnomes have been busy.  

      by Night Owl on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 05:27:32 PM PDT

      •  How interesting

        the scrubbing..has this made the MSM on this side of the water yet?

        by ohcanada on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 07:06:36 PM PDT

        •  Actually not a scrub.

          My error.  Confused two different articles.  Too much reading will do that.

          Either way.  The original point stands.  We're trying to do what the Brits couldn't with even less.

          Not good.

          by Night Owl on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 07:27:25 PM PDT

•  Its about OIL isn't everything?

  http://www.downstreamtoday.com/...

  by notimportant on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 06:33:12 PM PDT