One Down, One to Go

2009-05-01T16:12:00.000-04:00

British troops hauled down the Union Jack in Basrah this week. It was a low-key end to a tour of duty which will not be heralded in British military history. Their work will now be taken over by the Iraqi Army and the U.S. forces.

It would not be fair to say that the British effort in Basrah was poor but it was not their finest hour either. They failed to forge any deep and meaningful relationship with their Iraqi counterparts and, at times, appeared to be overwhelmed by the task of stabilising southern Iraq.

I witnessed with my own eyes the lethargy and laziness of a force that did not appear to be too bothered by its mission.

For the Americans in Baghdad the British operation in the south has been a source of concern for a very long time. Iraq’s second biggest city had descended into lawlessness and chaos as a plethora of Shiite militias gained ground and dominated the area.

American officers would routinely ask why the British were taking such a softly, softly approach. The British would counter that tough American tactics would only isolate the population. They agreed to differ.

But it was the actions of the Iraqi army (supported by U.S. air support) that finally defeated the militias and brought some semblance of normality back to Basrah.

Fresh from their successes in dealing with the insurgents in central Iraq, an invigorated Iraqi military rooted out the leaders of the splintered Shiite groups and imposed order. Moqtada al-Sadr’s supporters were bewildered by the actions and it is fair to say that they have not really recovered since.

The sense of momentum that the Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki achieved in dealing with Basrah has given his administration a boost of confidence. Is he using that new-found boost to consolidate democracy and improve the lot of the people? Or is he turning himself and his Dawa party into a new dictatorship? That’s a question for my next blog which will be posted here soon.

In the meantime, it is worth remembering the toll of all of this on the Iraqi people. Of the dozen or so people highlighted in my book, In Search of Iraq, only three at most still live in Iraq. The rest fled the instability.

Will they return?

None have any plans to do so. Ask yourself the question : If, like my friend David, you left Iraq because you were a Christian and your family was directly threatened with death because of your religion, would you want to go back?

Next …. // A New and Messy Dictatorship ?

Iraq Today

One Down, One to Go