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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Feared British combat casualties in Basra |
| 2004-08-17 |
| There are reports of British casualties in Iraq after a "hostile incident" in Basra. One or two soldiers are feared injured after fighting Shia militiamen in the southern town. Details of the incident or confirmation of the casualties are not available, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said. Explosions and rifle fire echoed across the city as a number of small engagements broke out. Witnesses said militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr used rocket-propelled grenades in the firefight. A hotel was damaged and two Iraqi civilians were wounded. Earlier in the day, foreigners travelling in three British vehicles were taken to safety by British troops in the Basra after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb. Witnesses said Sadr's militiamen attacked the vehicles and that at least one of the foreigners was wounded. Basra has been the scene of sporadic clashes between Shi'ite militants and British forces over the past 12 days. |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #9 Agreed, BD! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-17 6:14:11 PM |
| #8 Confirmed: one fatality, one injury. Hope the Sadr goons lost many more than that. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-08-17 5:47:45 PM |
| #7 The average man in the street was Backing Sadddam Hussain remember. I dunno about that, Shep. IIRC, opinion wavered up and down around the 50:50 ratio, and when sex opinions were compared men were found to be decidedly more pro-war than the women. It was mostly the liberal lady-boys who let the lads down...! |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-08-17 5:11:58 PM |
| #6 People outside the UK find it hard to comprhend the level of control the media has over our population,The BBC are the worst offenders followed by the Gaurdian and unfortuantly there getting worse by the hour.Take today for example on BBC radio 2 at 1'oclock on the news the reporter said 'American tanks rolled into Najaf shooting at anyone who moved int he street' she then went on to mention civillians caught up in it and she was definatly trying to connect the two incidents together,its a small example but day after day of it and the public become liberal morons marching through the streets of london burning thier own fuckin countrys flag over a war they can not understand because they have no fomer interest in the subject thierfor the media just brainwash them.Oh and the British media have never even heard of the oil for food scandel. Unfortuantly in my lifetime alone (25years) i have seen our country turn into a weak, to liberal country for its own good.The average man in the street was Backing Sadddam Hussain remember. |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-08-17 5:04:28 PM |
| #5 Agreed entirely Shep. IMO what the families think is really irrelevant - their sons and daughters made their own decisions to join the armed services, and they should be proud that they made that decision, irrespective of any misplaced concerns they have about this operation. Family members protesting the unjustness of their own bereavement can only dishonour their loved one's memory. Besides, it's usually the media who root out relatives with a grudge against the government. You can be pretty confident that relatives who accept their loss with dignity and stoicism won't appear in many papers. But I think it would take a huge loss of life to cause Blair to pull out the troops. Any sign of weakness would be pounced upon at home as well as abroad. Blair's to canny to make that mistake. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-08-17 4:32:14 PM |
| #4 Shep, Have you emigrated to the US? That's exactly what would happen here. Then, after a week of crying/mourning there would be a new crisis and it would be forgotten and we would move on shoulder to shoulder. A boy from our small town bought the farm last week. The parents were grieving, to be sure. But there was no blaming Bush, etc. Wil the NYT pick that up? Nah. Only the bitchers. That's how it is when you let Lord Haw Haw live at home. But that's what makes us different. From what I've read, Gordon Brown will be as stalwart an ally as Tone and Howard says what he has to to be opposition but would prove to be an Olympic contortionist in office. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-08-17 4:31:44 PM |
| #3 hi again all :) . Unfortuantly i do see ourselves (UK) as a bit of a weak link - not in the sense of skill or firepower but in that imagine a bomb or some crap like a morter wipes about 50 of our men,imagine all the loonny anti-war brigade swooping on it,our media would be showing 24 hour footage of the some of the soldiers parents weeping for thier lost ones and they'll over exagerate it as always crying quagmire, it fucks me off when soldiers familys bleat about the goverment sending the troops to war - i mean isnt that what thier meant to fuckin do! Seems like these oh to numerous families should have thought harder and deeper about what profession thier loved one is going into and what the consequences are.to many kids joining up thinking thier going on some sort of holiday adventure. Anyway bet the anti war mob would kick up all too much of a fuss over this and we'd have to pull back at least some troops,election coming up and all . BAck to military families, perhaps they should have to sign a paper saying thier not gonna bleat and whine about their kid getting killed in action doing his JOB! |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-08-17 3:13:56 PM |
| #2 Hook-a-mook. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-08-17 2:35:06 PM |
| #1 Time to break out the bayonets again, boys. |
| Posted by: Atropanthe 2004-08-17 2:12:44 PM |