Kalashnikov rifles confiscated from defeated Iraqi soldiers are being collected by British troops to pass to pro-Western rebels inside Basra with the aim of provoking an uprising in the city. Orders have been given to British soldiers, who are destroying all the Iraqi weapons that they find, to store seized Kalashnikov AK47 rifles so that they can be handed to the "good guys"...
Sounds like a plan if you can tell who they are.
The decision to supply weapons to the opponents of Saddam Hussein has been prompted by concern that they might otherwise be unable to topple the heavily armed Ba'ath Party regime in Basra. A limited civilian uprising last week was reportedly brutally suppressed by Iraqi paramilitaries who fired artillery into a crowd of protesters. There have been numerous reports of the threat of violence, including execution, being used to coerce the city's people into fighting for Saddam.
And now the Brits have a better idea of who's really a good guy.
British forces are known to be in direct contact with Iraqi dissidents both inside Basra and the area immediately outside the city. Instigating an uprising in Basra has now become the favoured option for commanders of Britain's 7th Armoured Brigade. The Desert Rats soldiers have been positioned on the outskirts of the city but officers believe that a forcible British entry into Basra carries the risk of heavy casualties on both sides. At the moment, they have decided to wait in the hope that they can move in after, and in support of, a civilian uprising. |