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| Iraq |
| Iraqis loot base after British leave |
| 2006-08-25 |
| This can't be good... AMARAH, Iraq - Looters ravaged a former British base Friday, a day after the camp was turned over to Iraqi troops, taking everything from doors and window frames to corrugated roofing and metal pipes, authorities said. About 1,200 British troops had been stationed at Camp Abu Naji in Amarah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, and the base had come under almost daily attack. The troops pulled out Thursday to redeploy along the border with Iran to crack down on weapons smuggling. Shortly after the troops pulled out, Iraqi police managed to disperse looters by firing warning shots into the air, said Dhaffar Jabbar, spokesman for the Maysan provincial governor's office. But the looters returned Friday. "The British forces left Abu Naji and the locals started looting everything," 1st Lt. Rifaat Taha Yaseen of the Iraqi army's 10th Division told AP Television News. "They took everything from the buildings." Men, some with their faces covered, ripped corrugated metal from roofs, carried off metal pipes and backed trucks into building entrances to load them with wooden planks. Several Iraqi soldiers, apparently unarmed, did not seem to make any effort to stop the looting. "There are only few soldiers at Abu Naji camp. Some of the residents were carrying weapons so they (the soldiers) did not want bloodshed and with such a big number, they cannot stop them," Jabbar said. Lt. Tahseen Abid Ali said the Iraqi army had taken up positions in a corner of the camp, but was unable to stop the looting. Another officer, 1st Lt. Ammar Karim Ahmed, said the army had seen "hundreds (of looters) coming toward the camp.First of all, we tried to stop them, but we saw some them were armed and our forces did not have enough people to stop them," he said. When asked by a reporter why he was taking material from the base, one man, who refused to give his name, said: "This is war loot and we are allowed to take it." On Thursday, Iraqi authorities had complained that the British withdrawal had caught them by surprise. "British forces evacuated the military headquarters without coordination with the Iraqi forces," Jabbar said. The British military rejected the assertion."The handover of the Camp Abu Naji was coordinated with the Amarah authorities 24 hours in advance," said spokesman Maj. Charlie Burbridge. "It was understood that the governor was likely to use the camp as a police training camp," he said in an e-mail Thursday, adding that Iraqi forces had secured the base after the British soldiers left. Burbridge said Thursday that British authorities could not comment on early reports of looting "because by that stage the camp was the property of the Maysan authorities and Iraqi Forces were in attendance." |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #17 First thing to come to mind was the scene from "Patton" where the Arabs were looting Allied troop bodies after the Battle of Kasserine Pass. As Penguin said, "Old habits are hard to break." |
| Posted by: GK 2006-08-25 18:52 |
| #16 Several Iraqi soldiers, apparently unarmed, did not seem to make any effort to stop the looting. Something they learned from the NOPD. However, it appears they forget the part about joining the looters. |
| Posted by: Snish Whoque7727 2006-08-25 17:03 |
| #15 The Iraqi army fired warning shots. Warnung about what ? Next time we'll kiss ya ? These people are born weasels. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-08-25 16:14 |
| #14 Arabs once prospered by loots and conquests....along time ago. #3 is correct. |
| Posted by: Duh! 2006-08-25 16:02 |
| #13 Should have known this, and booby-trapped the entire area. Could have fed the critters fro two weeks with the scattered leftovers. |
| Posted by: SOP35/Rat 2006-08-25 15:23 |
| #12 It would have been better to recognize the loss and have no Iraqi troops in the area at all, rather than have this loss of face. While I'm inclined to agree with you, KBK, perhaps if the Iraqi Army had gotten prior notice we might have been treated to the spectacle of them looting the British base instead. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-25 15:00 |
| #11 Democracy! Whiskey! Booty! Sheesh... |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-08-25 14:28 |
| #10 Iraqi authorities had complained that the British withdrawal had caught them by surprise. "British forces evacuated the military headquarters without coordination with the Iraqi forces," Jabbar said. The British military rejected the assertion."The handover of the Camp Abu Naji was coordinated with the Amarah authorities 24 hours in advance." 24 hours isn't anywhere near adequate notice for the Iraqi military authority to arrange coverage. What a clusterfsck. It would have been better to recognize the loss and have no Iraqi troops in the area at all, rather than have this loss of face. |
| Posted by: KBK 2006-08-25 14:27 |
| #9 It's global warming. |
| Posted by: newc 2006-08-25 14:17 |
| #8 Several Iraqi soldiers, apparently unarmed, did not seem to make any effort to stop the looting. Yawn. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-08-25 14:10 |
| #7 "...taking everything from doors and window frames to corrugated roofing and metal pipes, authorities said." Sounds like an Iraqi version of a Home Depot firesale. |
| Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden 2006-08-25 13:59 |
| #6 It is typical of most 3rd world countries. Nothing left after the 1st world forces are done with it. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-08-25 13:42 |
| #5 Traditions of thieves and liers. Gaza, Amarah, whatever. |
| Posted by: Phineter Thraviger1073 2006-08-25 13:33 |
| #4 Primitive heathens, all of them. |
| Posted by: Manolo 2006-08-25 13:30 |
| #3 Old habits are hard to break. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2006-08-25 13:26 |
| #2 I call this the "Greenhouse Effect". |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-25 13:17 |
| #1 Sounds like what happened at Clark Air Base and Subic Bay in the Philippines when we pulled out of there. By the time the last americans left by the front gate, the place was stripped clean. |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-08-25 13:07 |