Basra: The City So Nice They Took It Twice

[Dom Pedro II]

I don't understand... Originally, the military claimed they had taken Basra. We found out that it was not true that they were just closing in on the city. I heard again a few days ago that they had secured the city but there was pockets of resistance...

Now there's a report that the British outside the city have reported an uprising within the city against the Iraqi troops... Have we taken this city or not?!

[Chilean Presidentâ„¢]

Well I've just heard that the tiny port of Umm Qassar, "taked" five days ago is still under iraqi control, so maybe the capture of Basra will be a little harder.

[KrazyHorse]

I like the title.

[Uncle Sparky]

I'm still waiting for Iran to take Basra back - then thing will get interesting.

[MichaeltheGreat]

I don't recall initial reports that they'd taken Basra, although Umm Qasr led to some confusion, because of their being two separate port facilities (the old port and the new port), and almost two separate towns. It was reported that the USMC took one, the Brits the other, then things hit the fan for a bit.

AFAIK, Basra had always been reported as being bypassed, and what we took was the Faw peninsula.

[Dom Pedro II]

No, they definitely said within the first twenty-four hours that Basra had been taken. They later retracted that though.

I knew about Umm Qasr being taken, or supposedly taken I should say, because I watched the footage of the U.S. tanks attacking the resistance forces.

But there was definitely a second report of Basra being taken because I remember how they were saying that the first report was premature. Now, I didn't read that, I heard that from one of the journalists in the field on CNN, so that might have just been bogus the second time. But there was definitely a first report that lingered for a little while.

[Urban Ranger]

They have declared Basra to be a military target. Man, I was confused. If it hadn't been one, why did they kept attacking it? With cluster bombs no less.

[DanS]

Even Umm Qasr is said by the people receiving food aid to have Saddam's men still scattered around the city.

MtG: I remember them saying that they at least had "control" over Basra. Which, in a sense, I guess they do.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by DanS

MtG: I remember them saying that they at least had "control" over Basra. Which, in a sense, I guess they do.

Control over what goes in and what comes out is all they really need.
Incidentally, cnn and a few other networks are reporting a possible uprising in Basra at present. Apparently the Brits have engaged some of the Iraqi soldiers trying to surpress the revolters.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
They have declared Basra to be a military target. Man, I was confused. If it hadn't been one, why did they kept attacking it? With cluster bombs no less.

I'm confused too -- where do you get this stuff?

The media here have been reporting cluster bombs are not being used, because many times the clusters do not detonate on impact and become very dangerous for coalition troops. Not to mention the fact that cluster bombs are anything but precise, and Basra is a city...

And I forgot to mention that the fighting was reported near the city of Basra before. They avoided going into the actual city until it could not be avoided any more, and then designated it a military target and entered the actual city.

[Agathon]

I definitely heard it reported on CNN that coalition forces had taken Basra and Um Qasr. Perhaps they were just overconfident.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
I definitely heard it reported on CNN that coalition forces had taken Basra and Um Qasr. Perhaps they were just overconfident.

Did they say this at the Centcom briefing or did the embedded reporters say it?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Asher
I'm confused too -- where do you get this stuff?

Qatar's al-Jazeera, also local TV newsfeeds.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Qatar's al-Jazeera, also local TV newsfeeds.

Okay, that explains why it doesn't make a bit of sense.

[Urban Ranger]

I guess you just can't handle a contrary view to your own comfortable, conservative fantasy gagaland. So may it be.

Event x008 on the Iraqi body count website