Fuh-Laming
Behold, Iraqis who are ready to take control of their own security.
Look, like I said earlier, this is precisely why Iraq is not yet ready to stand on its own two feet. First, you have plainclothes police officers arresting two British troops without cause. Then, you have militiamen transporting them, and allegedly moving them to a private residence. Then you have a an angry mob destroying a British infantry fighting vehicle with petrol bombs and rocks.
Where were the Iraqi security forces? If they're ready for us to leave, then why didn't they put down the mob before the Brits could be overwhelmed? If you ask me, this is an admirable demonstration of restraint on the part of those British troops. Everybody's favorite indignant Brit, Poosh, has some comments on the subject. As Poosh points out, the "softly-softly approach" is a confident, but ineffective one.
And of course, the BBC is shouting "Quagmire!" as usual, claiming that the so-called "exit strategy" is "elusive" and that the mission has become "unclear". Sounds more like BBC ignorance than anything else.
LONDON (Reuters) - British soldiers described on Wednesday how they bailed out of a burning tank after it was attacked by a mob throwing bricks, stones and petrol bombs in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
The soldiers were caught in a riot on Monday during a British raid on an Iraqi jail to free two undercover soldiers detained by local security forces. The raid provoked a furious response from Iraqis in Basra, and Iraq's government has launched an investigation.
During the raid, a crowd of Iraqis hurled petrol bombs at British troops, and pictures of one soldier engulfed in flames as he tumbled from his tank have dominated British television and newspapers for days.
Speaking from his army base in southern Iraq, the soldier, George Long, described how his Warrior light tank was surrounded by angry Iraqis.
"The crowd grew more hostile, and moved closer to the Warriors," he told Sky Television News.
"They were throwing petrol bombs ... Our hatches were open and one of the petrol bombs unfortunately hit the top and came in on top of me and my gunner.
"I had to get out because basically it was in flames, on fire, so ... I got out and luckily enough, someone put me out (put out the flames)."
Look, like I said earlier, this is precisely why Iraq is not yet ready to stand on its own two feet. First, you have plainclothes police officers arresting two British troops without cause. Then, you have militiamen transporting them, and allegedly moving them to a private residence. Then you have a an angry mob destroying a British infantry fighting vehicle with petrol bombs and rocks.
Where were the Iraqi security forces? If they're ready for us to leave, then why didn't they put down the mob before the Brits could be overwhelmed? If you ask me, this is an admirable demonstration of restraint on the part of those British troops. Everybody's favorite indignant Brit, Poosh, has some comments on the subject. As Poosh points out, the "softly-softly approach" is a confident, but ineffective one.
And of course, the BBC is shouting "Quagmire!" as usual, claiming that the so-called "exit strategy" is "elusive" and that the mission has become "unclear". Sounds more like BBC ignorance than anything else.
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