The fighting at Basra
 

...may be taking on a new face. I saw a report on CNN tonight that said Basra has to be taken at all costs and taken soon to avoid a humanitarian catastrophy. The report said that Iraqi forces had withdrawn into the city and that British forces would have to enter the city and engage in urban fighting and would be using air support. I think the report also said the Brits would be assisted by Marines.

I take all initial media reports with a grain of salt but this may be true as it has been reported that Basra has been without water for two days. If it is true the casualty count among the forces is going to rise as well as the civilian count.

It is being reported that the Brits may send in re-enforcements to Basra.

Saw that too.

Oh buhga buhga :(

why are you reporting all the cnn news here

I'm pretty much everyone that is actually interested in war news definitely knows what is shown on CNN

There are much more interesting news sources to watch

yea its more interesting to watch your russian version of national enquirer sites. fiction is more interesting than fact i suppose

what is your problem? I dont know those funny russian letters :)

Well...you have my permission. Watch them.

I prefer MSNBC myself. :glugglug

Actually I watch multiple news sources including the BBC and C-Span. I am constantly channel surfing from one to the other.

Me too, they sometimes "accidentaly" let the actual news slip 20 minutes or so before CNN. Then they change the story to the same as everyone else for a little while before they say it again.

I gained more respect for them when I saw a segment they have where they report on what other world media is showing about the war, including Al Jazeera, and how it's in stark contrast to what we see on our own news most of the time.

They didn't say it was "right or wrong", just showed what some of the 'others' around the world were reporting, and interviewed some people in the Middle East who were watching the Arab news for their war updates. Interesting.

You can say all you want about "American Propeganda" in the news, but that seemed like a fair assessment of things to me.

:glugglug

Damn...they are still fucking around a Basrah. The media is reporting all kinds of shit taking place there, and how much is true I don't know, but one thing is true and that is if they don't take the city soon there is going to be massive loss of life.

They are going to have to stop fucking around and take the city which will mean coalition casualties as well as civilian casualtites, but by taking lives they will be saving lives. There is not any easy way or clean way to fight a war.

Fuck Basra!!!!
Not one American or British soldier should die for basra!!!
It is time to fight this war militarly and not politically!!!
The iraqi army is using the same tactics as the palestinians, using civilians as shields. Putting armed men in hospitals and schools.
You have to fight on the same field as them, then maybe they'll understand.
Why don't they send in the kuwaiti or saudi army to liberate their brothers???
Get rid of saddam and his governement and let's go home.

http://www.ibillsucks.info/files/ninq.gif

IRAQ DID IT ... lol

I too detest the micro management of military operations by civilians. I agree with the concept that it should be our civilian leaders that make the call about using our military, but once that call is made shut the fuck up and let the military get the job done. Getting the job done means losing troops and killing civilians, but a swift end ultimately saves lives. If a government is not willing to live with this scenario then do not engage their military forces.

The very worst case of micro management by cilvilians was during the Vietnam conflict and we egaged for nine years when the war could have been ended in three months, using conventional forces. Prolonging the war cost many more lives, for all involved, than a swift end would have.

And I take it that you dont think we should take basra to stop a genocide of it's civilians. We are supposedly there to "liberate" the citizens. Whether true or just a excuse to be there, now that they have said that they *have* to act in a way that shows there is some truth to it. Iraq soldiers earlier turned a number of mortars on the people of basra, their own people. That would be enough reason for me to go in.

If you are addressing me you positively have the wrong view of what I posted.

Nah, I was actually talking about dav's post =)

I saw the food aid those people are getting on tv. They will be eating better than me.

You can check out the body counts here :

http://www.iraqbodycount.net/

Anyone know precisely what kind of and how many coalition troops are in Iraq? In terms of divisions and brigades etc.
Except for the ones that were supposed to go in through turkey have all the grounds troops in the region gone in yet?

Did you see the Royal Marines on BBCNews24 handing out the food and water supplies, and the Royal Marine was speaking in arabic (I think) to the people...

Did you hear what he then said to the reporter,... the first thing the Iraqis asked for were cigarettes - not food and water, LOL....

5.000 iraqis are returning from Iordania to Iraq, to fight against the coallition... nobody expected that.... it's on the news .
the war will be long.. way longer than Bush expected....

Bush said all along the war was going to be long. It's our citizens who think otherwise.

OH shit. Another 2 hours to find the tape, make a clip of Bush saying the contrary ...

and what's the point? you won't even watch it, or call it "doctored", so have a nice life with your war .

Back from Florida 2 weeks ago... Next trips: Cuba, Mexico, France. Italy, Amsterdam.... all on non-us airlines for my safety....

I've heard him say stuff like our military will move swiftly but never this war won't last long.