Iraqi fires 1,300 soldiers, policemen after Basra fiasco

Monday 14th April, 06:03 AM JST

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10 Comments

Sarge at 07:42 AM JST - 14th April

Yes! Get rid of the riff-raff! This another sign that the Iraqis are taking control of their security.
rjd_jr at 08:50 AM JST - 14th April

Hey, I think the tide is turning!!!
SezWho2 at 10:05 AM JST - 14th April

The strange thing about tides is that they ebb and flow. I think it's the moon or maybe its just lunacy.
greenteaonsens at 11:19 AM JST - 14th April

The U.S. and Iraqi army are now paying the price of the BRITISH ARMY'S failure to do its job when it controlled Basra. The British shamefully avoided confronting the militias and just hid in their fire bases for 3 years.

Looks like Chamberlain-style appeasement is alive and well among BRIT policy makers.

Once again, if you want something doing properly it's Uncle Sam's boys you have to call on.

Semper Fi!
jambon at 01:33 PM JST - 14th April

Lt Gen Mohan al-Fireji, who commands government forces in the city, said the two-day operation had netted arms, roadside bombs and drugs.

As was other months, April is also turning out to be a bad month for terrorists/criminals/MSM freedom fighters in Iraq.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/articles.aspx?mo=4ampersandyr=2008ampersandSectionID=11

Looks like at least 66 dead baddies from these news reports. That does not include the captures which are much more numerous.
Sarge at 02:32 PM JST - 14th April

Sez - Har!
some14some at 02:52 PM JST - 14th April

Those fired will be hired either by same govt or other groups. There will always be shortage of armed forces in Iraq so long invaders (foreign troops) are there.
romulus3 at 06:04 PM JST - 14th April

there are plenty of others who need food for their family who will be coerced into dying for a war they didn't start and don't want to fight.
frontandcentre at 02:06 PM JST - 15th April

greenteaonsens:

The British shamefully avoided confronting the militias and just hid in their fire bases for 3 years.

That is absolutely UNTRUE, and an insult towards the numerous British troops who have died defending Basra. The intelligent approach of the British Army has been far better received in Iraq than the Americans with their shoot-first-ask-questions-later attitudes.

With allies like you, who needs enemies? Your attitude justifies the decisions of all those European countries who wisely decided not to get involved in Bush's massive policy failure
rjd_jr at 02:13 PM JST - 15th April

You are absolutely correct frontandcentre. How convenient of greentea to forget that the inactions of the U.S. military during the weeks after "major combat operations were over" directly added fuel to the insurgent fire that would soon enough erupt. Remember all those Iraqi's looting and destroying priceless cultural artifacts? U.S. troops, particularly the Third I.D., were told to stand down and not to enforce anything, to let the Iraqis just go ahead and rampage. That alone let the Iraqi's know that they could just about get away with anything, and that the U.S. military was going to be fighting a P.C. war. The insurgent seeds were already being sown then. And Sadr has always been a thorn on the side of the coalition and U.S. forces since day one. Forget all this talk of the "Al Qaeda of Iraq" boogeymen, the U.S. propaganda machine that would have you believe all of Iraq's problems have been caused by disgruntled sunni insurgents.