British forces useless in Basra, say officials

[unhappycamper]

On the defensive: British troops face angry scenes in Basra


British forces useless in Basra, say officials
Tim Shipman in Washington, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:42am BST 19/08/2007


When America's top commanders in Iraq held a conference with their British counterparts recently, Major General Jonathan Shaw - Britain's senior officer in Basra - was quick to share his views on how best to conduct counter-insurgency operations.

For much of the last four years, the Americans in the room would have listened carefully, used to deferring to their British colleagues' long experience in Northern Ireland. This time, however, eyes that would once have been attentive simply rolled.

Few were in the mood for a lecture about British superiority, when they fear that Downing Street's planned pull-out from Basra will squander any progress from their own hard-fought "troop surge" strategy elsewhere.

"It's insufferable for Christ's sake," said one senior figure closely involved in US military planning. "He comes on and he lectures everybody in the room about how to do a counter-insurgency. The guys were just rolling their eyeballs. The notorious Northern Ireland came up again. It's pretty frustrating. It would be okay if he was best in class, but now he's worst in class. Everybody else's area is getting better and his is getting worse."

The meeting, called by General David Petraeus, the senior US officer who has the task of managing the surge, is emblematic of what is fast becoming a minor crisis in Anglo-American military relations.

~snip~

A senior US officer familiar with Gen Petraeus's thinking said: "The short version is that the Brits have lost Basra, if indeed they ever had it. Britain is in a difficult spot because of the lack of political support at home, but for a long time - more than a year - they have not been engaged in Basra and have tried to avoid casualties.


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[seemslikeadream]

1. OMG

I guess they might have not known about the surge?

[NNN0LHI]

2. At one time the British soldiers were wearing cloth berets on patrol

http://www.britainusa.com/sections/articles_show_nt1.asp?d=0&i=41089&L1=0&L2=0&a=21380&pv=1

Round up of British Press , 4/2/2003

Tension Growing

THE TIMES reports that tensions between Britain and the United States about the conduct of the war are growing. British commanders are said to have voiced dismay at American heavy-handed tactics, including the shooting dead of seven Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint. The INDEPENDENT argues that civilian deaths are inevitable in war, but there is no excuse for 'excessive or indiscriminate belligerence'. The paper says coalition troops must do their utmost to make sure there are no further checkpoint deaths. The DAILY TELEGRAPH says some elements of the media have 'tendentiously exaggerated' the significance of the seven deaths. It believes that truth and humanity are ill-served by blurring the distinction between accidental deaths and deliberate slaughter.

Hearts and Minds

The DAILY MAIL’s correspondent in the southern port of Umm Qasr says there is already a backlash among ordinary Iraqis, following the checkpoint killings. He reports hostile crowds pressing forward and shouting at British troops, and says it is a setback in their efforts to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. That effort to gain the trust of ordinary Iraqis is vividly illustrated by a photograph in the DAILY TELEGRAPH of Lieutenant Colonel Mike Riddell Webster, the commander of the Black Watch. He swapped his bullet-proof helmet for a tam-o’-shanter yesterday, replete with the red, fluffy hackle of the Scottish regiment. The Lieutenant Colonel has told British forces patrolling the town of Zubayr that they can, if they wish, wear berets while carrying out patrols on foot. The DAILY MIRROR says replacing helmets with berets and moving among a population that may contain hostile and dangerous elements requires as much courage as any battle. In a further hearts and minds operation, the DAILY TELEGRAPH reports that British soldiers were welcomed by villagers outside Basra when they drove through handing out army rations of fruit dumplings and custard. The GUARDIAN is worried that civilian casualties and rhetoric in Washington may confirm Egypt’s prediction that the war will create '100 bin Ladens'. The US could not find a clear link between Iraq and Al Qa'ida, the paper says, 'now by its own woeful blunderings, it is creating one'.