I just saw some amazing footage on CNN, of a group of British troops
enaging Iraqi soldiers in a built-up area at night with their SA-80s and
LMGs, and it was impressive (in night vision, no less)
So far in this war, the British have suffered the first losses, with their
two helicopters colliding at sea in the opening day of the war, and
now that a RAF Tornado returning home may have been shot down
by a Patriot battery, lets all get together in a bumpathon for our british
friends to let 'em know we're with them as their troops fight.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... Mar23.html
ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BASRA, March 23 -- British troops and U.S. Marines continued to besiege the strategic port city of Basra tonight, where defiant Iraqi soldiers continued to hold out with Soviet-made tanks and artillery moved deep into heavily-populated civilian areas.
The Iraqi army's tactic of moving its heavy weapons into residential areas -- long presaged for the defense of Baghdad -- has slowed what was initially expected to be a swift takeover of the strategic port town, Iraq's second largest city and a vital link to begin the distribution of humanitarian aid for the parts of southern Iraq, where the government of Saddam Hussein is no longer in control.
A British battle group from the Royal Fusiliers and the Queen's Lancers, stationed on a highway to Basra near an international airport, said their advance to take the city had been slowed by orders not to fire on civilian areas without a clear view of the target. Crews manning the 100-ton British Challenger II tanks -- which were specially fortified with extra armor for this Iraq war -- came back to the rear supply line for more food, fuel and ammunition, and described a determined if dwindling number of Iraqi soldiers putting up a tough stand in the town.
"The first ones who came in said they were getting skirmishes all morning," said Fusilier Chris Atkinson from Liverpool. "They're doing a bit of fighting. It's called Beirut fighting."
"They're moving all their artillery pieces into civilian areas, and we can't take any shots at civilian targets," said Lance Cpl. Dave Williams.
Corporal Jim Bowen added, "Our commanders have been told from high up the chain that they can't fire mortars into civilian areas unless you have a clear shot." He said the concern was to minimize civilian casualties because "We're not here to kill the Iraqi people."
This British battle group arrived at the front lines of Basra early Sunday and has been fighting skirmishes throughout the day. The thud of artillery and the rapid crack of automatic weapons fire could be heard all day from the center of the town, still obscured over the horizon by plumes of thick black smoke from burning oil wells.
This morning, the British tank crews battling for Basra asked for permission to move against the Iraqi tanks and artillery dug into residential areas, but the permission was denied. "They asked for authorization to take on the targets," said Bowen. "And they were told they could not take on the targets unless they had a clear line of sight."
"If they did what they did last time [in the Gulf War] and carpet bombed it, it wouldn't have taken this long," said Atkinson. "It's not the blitzkrieg everybody thought it would be. I think it's for public opinion and not wanting to kill any civilians."
A soldier atop one of the Challengers, pausing briefly to fill up on fuel, said, "There's still resistance. It's organized." Asked how long it might be before the city of Basra was taken, he replied; "Not tonight. Watch this space."
The Iraqis holding out in Basra are members of the Iraqi army's 51st Division, not the elite Republican Guard who have been moved to defend Baghdad and were expected to put up the stiffest resistance the U.S.-led invasion. That regular soldiers have stood so long and fought has surprised some who were predicting that Basra could be taken on the first day of fighting, to provide the American-led coalition a quick victory and deliver an early psychological blow to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
There were also predictions of mass surrender. Today, some 40 Iraqi prisoners came past the checkpoint southwest of the bridge.
"It's their country, isn't it?" said Staff Sgt. Ian Trigg. "It's different than when we kicked them out of Kuwait."
Meanwhile at the more easterly highway to Basra, British Fusiliers set up a checkpoint to keep anxious Iraqis from returning to a city still under heavy fighting. There were a few tense scenes as Iraqis shouted at the troops, demanding to be let past on the highway, only to be turned back at gunpoint.
"I want to go to Basra!" shouted one young Iraqi man in a crowd of about 20 standing about a hundred yards back from the checkpoint. "Basra!" others in the crowd shouted.
"My family is in Basra!" shouted one young man in jeans and a checked shirt un-tucked from his pants. One of the soldiers at the checkpoint shouted back, "There's fighting up there, and you're not going up!"
A soldiers brandishing a belt-fed general purpose machine gun (GPMG), with a British SA-80 assault rifle slung across his back, pushed the crowd back.
The Iraqis approached the checkpoint all morning, in battered cars and red-and-white taxis and some in white pickup trucks piled high in the back with blue plastic crates of tomatoes. Some waved white clothes out the windows, others had white flags tied to their car antennas.
Less than two miles away from the British checkpoint, along a smaller, tree-lined side road leading west to the village of Al-Zubair, armed Iraqi men in civilian clothes stood on the street in groups brandishing several AK-47s and at least one rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The men appeared poised with their weapons in the ready position as two carloads of journalists turned into the streets, and other, apparently unarmed Iraqis ran quickly away. The journalists, in two Pajeros, made a hasty retreat back to the main highway.
