Now how do you say that in Arabic?
British Defense Minister John Reid says he is planning to scrap the 25,000-member police force in southern Iraq and "replace it with a new military-style unit capable of maintaining law and order."Scotland on Sunday reported that Mr. Reid has ordered a complete "root and branch" review of security in the area, which is under British control, following last week's violent clashes between British troops and the Iraqi police.
Last week's events began when two British soldiers, dressed in Arab clothing, were confronted by Iraqi police in Basra. The soldiers shot and killed an Iraqi policeman during the confrontation. The soldiers' arrest, their subsequent violent rescue by British troops, and the explosive aftermath have sparked a new crisis for Tony Blair's Labour government. As Scotland on Sunday reported, the violence means that Mr. Blair's plans to reduce British troops levels in 2006 will have to be "scrapped." Troop cuts will have to be postponed until 2007 at the earliest.
Questions like, who will he replace them with and what will the old lot do, immediately spring to mind. Of course there is an instructive precedent for this decision. After invading Iraq the US disbanded the entire Iraqi army, at a time when almost no one had a job. The results of this brilliant stroke have been measured in corpses. I suppose that the Brits are going to replace the legally elected, politically popular Basra local authority with the relatives of the men they currently have issue with, or how about getting some local auxillaries to help out? Maybe some aircraft, mustard gas bombs, it'll be just like old times.
The language of colonialism never changes. One moment they're our democratically elected friends, the next we can replace them at will should they insist on quaintly requiring that we submit to their laws. Again, there are about 5,000 British troops in the Basra area, any trouble will become Dubya's problem too, and he's pretty much all out of love when it comes to Iraq. The Brits are playing a dangerous game, perhaps motivated by their conviction that Iran is controlling resistance to their occupation. When they show Basrans an iron fist, who will they look to for help? Their closest neighbours and the ones with which they already have many ties, Iran. The Brits will make real what they already fear, and then what? Action against Iran? Border raids? This pattern of escalation is alarming, one can only hope that the twits that went into Iraq at least have the brains to contain the disaster in one country.
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