British 'helpless' as violence rises in southern Iraq

British 'helpless' as violence rises in southern Iraq By Kim Sengupta and Raymond Whitaker Published: 25 June 2006 British forces are facing rising violence among Shia Muslim factions in southern Iraq, but are powerless to contain it, military and diplomatic sources have told The Independent on Sunday. Both British and Iraqi authorities were seeking to play down the situation, they added. [snip] The relatively small number of British troops in the two provinces will not be brought home, but will be deployed in Basra, where Mr Maliki declared a state of emergency during a visit from the capital last month. The decision, which he said was taken in response to the growing violence, is said to have caught British officials by surprise. It was seen as a flexing of muscle by the new Prime Minister, but also emphasises how little control Britain has over events in the region. [Source: UK Independent] Powerless is a good description. They already are reduced to moving around between their bases by helicopter and increasingly can do that only at night. See also Italians - Gotta Love 'Em on MFI's other site. Erdla