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Unofficial: Basra falls to UK forces British forces have overrun Basra, with 16 Air Assault Brigade taking the north of the city, 7 Armoured Brigade taking Central Basra and 3 (Royal Marine) Commando Brigade taking Southern Basra.
Although the British military authorities are studiously avoiding actually saying that ‘Basra has fallen’, it seems clear from all the reports I have seen from the journalists inside the city itself that this is indeed the case, bar the inevitable mopping up of isolated die-hard elements. Fedayeen Saddam resistance is being described as sporadic and uncoordinated and at one point a reporter with SkyNews said several thousand jubilant people mobbed the British as they pushed deep into the city.
Although fighting is continuing, it seems clear that Ba’athist Socialism is dying with a frightened whimper rather than a defiant roar. The Fedayeen are discovering that two decades of murdering civilians has not prepared them for fighting some of the most fierce and professional troops in the world.
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They now know what the rest of have known for a long time.
Them Brits, they are BAD ASS.
From an American perspective (and Iraqi, I suspect), the British troops are quite impressive. We are lucky and pleased to have you on our side.
As a Viet Nam veteran, I simply don’t know what to make of the apparent ease with which the American and British forces destroy what seems to be significant opposition. When a tank battalion goes up against an opposing dug-in tank battalion and destroys it in minutes, without casualties, something strange is happening.
From an American perspective (and Iraqi, I suspect), the British troops are quite impressive. We are lucky and pleased to have you on our side.
As a Viet Nam veteran, I simply don’t know what to make of the apparent ease with which the American and British forces destroy what seems to be significant opposition. When a tank battalion goes up against an opposing dug-in tank battalion and destroys it in minutes, without casualties, something strange is happening.
TomD
I’m no military person but is it not because of three things? viz
1,Close air support and total domination of the air.
2,Much superior firepower and armour
3Superior training and morale
dave, yeah it is kinda obvious you are no military person. as a vet of the fun in grenada and panama i can tell you that while all of what you wrote is true, in urban fighting it is number 3, superior training and morale that is the one that really matters. at close quarters the advantage between our guys (and by that i also mean the brits) and the iraqis i much closer than at long range: their rpgs, squad machineguns and rifles are really no worse than our and in some ways are better, and while close air support still matters, it matters a whole shit load less and has much less effect in a city. add to that the fact the brits bent over backwards to kill as few of the civilians in basra and to damage as little of the essential infrastructure as posible and you realize that what they achieved was little short of a military marvel. our army has more overall firepower than the brits but if we ever needed a demonstration that british infantry and unit cohesion is in a class of its own, this was it. awesome.