Word: basra
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Everyone in Baghdad corners people coming in from the southeastern city of Basra, wanting to know what is happening near the front. The exodus of panicky Europeans from Basra has become a virtual flood, and the anxiety there about the future is reminiscent of the feeling in Iran during the Shah's last days...
...Khomeini's fanatical army breaks through the Iraqi lines and captures Basra, the reverberations will shake all of Western Europe and Japan. According to one highly placed Western diplomatic source, "The fall of Basra would bring the crash of the Frankfurt stock market. Every blue-chip company in West Germany has a big stake here. They have close to $5 billion invested in development projects in Iraq." The Japanese also have $5 billion staked on Saddam's survival. France is not far behind. The U.S. is in for just under $ 1 billion...
Five times the Iranians have tried and failed to break through to Basra. In these cruel battles they have lost more than 30,000 men to Iraqi troops that are trained and advised by French and British experts. On their last attempt, the Iranians threw five regular divisions and four brigades of Revolutionary Guards against the Iraqis...
...Back in Basra, I talked to one of that city's leading citizens, a Sunni merchant. He said he had no plans to leave, although almost all foreigners have already fled and business has come to a standstill. He is counting on a cease-fire by the end of October, although he agrees that the Iranians will not easily give up their dream of capturing Basra. "Most of the Iranians are members of the Shi'ite sect of Islam, and they want Basra," he explains, "because they know the Shi'ites here will welcome them with open...
Iraq's defense of the Basra region appears to have infused new life into Saddam Hussein's regime. The Iraqi strongman seems to have been vindicated in the belief that his troops would fight tenaciously once they were protecting their own territory. Moreover, his assiduous courtship of Iraqi Shi'ites, who make up 55% of the population, has blunted Khomeini's call for insurgency. But Saddam Hussein's ultimate test still lies ahead: both he and Khomeini realize that their bitter rivalry will be resolved only when one of them is swept from power...