Word: basra
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair resisted public pressure for a comprehensive inquiry into the Iraq war. On June 15, his successor, Gordon Brown, raised the white flag, informing the House of Commons that he had ordered an inquiry even before British troops complete their withdrawal from Basra this summer. "Thanks to our efforts and those of our allies over six difficult years, a young democracy has replaced a vicious 30-year dictatorship," said the Prime Minister...
...Among other conundrums likely to be scrutinized: To what extent did British concerns about the dangers of American unilateralism trump competing fears about the reliability of intelligence and risk of rupturing European relations? How much effort went into postwar planning? Why did Britain continue to reduce its forces in Basra even as the Shi'ite insurgency gained pace...
...wanted to know what the big questions were. "The biggest question is whether we have the right strategic concept to fight the war," Petraeus told him. "Instead of concentrating all our efforts on transitioning to Iraqi control, we need to go out and secure the population." (See pictures of Basra getting back to business...
...vast majority of the refugees. Indeed, three-fourths of all refugees are from the capital alone. "It's is the epicenter of the whole displacement," says Harper. As a result, bombings in Baghdad resonate across the refugee community. (See pictures of the renewal of the southern city of Basra...
...return to the streets, Mohsen doubts it could do so with the same strength it showed in past years. Iraqi security forces, with help from U.S. troops, now largely control areas that were once virtually untouchable militia havens such as Sadr City in Baghdad and the port city of Basra in the south of Iraq. The Mahdi Army dispatched gunmen nightly during the height of the sectarian violence. Yet Mohsen believes the odds of such a situation unfolding again are low, at least in Baghdad - given the myriad checkpoints, blast wall cordons and Iraqi security forces on the street, including...