Word: basra
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
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...
...camera to deliver transparency. "What is the point of an inquiry behind closed doors? No family would be happy with that," said Rose Gentle in a statement issued by the campaign group she founded, Military Families Against the War. Her son Gordon was killed by a roadside bomb in Basra in 2004, one of 179 casualties among 45,000 British troops deployed in Iraq since the invasion. "We already feel that we have been lied to by the government," she said. "We don't want any more lies." (Watch an interview with Gordon Brown...
...gives power to whomsoever he chooses and he also takes it away." That's the resonant Koranic inscription around the cupola of Basra Palace, one of many lavish residences Saddam commissioned for himself. Whatever the Iraq-war inquiry discovers, it's on the streets of Basra, which was under British control until this spring, that Britain's legacy will finally be judged. Earlier this year, a Basrawi policeman on sentry duty outside the palace told TIME of his optimism for the future. "For the first time in our history, we're allowed a diversity of opinions," he said. But asked...
...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...