Word: basra
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...briefing for a small group of reporters today in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, a British officer gave a very different perspective on the situation in Iraq and the role of the Iranians than U.S. audiences are hearing. Two of the four provinces in the south have already been handed over to Iraqi control, and one more, Maysan province, may be turned over within the next two months. When insurgent attacks against British forces in Al Amarah reached an unacceptable level last year, the Brits simply moved out of town - and took up positions near the Iranian border. When...
...Ormond-King says the death rate has declined in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, with a population of some 1.5 million; in the past six months, the provision of electricity has increased to up to 18 hours a day; and there are signs of a nascent economy (part of the issue is that while the coalition is helping the Iraqi government produce four times more electrical power than during Saddam Hussein's reign, the economy is demanding six times as much power...
...unclear if Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Basra on his second trip to Iraq, was getting the same message in his closed-door meetings with U.S. and coalition commanders, including U.S. Army General George Casey and British Major General Jonathan Shaw, the senor officer in the region. The British government has indicated that it is likely to start withdrawing its contingent of some 7,000 troops in Iraq later this year...
...short term, have the four military services, the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, prepare plans for a one-year surge in Iraq. Commit to destruction of the insurgent forces in Ramadi, Hit and the other Anbar strongholds... whatever it takes. Reinforce key cities like Baghdad and Basra. The best guess is that this will require 20,000 more U.S. troops on the ground. The U.S. military should rapidly increase the number of U.S. advisors for the Iraqi Security Forces - to some 15,000, up from about 7,000. It should also maintain the covert special operations forces to track...
...Under Ottoman rule Until WW I, Iraq was a region divided into three provinces (vilayets), with Shi'ite Basra in the south, Baghdad in the center and a largely Kurdish Mosul in the north OTTOMAN EMPIRE Persia Syrian Desert Vilayet of Mosul Vilayet of Baghdad Vilayet of Basra British controlled...