Basra, a city filled with hope

Basra, Iraq

Two years ago when Des Browne came here they wouldn’t let him out of the car. Now, he can do a walkabout in downtown Basra.

The liberation on March 25th, when the Iraqi army’s Charge of the Knights liberated the city from the Shi’ite militias, has transformed the situation here. When Prime Minister Maliki announced the Charge of the Knights, Muqtada al-Sadr mocked it as the charge of the mice. But is has turned into the biggest surprise successes of the war. Maliki is making his army’s presence felt in Basra--there are check-points with the Iraqi flag on them all over the city—and he has gone from zero to hero here.

British troops are back on the streets again. But now they are advisors to the 10,000 extra Iraqi troops that are stationed here. Belatedly, the British have adopted the America’s MiTT—Military Transition Team—approach with British troops embedding with Iraqi units to offer their expertise.

The change in the security situation is dramatic. One mother I spoke to would not even send her children to school when the militias were in charge. But now happily does so.

Basra feels how it did after the first, British-led liberation of the war. The Baswaris hope that the Iraqi army stay in large numbers; giving this sewage-strewn, bombed out city the chance to finally get on its feet.