Blair takes ‘the stabilisers off the Basra bike’: how long before it falls?

The Shatt al-Arab hotel in Basra offers arguably the most wretched four-star accommodation in the Arab world. It has flushing toilets, but that is where the luxury ends. Its swimming pool is now a rubbish tip, and water has not passed through its taps for months. It has long been unclear to its only guests, the 1st Staffordshire Regiment, what purpose they serve by staying there other than to provide target practice for the militias who launch missiles into the building every day.