The Spectator

The state of Basra

The Washington Post this morning has a sobering account of the situation on the ground in Basra. The paper reveals that the US government has expressed concerns about the impact of the British pull back on the rest of Iraq at the highest levels to the British. While a senior US intelligence official tells the Post, “The British have basically been defeated in the south”. 

All of which makes the government’s desicion to refuse to facilitate asylum applications from 91 Iraqi interpreaters who have worked with British forces in Basra all the more shocking. The Times is surely right that these brave folk should be welcomed to this country with open arms.

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