Fallout From British Raid On Basra Jail; Iraqis; 'This Government has No Authority'

Summary

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Ordinary Iraqis were drawing their own conclusion about what had happened in Basra. Abdul Hamid, a goldsmith, said over the phone from the city: "People here have seen that our government has no authority in Iraq. The British did not respect them when they smashed into the jail, so why should we respect our own leaders?"

Although the armed uprising against the occupation is currently confined to the five million Sunni Arabs, it is a mistake to think that the 15 to 16 million Shia Iraqis are enamored of the presence of foreign troops. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, their most influential leader, has refused since the invasion to meet American and British officials in Iraq. He has also argued consistently that the Shia should exercise their power through elections and not through armed strength.

The religious parties and their militias largely took over. There is the Badr Organization (the renamed Badr Brigade), which is the military wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), and the Army of Mehdi of Muqtada Sadr. British commentators were recently muttering suspiciously about these militias and their supposed links with Iran.

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Extract

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Fallout From British Raid On Basra Jail; Iraqis; 'This Government has No Authority'

BAGHDAD. - The Iraqi official was visibly flustered and embarrassed when questioned in Baghdad about the storming of the police station in Basra by British troops.

"It is a very unfortunate developm...

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