Wednesday
(0)British troops in Basra are still struggling to impose a degree of law and order and have been in the odd position of rescuing a Saddam loyalist from being beaten to death by a mob of enraged locals.
It seems likely that what the British are encountering in Basra a few days after largely crushing overt resistance will be fairly similar to the situation US forces will find in Baghdad over the next few days as the last vestiges of Ba'athist Socialism collapse. A CNN reporter on the spot was recounting how he saw one man shoot another dead over looting spoils and obviously the US forces will have to get a grip fairly quickly to prevent things getting completely out of control.
It will be interesting to see how the scenes of celebrating Iraqis in the area of Baghdad called 'Saddam City' will be reported on local television across the Islamic world. Who knows, maybe a few meta-contexts will actually be shaken loose from their moorings.
...as the last vestiges of Ba'athist Socialism collapse. Sorry, I just have to write that again... as the last vestiges of Ba'athist Socialism collapse. Ahhhh. That feels good.
Have you noticed today's photos show an inordinate amount of computer gear being nicked? Scanners, printers, stuff like that. I think it was on the BBC site I saw a shot of a woman wearing the full Arabic black bag ensemble carrying a 21" monitor on her head, still in the box.
I suppose the simple explanation is that they're pinching things from government offices that look valuable. But I'd prefer to think these poor bastards have been itching for years to play Return to Castle Wolfenstein on a proper monitor. Or No One Lives Forever II, perhaps.
Posted by S. Weasel at April 9, 2003 01:14 PM
LOL!!!! Excellent Weasel! And thus do we corrupt and liberate the Middle Eastern mind :-)
Posted by Dawg at April 9, 2003 01:45 PM
Sitting here watching the statue of Sadders being torn down and broken up.
As we wipe away a manly tear we should spare a thought for Chirac's France, $50billion worth of contracts down the drain...
Posted by David Packer at April 9, 2003 03:17 PM
David Packer: yup, it just don't get much better than this, does it?
Posted by Perry de Havilland at April 9, 2003 03:53 PM
I concur with all above sentiments. Praise be for the destruction of Ba'athist socialism.
Unfortunately, we have a long way to go before we can say the same about British socialism.
Posted by David Carr at April 9, 2003 05:02 PM
Unfortunately, Ba'athist socialism survives. -- Syria is ruled by the Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party.
Posted by Warmongering Lunatic at April 9, 2003 11:04 PM
