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Basra battle may decide war // Iranians press attack; Iraqi jets hit 11 cities
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Iran said yesterday its troops had captured two islands in the
strategic Shatt al-Arab waterway and pushed into the suburbs of the
key southern Iraqi city of Basra. Iraqi jets bombed 11 Iranian
cities, killing at least 214 people.
Some military analysts said they doubted the Iranians would
launch an all-out assault on Basra but suggested the battle could be
the turning point in the war, in its seventh year.
One veteran diplomatic observer said the outcome of the battle
for ...
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research
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Iran's Drive on Basra Seen a Tactical Success; Observers Note Attackers' Hold on Terrain
The Washington Post
; Military analysts here, noting signs that Iran's 16-day-old military thrust toward Basra has stalled, say they consider the Iranian showing a success even if it fails to reach the strategic Iraqi port on the disputed Shatt al Arab waterway. A final verdict on the offensive will hinge on whether the
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The Violent Consequences of a Pullout; The port city of Basra is a dangerous mess. And it looks to get worse as British troops depart.
U.S. News & World Report
; Byline: Anna Mulrine As talk in Washington turns to just how tricky a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq will be, U.S. military analysts are warily tracking developments in the oil-rich southern province of Basra, now loosely under the control of some 5,500 British troops. Loosely is the operative word.
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Fighting reported near Basra in Iraq
Chicago Sun-Times
; ... destroyed in the fighting Saturday night, adding that all Iranian forces returned safely to their bases in Iran. The Iranian news agency said heavy casualties were suffered by the Iraqis and denied Iraqi reports of destroying Iranian brigades. It is impossible ...
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U.S. Arms Cited in Iran; Major Role Seen In Basra Offensive
The Washington Post
; U.S.-supplied arms and spare parts may have played a major role in the partial success so far of Iran's current offensive against the defenses protecting the strategic Iraqi port of Basra, according to military analysts here. A close study of eyewitness reports from the front and an examination of
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Iraq Dislodges Iranian Forces Outside Basra
The Washington Post
; Iraq opened its second major military offensive of the year today, pushing back Iranian forces dug in around Basra, Iraq's largest southern city. By tonight, Baghdad said it had cleared a 15-mile-long corridor east and southeast of the city, forcing Iranian troops to retreat to the border. Iran
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CORRUPTION PERVADES GOVERNMENT IN BASRA
The Boston Globe
; ... sway and religious law is firmly ensconced. Basra is facing a different threat: pervasive, murderous, gangland-style corruption. News of unsolved killings and vanished public funds vie for attention in the conservative Shi'ite Muslim heartland, where three rival ...
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Basra distrusts tyrants and liberators alike Once the playground of the Gulf, this forlorn second city has learnt after decades under the Ba'athist heel to be wary of outsiders. Old Iraq hand James Buchan reports
The Sunday Telegraph London
; ON THE waterfront at Basra, Iraq's second city which is now surrounded by British forces, stand 90 gigantic cement statues of men in military uniform, gesturing heroically across the wide Shatt al- Arab waterway towards the Iranian shore. They are Iraqi commanders who fell in the defence of the
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Saddam loyalists target Basra residents trying to leave, refugees say.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
; Byline: Sudarsan Raghavan NEAR BASRA, Iraq _ Residents escaping from Basra on Friday described a city under the strict control of supporters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein who have moved military equipment into residential neighborhoods and are preventing hundreds of people from fleeing.
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 "Knight Ridder Washington Bureau (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)")
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Saddam loyalists target Basra residents trying to leave, refugees say.
Knight Ridder Washington Bureau (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)
; Byline: Sudarsan Raghavan NEAR BASRA, Iraq _ Residents escaping from Basra on Friday described a city under the strict control of supporters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein who have moved military equipment into residential neighborhoods and are preventing hundreds of people from fleeing.
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Impact of bloody Basra battle uncertain
Chicago Sun-Times
; WASHINGTON "Ten thousand dead in a week, almost 30,000 dead in three weeks," said an awed State Department official. "The battle for Basra has been about the bloodiest since Verdun." In fact, Verdun, the nine-month World War I battle in France that cost almost a million dead and wounded, still far
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