Airstrip One

As my previous post showed, the British presence in Basra is being scaled down. However, the Foreign Office and Department for International Development have decided to depart early, leaving a sordid legacy. This has placed the reconstruction efforts in Basra under a cloud. Remember that these efforts were focussed in areas that were not controlled by militias. Now, it appears that more money has been lavished on the British consulate than on reconstruction in the city itself:

The Foreign Office and Dfid operation in southern Iraq has been criticised for the poor handling of economic and political regeneration in the area.

While £14 million has been spent on refurbishing the consulate, including a new portico, hardened roof defences and swimming pool, it has spent just £12.5 million on reconstruction that included repainting a tower in the city.

The palace, which is surrounded by a 30ft blast wall and graced with manicured lawns, is in the same fortified compound as 800 British infantry.

Such luxury within an impoverished city would leave a bitter taste with the locals, providing a tempting target for those who wish to gain support through mortar attacks. Now the FCO and DFID responds with evacuation. No doubt the usual suspects will be promoted, for their diplomatic handling of the locals.

For 'sophisticates' who attack the United States on the grounds that our imperial history allows us to administer the poor locals better, think again. Too many years in the European Union have turned our civil servants into venal incompetents and our politicians into parasites sucking the lens, whilst the Army sees their soldiers and their achievements pissed on.