Two articles from the BBC: Basra resident blame UK troops and Basra's new era brings new fears.
Analysis: The Brits have slowly been pulling out of Basra, in southeast Iraq. And in September they moved out of the city and into an army base. They're getting ready to downsize even more. It will be interesting to see what happens. Will the violence decrease if the "insurgents" have fewer "invaders" to fight? Will "sectarian violence" increase as they fight each other? Southeast Iraq is mostly Shi'ite and contains the holiest Shi'ite shrines. And Basra has historically been an important city. It's ironic that during World War I, the British invaded Iraq and started by taking over Basra. After WWI, they did not have an easy time in Iraq. It's a pity we didn't learn more from that.
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