Battle to retake Basra was 'complete disaster'

The British-trained Iraqi Army's attempt to retake Basra from militiamen was an "unmitigated disaster at every level," British commanders have disclosed. Senior sources have said that the mission was undermined by incompetent officers and untrained troops who were sent into battle with inadequate supplies of food, water and ammunition. They said the failure had delayed the British withdrawal by "many months." Their comments came as the Iraqi army, this time directly supported by US and British forces, began a second operation in Basra in an attempt to find insurgent weapons caches. The push, which was met with fierce resistance, took place in the Hayania district of the city, where there were clashes two weeks ago. In the first operation, it is understood that one Iraqi brigade became a "busted flush" after 1,200 of its soldiers deserted. At one stage during the battle, stories were circulating at the British headquarters that Iraqi troops were demanding food and water from coalition forces at gunpoint. "It was an unmitigated disaster at every level," an officer said. Gen. Mohan Furayji, the Iraqi commander who was in charge of troops during the operation, was described by a senior British staff officer as a "dangerous lunatic" who "ignored" advice. The British officer, who is based at the coalition headquarters at Basra Air Station, said that the decision to allow Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq, to run the operation had been a "disaster which felt as though an amateur was in charge." In a devastating critique of the Iraqi military, British commanders have disclosed that "chaos ruled" the operation to retake Basra. One officer said the Iraqi army's 14th Division had only 26 percent of the equipment necessary to take part in combat operations. He said: "There were literally thousands of troops arriving in Basra from all over Iraq. But they had no idea why they were there or what they were supposed to do. It was madness and to cap it all they had insufficient supplies of food, water and ammunition. "One of the newly formed brigades was ordered into battle and suffered around 1,200 desertions within the first couple of hours -- it was painful to watch. "They had to be pulled out because they were a busted flush. The Iraqi police were next to useless. There were supposed to be 1,300 ready to deploy into the city, but they refused to do so. The situation deteriorated to the extent where we [the British Army] were forced to stage a major resupply operation in order to stave off disaster. "The net effect of all of this is that the British Army will be forced to remain here for many months longer." The Sunday Telegraph has also learnt that British commanders had devised a plan for Gen Mohan. The plan came with the caveat that it should not be started until mid-July because Iraqi troops were not ready. But the officer said that the Iraqi general had ignored the advice. He said that a British liaison team was sent to the Iraqi army headquarters during the battle. "They were greeted by a group of Iraqi generals sitting around a large desk, shouting into their mobiles without a map in sight. Chaos ruled."