Basra

Friends,
Basra is about rival gangs and economics. Control of Basra ports gives astounding ability to siphon oil and "shake-down" port authority; which means money and lots of it. Al Malaki is in trouble if the government loses the port and the monies coming from it. The police work both sides and are seen as more of a mafia group than as a security organization. Big trouble.
Rev O

"American officials have presented the Iraqi Army’s attempts to secure the port city as an example of its ability to carry out a major operation against the insurgency on its own. A failure there would be a serious embarrassment for the Iraqi government and for the army, as well as for American forces eager to demonstrate that the Iraqi units they have trained can fight effectively on their own.
During a briefing in Baghdad on Wednesday, a British military official said that of the nearly 30,000 Iraqi security forces involved in the assault, almost 16,000 were Basra police forces, which have long been suspected of being infiltrated by the same militias the assault was intended to root out."

Iraqi Army’s Assault on Militias in Basra Stalls
By JAMES GLANZ New York Times