Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook- CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.
The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from
the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried
public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for
disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the
harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.
Basra Bizarre: SAS Commandos Arrested and Sprung
by C. L. Cook
An oddity in Iraq yesterday. Two British members of the elite SAS arrested by Iraqi police following a gun-fight at a checkpoint are now back in British hands after a dramatic jail break pulled off by fellow soldiers.
Two British commandos, members of the secretive SAS were arrested by Iraqi police yesterday in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The two men, dressed in Arab garb and driving an unmarked car, drew the attention of police. As the car was approached, shots were fired.
[Before the inglorious British retreat from Basra, the city endured a vicious "sectarian" bombing campaign. What the BBC didn't tell you about was the role played by their Tommy's in the field. This is another oldie from the Iraq occupation file.- lex]
[Update (S20 5:49 pdt) The Washington Post Foreign Service is
reporting Basra police charging the SAS men were captured during a
bomb-laying mission. Reuters has released photos of the equipment
allegedly taken from the British soldier's car. Chinese news agency
claims confirmation of conspiracy charges from unnamed Iraq Interior
Ministry source. And, for Mike Whitney's take see here. Global
Research.ca adds this.]
[Update II (S21 20:17 pdt) Corporate
news sources are down-playing the root cause of the growing unrest in
the south of Iraq. No mention is made of the car-bombing dimension to
this, and the tale of the dead soldiers, and five subsequent civilian
deaths exacted during the British assault on the Basra jail. - lex]
[Update
III (O21 23:00 pdt) Sean Rayment of London's Sunday Telegraph
transcribed the "real" story behind the SAS's bizarre doings in Basra
that fateful day. ( 'Captured SAS Men Spying on 'Drill Torturer' Oct.
16, 2005). According to Rayment, the pair of intrepids were merely
carrying out "surveillance" in the hopes of tracking down a
particularly barbarous Iraqi police official. The article is full of
the most gruesome details as to the methods allegedly employed. So many
grizzly factoids did Sean reveal, that many readers could be forgiven,
in the midst of their outraged indignation, for forgetting some of the
finer details left out of the revised version of reality, doubtless
approved before press time by military censors.
Not mentioned
in the article: weaponry and "bomb-making" materiel found in the car
the SAS men were driving; why they opened fire on coalition partner
Iraqi police; the British impounding of the car following raids on the
police station and jail; the extent of Iraqi casualties incurred during
the rescue operation; the prevalent belief in southern Iraq and Iran of
British involvement in wide-spread bombing campaigns occurring in the
area.
Basra Bizarre:
SAS Commandos Arrested and Sprung
by C. L. Cook
PEJ News
September 19, 2005
Two British commandos, members of the secretive SAS were arrested by Iraqi police yesterday in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The two men, dressed in Arab garb and driving an unmarked car, drew the attention of police. As the car was approached, shots were fired. Conflicting reports make the timeline of the exchange of fire
unclear, and there are also discrepancies concerning casualties, some
saying one policeman was wounded and/or killed, others claiming two
police dead, while still others claim none were killed. But what is
clear: the two soldiers were taken into custody and questioned by an
Iraqi judge.
Some hours after the incident, British reinforcements arrived at
the jail, demanding the release of their colleagues. When refused, the
British knocked down at least one wall of the jail. Reports cite the
rescue employed either a tank, several tanks, or armoured personnel
carriers: Again, accounts are diverse. Everyone does agree though,
there was helicopter support for the rescue operation, and at least one
tank was later set afire by angry mobs, hurling stones and petrol
bombs. Crowds had apparently been drawn to the jail by flying squads of
rabble-rousers, blaring news of a killed policeman and the arrest of
the British over car-mounted loudspeakers.
Word of the shooting
spread through the city, already edgy because of the heightened bombing
campaigns against religious sites and observances. (This week marks the
beginning of the Karbala Festival, marking the birth of Imam Mohammed
al-Mahdi in 868 A.D. on the Christian calendar. It's expected to draw
as many as 3 million pilgrims, providing ample opportunities for car
and suicide bombings.) These attacks have been cited by Iranian
officials as a deliberate ploy by the Americans and their allies,
ostensibly to justify the continuation of the occupation. It's a
sentiment broadly shared in Iraq.
Curiously, B.B.C. World
Service Radio reports initially identified the car the SAS drove as
being: "full of explosives and bomb making equipment." It's a quote
this reporter is unable at this hour (S19 6pm pdt) to corroborate.
[update (D20) In fact, none among the several articles relating to
this strange tale broach the questions: Why did the shooting start? Why
were the men there? What was in the car?]
Media emphasis is now
quickly shifting to the block-buster rescue mission. An estimated 150
others held in the prison took the opportunity to escape custody. But,
that too is a point made moot by counter-claims stating none escaped.
One thing is certain tonight: The relatively quiet British-Iraqi relationship in the south is fast deteriorating.
Also
today, 38 year-old reporter Fakher Haider was found dead in Basra. His
body showed signs of severe trauma. He was shot to death. Haider
becomes the 55th journalist killed in Iraq since the fall of the
Hussein regime.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio,
broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. He also serves
as a contributing editor to PEJ News. You can check out the GR Blog
here.
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