A dangerous erosion of trust in Iraq
A clash between British forces and Iraqis they have been protecting from the worst of the country's insurgency is a worrying turn of events in the run-up to next month's constitutional referendum.
First, it occurred in Basra in southern Iraq, where the British have maintained relatively good relations with the Shi'ite population by pursuing a low-profile security policy compared with their US allies further north in the country. Second, it comes on top of tension raised by three insurgent attacks in and around Basra this month, which have led to fears of increasing violence in the south designed to undermine the referendum.
In one incident after a truck bomb near a restaurant killed 16 people, police found a car bomb nearby that was intended to hit emergency workers as they responded to the blast. Such tactics are more commonly used by insurgents in the mainly Sunni north under US occupation.
The British forces were accustomed to patrolling Basra without helmets, projecting a friendly image aimed at winning over the local population. After the recent insurgent attacks, they could be expected to be wary - even jittery - over signs that the terror tactics common in the north were spreading south.
Sadly, the latest incident, in which British tanks and armoured vehicles were used to secure the release of two undercover soldiers arrested by police for allegedly firing on them, threatens a working relationship with Iraqi authorities that helped quarantine the south from the worst of the violence wracking the country.
There is no explanation why Iraqi police who arrested the two soldiers handed them over to local militia. Apparently that gave rise to fears for their safety. Defending the decision to abandon negotiations to free the men in favour of using force, the British commander in Basra pointed to petrol bomb attacks on British forces by angry Iraqis.
It is a measure of the breakdown in relations that Basra Governor Mohammed al-Waili has called the army action a 'barbaric act of aggression'. During the operation to free the men, an armoured vehicle breached the perimeter wall of the jail in a Basra police station, cars were crushed and two Iraqis killed in rioting.
The incident is bound to be seen as a humiliation by many Iraqis - something the insurgents will use to their advantage. It will also strengthen the hand of firebrand Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has built strong local support for his stand against foreign troops in Iraq.
There is a strong possibility that the referendum will reject the draft constitution and that a drafting process that took 10 months will have to start over again.
Any further breakdown in what little law and order remains would be a fresh tragedy for Iraqis. The British army needs to do whatever it can to rebuild the trust of civilian authorities in Basra.
