MUST READ - The war in Iraq was not a blunder or a mistake. It was a crime

[suffragette]

45. Yep. DU is a great source for that history, since people here posted the evolving

stories as they happened, along with links.

Some links are broken now, but we still have the actual history of much of what was written at the time due to the threads here. And the links that still work lead back to articles.

The DU archive is incredibly deep in that way. I hope it never disappears.

Here are two of the many threads:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4819548

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4825585

Here is one of the BBC evolving stories, full of remarks about "in the right direction," merely "local" and "unfortunate development."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4264614.stm

And here's a brief and blunt Democracy Now synopsis of the UK breaking the SAS men out:
http://www.democracynow.org/2005/9/20/headlines/uk_forces_attack_iraqi_jail_to_free_two_british_troops

UK Forces Attack Iraqi Jail To Free Two British Troops
SEPTEMBER 20, 2005HEADLINES
New questions about Iraq’s sovereignty are being raised after British forces attacked an Iraqi jail on Monday because they believed two detained British commandos were inside. British troops opened fire on the jail in Basra and used six armored vehicles to smash down the jail’s walls as helicopter gunships flew overhead. The provincial governor of Basra described the British assault as "barbaric, savage and irresponsible." The Associated Press reported 150 prisoners escaped during the siege. As the British raided the prison, Iraqis started attacking the British vehicles with firebombs and rockets. One of the British armored fighting vehicles was set ablaze. Photos showed a British soldier on fire climbing out of the hatch and jumping to the ground, as a crowd pelted him. An Iraqi official said that the British soldiers were arrested after they had fired at an Iraqi police officer. At the time the British soldiers were undercover and dressed as Iraqis. After the prison was breached in Basra, the two soldiers were found not to be in the jail but in a nearby house. The British Army attempted to downplay the incident claiming that the men were released after negotiations. The government said it feared for the lives of the British commandos after discovering they had been handed to "militia elements". The British attack on the Iraqi jail came one day after British forces arrested three members of the Shiite Mahdi Army.