

Author: Iron Richard
Publisher: Routledge Ltd
ISSN: 1744-0378
Source: The RUSI Journal, Vol.158, Iss.1, 2013-02, pp. : 54-62
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Abstract
By 2008, the initially promising security situation in Basra had deteriorated to the extent that the British Army had withdrawn to the airport, kilometres from the city. Domestic pressure was also hastening the UK's handover to local security forces. The British became onlookers in Basra's insurgency; Operation Charge of the Knights was the result. In this article, Richard Iron identifies the lessons of the British campaign in Basra and the strategic nature of the mistaken conduct of the counter-insurgency campaign.