"A British soldier jumps from a burning tank"

[sabra]

A British soldier jumps from a burning tank which was set ablaze after a shooting incident in the southern Iraqi city of Basra September 19, 2005. Angry crowds attacked a British tank with petrol bombs and rocks in Basra on Monday after Iraqi authorities said they had detained two British undercover soldiers in the southern city for firing on police. Two Iraqis were killed in the violence, an Interior Ministry official said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/pictures/BAG29DR.htm

[WilliamPitt]

1. Jumps? He's falling.

[CottonBear]

3. He's falling AND he's on fire.

:scared: :( :scared: :( :scared: :(

[Scurrilous]

2. Poor guy...

...burned for a lie.

[ohio_liberal]

4. That's not an accurate caption

A burning British soldier falls from a burning tank....

Gawdalmighty. :(

[CottonBear]

5. Link? n/t

[sabra]

7. "British soldier jumps from burning tank in southern Iraq city of Basra"

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/pictures/BAG29DR.htm

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. More blood on Fuckstick's hands

disgusting. Their hatred of life sickens me.

[ewagner]

8. A brief glimpse

into the true horror of war in general and the horror that is Iraq in specific.

[Rex]

9. I thought they loved us over there!?!?!

So they traded in the rose pedals for gasoline? Someone alert Rummy the Dummy ASAP! Is it just me or is the end of that gun turret capped?

[Tamarin]

10. And, I wonder what the "angry crowds" did

after the burning soldier *jumped*?

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. British TV says all of the soldiers were OK

TV pictures show soldiers in combat gear jumping from one of the tanks and making their escape without returning fire on the crowd.

Officials said they had received no reports of UK personnel being injured, but local council spokesman Nadhim al Jabari said two civilians were killed in the clashes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4260894.stm

At some time after (I'm not sure when), other British vehicles arrived, with men in riot gear.

[Rex]

16. Good to hear he lived to see another day.

My heart goes out to everyone caught in the war in Iraq, soldiers and 'insurgents' alike.

[patrice]

11. Oh, the Glory of being the "Good Guys"!!

on the backs of ALL of the Suffering . . . .

THIS is a Horror!

I've been resisting impeachment language (with my basic Reality Check), but find myself attracted to it more and more.

[CBGLuthier]

12. UNDERCOVER SOLDIERS!!!!

WTF are soldiers doing "undercover"

I think we all know (fear) the answer to that one.

[Henny Penny]

14. And we see in the photo some of the consequences of

their f*cking covert actions!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[grytpype]

17. Basra is one of the nice, safe parts of Iraq.

As you can see.

[killbotfactory]

18. Aren't those considered "illegal combatants"?

Rummy will be outraged, I'm sure.

[Taxloss]

13. Why was he there, again?

He's clearly falling. I hope he got through without major injuries. Jeez.

[Voice1]

19. I'm not surprised Iraqis are angry

Considering that those tanks were on a mission to rescue soldiers accused of planting bombs dressed as Arabs.

[jimshoes]

20. Is there more to this story

about planting bombs dressed as Arabs? This sounds a bit troubling. Why would they be doing that?

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. That's the Washington Post's story; others talk about firing at police

Monday's clashes stemmed from the arrest by Iraqi police on Sunday of two Britons, whom Iraqi police accused of planting bombs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091900572.html

An Iraqi official in Basra said the British military had informed him the detained men were undercover soldiers.

"They were driving a civilian car and were dressed in civilian clothes when a shooting took place between them and Iraqi patrols," the official told Reuters.
...
Mohammed al-Abadi, an official in the Basra governorate, said the two men looked suspicious to police.

"A policeman approached them and then one of these guys fired at him. Then the police managed to capture them," Abadi told reporters.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-09-19T171003Z_01_YUE946529_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-BRITONS.xml

And the stories imply the shooting incident was today, not Sunday.

[Voice1]

23. That's certainly the implication isn't it.

Is this a mistake do you think? Or was the Washington Post article mistaken that the soldiers were arrested yesterday? Or perhaps there were the original 2 soldiers arrested yesterday on suspicion of planting the bombs, and then another 2 have been detained today?

Damn, my head's hurting now.

[Voice1]

22. Depends on which report you read I guess

To be honest, there are so many conflicting reports around now.

The facts from the Washington Post article however seem to indicate that 2 British soldiers were arrested yesterday for planting bombs.

However, there are other reports which say that 2 British soldiers have been arrested for firing at police. A BBC reporter earlier said that two soldiers were dressed in traditional Arab dress, and had explosives in their vehicle.

The one thing all reports seem to have in common however, at least those reported here in the British media, is that the tanks which were set on fire seem to have been on a mission to rescue the soldiers from the Iraqi police.

A BBC reporter also said that a full blown rescue mission was launched to release the British soldiers who were captured, the British military apparently even called in helicopters.

What also seems to be a common theme running through the reports is that the locals protested because of the attempts to rescue the soldiers.

But were there 2, or were there 4 British soldiers altogether involved who were arrested? Or possibly more? I've been trying to get to grips with all the articles today, and will be going through it all tomorrow as well. I guess your guess is as good as mine.