the two British soldiers were driving a car "packed with explosives"

[Cocoa]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-09/19/content_3514065.htm

BAGHDAD, Sept. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraqi police detained two British soldiers in civilian clothes in the southern city Basra for firing on a police station on Monday, police said.

"Two persons wearing Arab uniforms opened fire at a police station in Basra. A police patrol followed the attackers and captured them to discover they were two British soldiers," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

The two soldiers were using a civilian car packed with explosives, the source said.

He added that the two were being interrogated in the police headquarters of Basra.

The British forces informed the Iraqi authorities that the two soldiers were performing an official duty, the source said. British military authorities said they could not confirm the incident but investigations were underway. Enditem

[jackstraw45]

1. Let's HOPE they were on their way to bust people trying to buy explosives

I'm 99% cynical but I always hope....

[MadisonProgressive]

2. This is getting a little bit TOO wierd.

[patrice]

3. Somekind of Readiness Exercise?

[htuttle]

4. Busted

You know, I've been trying to tell myself that our governments weren't staging some of the bombings in Iraq.

Damn.

[Cocoa]

7. no good response from the British govt. yet

other than denying any of this happened (despite the photos).

[DemInDistress]

5. Brits dressed in Arab garb and carrying explosives

sounds like the perps leaving those car bombs parked somewhere.I tot
ally believe our forces are kidnapping,sniping,and killing selected
Arabs whenever they see fit to do so.Meanwhile icasualties.org reports
British tanks stormed the prison where those brits were being held
and freed them,it also allowed about 150 Iraqi prisoners to also es-
cape..Its like the Wild Wild West....

[louis-t]

6. Curiouser and curiouser.

[ck4829]

8. This story just gets stranger and stranger

First they shoot and kill cops.

Then the Army breaks them out of jail. 150 Iraqi prisoners also escaped and 4 people died in the chaos.

Now they had a car bomb?

What was their official duty?! The Iraqi People have a Right to Know!

[lonestarnot]

18. WTF? Somebody better do some digging on this story...

[Igel]

9. Those two soldiers, for the sake of all concerned, had better

turn out to have nice Anglo-Saxon names and be Anglican.

Assuming the rumors are true, that is.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. 'packed' sounds a little unlikely

since they showed video footage of the car after the arrests, and people were just hanging about, very close to it. That's not what most people with a car bomb.

[Cocoa]

11. that makes sense

we'll see.

[Dr.Phool]

12. Their names were Colonol Bin Laden and Leftenant Zarqawi

[Arkham House]

13. Is This the Eugene Hasenfus Moment in Iraq?

He was the guy who crashed the helicopter in Nicaragua in '86, leading to the beginning of the unraveling of Iran-Contra...this seems similar, except it's even fishier. *Could* Bush and/or Blair *really* be this stupid...?

[BeHereNow]

16. Welcome to DU and actually, "Stupid" is not the right word-

"Malevolent?"
Yes, they ARE that malevolent.
BHN

[elehhhhna]

17. YES. Look: they were too stupid to plant WMDs. THAT'S PRETTY STUPID!

Hacks. Friggin hacks, every one of them. All making money for Carlyle Group.

[ignatius 2]

14. Have you all ever read The Quiet American by Graham Greene?

An American undercover agent sets up many explosions in areas of heavy local traffic such as bars,cafes,markets,etc. to prolong the conflict in Vietnam by blaming the Viet-Cong(insurgents.)

When I hear about suicide bombers in large civilian areas, I think of this book and wonder what is really going on?

[stillcool]

15. reminds me of the Italian journalist.....

there is so little 'news' coming out of that country, who knows what's going on?

[leftofthedial]

19. in-sergeants