Basra: The Non News Story

Basra is the bit of Iraq that the plucky Brits are defending - soft caps and smiles, hearts and minds and all that. The spin to hide what is going on there seems massive. I noted before how the MOD were spinning a jogger as news from Iraq. Now we get this:

Security in Basra 'has improved' - BBC Thursday, 22 June 2006. Its a feel-good story about the Brits and Iraqis working together.

Yet only a few hours later...by Friday 23rd we get:

State of Emergency in Iraq, again - Associated Press on GNN.

As the state of emergency was announced in the capital, a car bomb ripped through a market and nearby gas station in the increasingly volatile southern city of Basra Friday, killing at least five people and wounding 18, including two policemen, police said.

The coalition casualties have not been going down. The trend seems be be they average out. Last month they were at 2.55 per day. The month before they were at 2.73 - which was the highest since November last year.