Can we safely say that yesterday marked the end of the Iraq war, in a loss for the coalition of the willing?

The withdrawal of British troops from Basra Palace to the airport — from which point, according to PM Gordon Brown, “they can re-intervene if necessary”, yeah right — has left the region to Shia militias. According to Patrick Cockburn, three seperate groups have carved up the actual functions of the state:

Fadhila, which controls the Oil Protection Force; the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, which dominates the intelligence service and police commando units, and The Mehdi Army, which runs much of the local police force, port authority and the Facilities Protection Force.

Official Iraqi spokespeople remained upbeat however, arguing that this process had always been planned and that, according to Iraq’s defence minister, Abdul-Qadir al-Obaidi: “We are working very seriously to fill the security vacuum and we expect in the next few days to fill it in a good way”.

So that’s the good news – that the place being trumpeted a year or so ago as a model of gradual handover to Iraqi forces will only be in chaos for a while. And even this is a lie of course. There is no Iraqi state in Basra, or anywhere outside Baghdad, and not much even there.

Meanwhile the IHT notes that Sunni insurgents have now teamed up with the US to fight against al-Qaeda cells in the country and that this is a sign of growing acceptance of the American presence as a partnership for peace.

Yeah, uh, well since we’re spraying the Vietnam metaphors about, let’s remember that Ho’s Viet Minh force fought with the Allies (including the Free French) against the Japanese in WW2, before launching their own war of independence once the French refused to leave. And Mao’s army fought alongside Chang Kai-Shek’s forces before…. and on it goes. Who’d be surprised if they put all the training and ordnance they’re getting to a different use once Al-Qaeda (or whoever they are) are wiped out?

Going on previous form, the Americans would be. Still the British are at the airport, waiting to re-intervene. Cos that’s always where you go, the airport, when you’re not planning to get out fast, isn’t it?