Iraqi forces face a challenge here:
British soldiers withdrew Sunday from their last base in Basra and moved to the local airport about 12 miles to the north. The move ended the British military's permanent presence in the city and paves the way for further cuts in the 5,500-strong force.
Iraqi soldiers and police now have responsibility for security in the city, with a population of about 2 million. So far calm has prevailed in Basra, which lies 340 miles southeast of Baghdad near the Iranian border.
The Iraqi army has about 4,000 soldiers in Basra province, according to an Iraqi Defense Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The British withdrawal was done despite Iranian interference in the area:
"We are engaged — or we have been engaged — effectively in a proxy war with Iran," Lt. Col. Patrick Sanders, commanding officer of 500 troops who vacated their last base in downtown Basra on Sunday, told British Broadcasting Corp.
I'd be happier if the British had waited until November to pull out of Basra.
