Lesson # 33 on why you have to read the foreign press.

In this article from The Guardian, it is pointed out that news of the "uprising" in Basra emerged at a very convenient time. can you imagine an American paper making the same point?

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | British forces support Basra 'uprising' The first success of the day - which came just at the right moment for prime-time television news in the UK - was a claim by the British military that a "popular uprising" against Saddam Hussein's regime had broken out in Basra.

British forces then weighed in with artillery support for the rebelling Shia population and a 2,000-lb bomb was dropped on the Ba'ath party headquarters, according to reports. The British deputy commander, Major-General Peter Wall, hailed the uprising as "just the sort of encouraging indication we have been looking for".

At present, very little news is coming out of Basra from independent sources, so it is difficult to be sure what is really happening. Some British versions have been much more cautious, describing the uprising as "nascent", while Al-Jazeera's reporter inside the city said there was no sign of any uprising at all.

Until now, Shia organisations in southern Iraq have been very wary of getting involved in the war. In 1991, the US encouraged them to rebel but then abandoned them to their fate at the hands of Saddam's merciless men.