A moment of truth

The moment of truth has arrived. If these first reports of an uprising in Basra are true, then we have now arrived at the point where we can correct the mistakes of a decade ago when we abandoned the Shi'ites to Saddam's slaughtering henchmen.

From the stories I've been hearing it sounds like the Brits are handling this exactly right. They have apparently started shelling the Iraqi mortars that were being turned on the citizens of Basra. The Brits are even considering plans to enter the city in support of the Shi'ites. Good.

We owe it particularly to the Shi'ites of Basra and to the Kurds in the north to do whatever we need to to protect them - even if it requires some coalition deaths. We hung them out once, we cannot do it again.