Two Brit bases bombarded in 'succesful' Basra

Basra- Two British military bases in Basra were bombarded
with missiles in the past 24 hours, an Iraqi security source
said Thursday.
The two British bases, located in downtown Basra and in the city's
Shat al-Arab hotel, were bombed Wednesday night and early Thursday
morning, the source added.

Basra is located 550 kilometres south of Baghdad. No details of
causalities were immediately available.

The bombings come one day after British premier Tony Blair had
announced the withdrawal of 1,600 British soldiers over the next few
months and that troop levels could fall below 5,000 - from the
present 7,100 - by the end of the summer. Link

Well, I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty well," Cheney told ABC News' Jonathan Karl.

"In fact, I talked to a friend just the other day who had driven to Baghdad down to Basra, seven hours, found the situation dramatically improved from a year or so ago, sort of validated the British view they had made progress in southern Iraq and that they can therefore reduce their force levels," -- Dick Cheney