CNN's Michael Ware on the violence in Basra:

This is a window into the future of Iraq after the American withdrawal...

What many people suggest is that we're looking at a situation that will be akin to Lebanon in the 1980s, with vicious, well-armed militia proxy wars where all the factions are supported by one foreign sponsor or another.

But this will be Lebanon on steroids.

The British withdrew from the city in September. The Times (London) puts the choice facing the British government in stark terms: more combat troops or "an ignominious withdrawal and handing over control of Basra to the Americans."