Thrips?

[Fert1]

I wasn't sure if I should post this in the Herb section or here, and finally decided here. I have some kind of insects on my basil plant. I think they might be thrips but I'm not sure. They look a little like aphids, but are white. They are about the same size as a good sized aphid. Whatever they are, they seem to attach themselves to the leaves and suck out the juice. They are attached very firmly. You can't just wipe them off.

The last batch of basil I harvested, I couldn't figure out how to get the darn things off, so what I finally wound up doing was soaking the basil in water. After a bit, they drowned and floated to the top. That seemed to do the trick, but I was very paranoid that one would wind up in my stew. I'm pretty sure they didn't really though, as I was very careful to examine everything before putting it into the stew. Still, made me paranoid though.

From online pictures, I think they might be thrips. I understand there are white aphids, but they are fuzzy. These are definitely not fuzzy. Any ideas on what this might be? I don't have a digital camera, or I would post a picture.