soc.veterans

jamezd wrote:
> On Mar 25, 10:57 pm, "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names"
> wrote:
>> On Mar 25, 10:53 pm, "Sid9" wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> March 26, 2008
>>> Iraqi and U.S. Forces Battle Shiite Militia
>>> By MICHAEL KAMBER and JAMES GLANZ
>>> BAGHDAD - Heavy fighting broke out Tuesday in two of Iraq's largest cities,
>>> as Iraqi ground forces and helicopters mounted a huge operation to break the
>>> grip of the Shiite militias controlling Basra, and Iraqi forces clashed with
>>> militias in Baghdad. The fighting threatened to destabilize a long-term
>>> truce that had helped reduce the level of violence in the five-year-old Iraq
>>> war.
>>> The battles, along with indications in recent weeks that militia and
>>> insurgent attacks had already been creeping up, raised fears across Iraq
>>> that Moktada al-Sadr, the renegade Shiite cleric, could pull out of a
>>> cease-fire he declared last summer. If his Mahdi Army militia does step up
>>> attacks, that could in turn slow American troop withdrawals.
>>> There were also serious clashes in the southern cities of Kut and Hilla.
>>> In Basra, American and British jets roared through the skies, providing air
>>> support for the Iraqi military. A British Army spokesman for southern Iraq,
>>> Maj. Tom Holloway, said that while Western forces had not entered Basra, the
>>> operation already involved nearly 30,000 Iraqi troops and police forces,
>>> with more arriving. "They are clearing the city block by block," Major
>>> Holloway said.
>>> The scale and intensity of the clashes in Baghdad kept many residents home.
>>> Schools and shops were closed in many neighborhoods and hundreds of
>>> checkpoints appeared; in some neighborhoods they were controlled by the
>>> government and in others by militia members.
>>> Barrages of rockets and mortar shells pounded the fortified Green Zone area
>>> for the second time in three days. An American military spokesman said there
>>> were two minor injuries to civilians in the Green Zone.
>>> Even before the crackdown on militias began on Tuesday, Pentagon statistics
>>> on the frequency of militia and insurgent attacks suggested that after major
>>> security gains last fall, the conflict had drifted into something of a
>>> stalemate. Over all, violence has remained fairly steady over the past
>>> several months, but the streets have become tense and much more dangerous
>>> again after a period of calm.
>>> It is not clear how responsible the restive Mahdi militia commanders are for
>>> stalling progress in the effort to reduce violence. In recent weeks,
>>> commanders have protested continuing American and Iraqi raids and detentions
>>> of militia members.
>>> If the cease-fire were to unravel, there is little doubt about the mayhem
>>> that could be stirred up by Mr. Sadr, who forced the United States military
>>> to mount two bloody offensives against his fighters in 2004 as much of the
>>> country exploded in violence.
>>> Sadiq al-Rikabi, the prime minister's political adviser, and other Iraqi
>>> officials said that just how the unrest in Baghdad was related to the
>>> crackdown in Basra was unknown.
>>> Sadr City, the Baghdad neighborhood that is the center of the Mahdi Army's
>>> power, was sealed off by a cordon of Iraqi troops and what appeared to be
>>> several American units. A New York Times photographer who was able to get
>>> through the cordon found more layers of checkpoints, each one run by about
>>> two dozen heavily armed Mahdi Army fighters clad in tracksuits and T-shirts.
>>> Tires burned in the city center, gunfire echoed against shuttered stores,
>>> and teams of fighters in pickup trucks moved about brandishing machine guns,
>>> sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
>>> "We are doing this in reaction to the unprovoked military operations against
>>> the Mahdi Army," said a Mahdi commander who identified himself as Abu
>>> Mortada. "The U.S., the Iraqi government and Sciri are against us," he said,
>>> referring to a rival Shiite group whose name has changed several times, and
>>> is now known as the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which has an armed wing
>>> called the Badr Organization.
>>> "They are trying to finish us," the commander said. "They want power for the
>>> Iraqi government and Sciri."
>>> Basra, which until 2005 enjoyed relative peace, has since been riven by
>>> power struggles among the Mahdi Army and local Shiite rivals, like the Badr
>>> Organization and a militia controlled by the Fadhila political party, a
>>> group that split from the Sadr party.
>>> In the weeks leading up to the operation, Iraqi officials indicated that
>>> part of the operation would be aimed at the Fadhila groups, which are widely
>>> believed to be in control of Basra's lucrative port operations and other
>>> parts of the city. The ports have been plagued by corruption, draining
>>> revenue that could flow to the central and local governments. But the
>>> operation also threatens the Mahdi Army's strongholds in Basra.
>>> Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's government depends on support from the
>>> Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq but is less dependent now on coalitions with
>>> the Mahdi Army.
>>> In Basra, Iraq's most important oil-exporting center, thousands of Iraqi
>>> government soldiers and police officers moved into the city around 5 a.m.
>>> and engaged in pitched battles with Shiite militia members who have taken
>>> over big areas of that city.
>>> The Basra operation, which senior Iraqi officials had been signaling for
>>> weeks, is considered so important by the Iraqi government that Mr. Maliki
>>> traveled to the city to direct the fighting, several officials said.
>>> Although Sadr officials said the cease-fire was still in effect, on Monday
>>> Mr. Sadr called for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign in response to
>>> what his followers said was an unwarranted crackdown. Some Mahdi commanders
>>> referred to an edict by Mr. Sadr saying their militias had the right of
>>> self-defense.
>>> A member of Mr. Sadr's political party in Basra, Sheik Abdul Sattar
>>> al-Bahadli, complained bitterly about the enormous operation, claiming that
>>> it was aimed at innocent people in Basra.
>>> "We never witnessed such attacks even under the regime of Saddam Hussein,"
>>> Mr. Bahadli said. "Maliki gave orders and said, 'Erase them.' "
>>> But Mr. Maliki said in a statement that the operation was intended to root
>>> out "outlaws" who, he said, were working with local confederates inside and
>>> outside the government.
>>> "The federal government, pressed by its obligations to support the local
>>> government in Basra and support its officials, has decided to restore
>>> security and stability and impose the law," the statement said
>>> An American military official said the American-led coalition forces had
>>> provided air transportation for the operation and were keeping "quick
>>> reaction forces" on standby.
>>> The official said coalition forces had supported Iraqi security forces in
>>> clashes around Sadr City with "special groups" - a term reserved for what
>>> American commanders say are Iranian-backed Shiite splinter groups, which
>>> include portions of the Mahdi Army.
>>> "A coalition forces helicopter also engaged targets north of Sadr City in
>>> support of this operation," the official said, asserting that despite the
>>> fighting, most of Baghdad had been peaceful and that there were still signs
>>> of progress on security in most areas of Iraq and its capital.
>>> "We feel that the cease-fire is being honored" by those loyal to Mr. Sadr,
>>> the official said. The cease-fire, he said, "is in the best interest of all
>>> Iraqis."
>>> Many places in Baghdad were tense. At a checkpoint downtown, a policeman's
>>> radio crackled with the news of the sniper shooting of a police officer in a
>>> nearby neighborhood. "We've heard that Sadr has canceled the cease-fire, is
>>> this true?" he asked motorists whose car he was searching.
>>> In a statement issued late Tuesday, the military said an American soldier
>>> was killed in Baghdad about 5.p.m. No other details were provided.
>>> Witnesses in Basra said jets flew overhead as armored vehicles raced through
>>> the city and machine gun and canon fire reverberated through the streets.
>>> Civilians took refuge in their homes. Iraqi television showed images of
>>> civilian gunmen with grenade launchers taking up positions and ambulances
>>> ferrying the wounded to hospitals.
>>> On Tuesday night, after about six hours of silence, armored vehicles and
>>> helicopters could again be heard moving through the city, witnesses said.
>>> Gunfire and shelling could be heard to the north.
>>> In Baghdad, some areas were deserted as clashes broke out across the city.
>>> In downtown Baghdad, checkpoints blocked sparse traffic every 100 yards.
>>> Saeed Ammar, a government employee, said he was standing near policemen in
>>> the Huriya neighborhood on Tuesday morning when he was approached by Mahdi
>>> Army members. "They told me not to stand near checkpoints. They said, 'We
>>> are waiting for the word from Moktada Sadr to attack the checkpoints - it
>>> may come at any moment.' "
>>> Despite the armed actions by many Sadr followers, members of Mr. Sadr's
>>> party said the cease-fire was still in effect and called for peaceful civil
>>> disobedience. In Najaf, hundreds of followers carrying Korans and olive
>>> branches mounted a sit-in, chanting, "No to occupation, no to terrorism."
>>> Sahar Gani, a teacher, was taking students home along a nearly deserted
>>> Baghdad sidewalk. "The security situation is getting worse day by day," she
>>> said. "The city is getting very bad now. We've been through this before, so
>>> we find it natural. But we don't know what to do."
>>> ========================
>>> Next few days will show more needless American casualties
>> But I thought Bush-Cheney-Petreaus told us that violence was down, the
>> surge is working, we are winning, Al Qaeda is on the run, and we are
>> being greeted with sweets and dancing in the streets. Did they lie to
>> us?- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
>
> From recent ABC interview with Darth Cheny:
> When asked how that assessment comports with recent polls that show
> about two-thirds of Americans say the fight in Iraq is not worth it,
> Cheney replied, "So?"
>
> BUT, what he was really thinking was 'anyone who doesn't agree with
> the retard and me, can piss off.'

He knows he has enough dullards willing to swallow his swill that he
doesn't have a whole bunch to be concerned about.