The Shiite Tet: U.S. Kills 48 In Baghdad Mayhem
Iraqi soldier taking Mahdi Army prisoners
Truth is, it’s as much a power-struggle between Shiite gangs, and a crackdown by the Iraqi Government as much as it is an offensive against the Iraqi Government and U.S. forces.
Related: Battle In Basra
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The death toll rose above 130 after days of fighting in Baghdad where U.S. forces have been drawn deeper into an Iraqi government crackdown on militants loyal to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
U.S. forces said they had killed 48 militants in air strikes and gun battles across the capital on Friday.
A top Sadr aide said Sadr’s representatives had met Iraq’s highest Shi’ite religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in an effort to end the violence. The Sadr aide, Salah al-Ubaidi, said Sistani called for a peaceful solution.
At least 133 bodies and 647 wounded have been brought to five hospitals in the eastern half of Baghdad over the past five days of clashes, the head of the health directorate for eastern Baghdad, Ali Bustan, said on Saturday.
Health workers say hospitals are overflowing and understaffed in the Sadr City slum, a vast stronghold of Sadr’s followers, and a ring of Iraqi and U.S. forces around the area makes it impossible to evacuate the wounded.
More than 300 people have been reported killed and many hundreds wounded in the five days of fighting across southern Iraq and Baghdad since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on Sadr’s followers in the southern city of Basra.
In Basra, Mehdi Army fighters controlled the streets, manning checkpoints and openly brandishing rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers.
Maliki has announced he will fight the militants in Basra “until the end.” He issued orders to his commanders in Baghdad to pursue militants in the capital with “no mercy.”
Washington says the crackdown is a sign the Iraqi government is serious about imposing its will and capable of acting on its own. But government forces have failed to drive Sadr’s fighters from the streets.
U.S. forces described a number of gun battles in Baghdad including one in which they said they killed 10 gunmen who attacked a joint U.S.-Iraqi security station. The Americans have used helicopter gunships and artillery.
Mortar bombs and rockets have caused havoc in the capital all week. Strikes on the fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic compound forced the U.S. embassy to order staff to wear helmets and body armor.
A curfew is in place in Baghdad, closing shops, businesses and schools. Residents are confined to their homes in areas where there has been fighting.
RIFT
The conflict exposes a deep rift within Iraq’s majority Shi’ite community, between the political parties in Maliki’s government who control the security forces and Sadr’s followers who in many areas rule the streets.
Sistani almost never intervenes in politics. His views, if made public, would carry authority among Shi’ites in Sadr’s movement and in the political parties that support Maliki.
A spokesman for Sistani in Beirut declined to say whether Sistani was involved in any initiative to stop the fighting.
At one house in Basra, walls were shattered and blood poured into a sewer. Grieving relatives said seven people had been killed in what they believed was an air strike that morning.
A spokesman for British forces said there were no air strikes on Saturday but there had been earlier this week.
The air strikes require U.S. or British teams on the ground to direct them, indications that Western involvement has been growing in what so far has been an Iraqi-led operation.
A main British force of 4,100 troops, which pulled out of Basra in December, has remained on a base outside it and British officials have said they have no plans to retake the city.
Iraqi commanders say they have killed 120 fighters in Basra.
Maliki, who had initially given them 72 hours to surrender, extended the deadline until April 8 for the fighters to turn over weapons in return for cash. They remained defiant.
“We will fight on and never give up our weapons,” Mehdi Army deputy military commander in Basra Abu Hassan al-Daraji told Reuters by telephone. “We will not turn over a single bullet.”
Fighting has spread to other towns across the south.
Clashes were under way on the western outskirts of Kerbala, one of Shi’ite Islam’s holiest cities. The Iraqi commander in the province, Major-General Raad Jawdat, said his forces had killed 21 “outlaws” and arrested 50 others.
(Additional reporting by Wathiq Ibrahim and Waleed Ibrahim in Baghdad, Aref Mohammed in Basra and Khaled Farhan in Najaf; Editing by Robert Woodward)
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Keep fighting them boys! the more of these militants get taken down before a cease fire the safer Iraq will be in the future. And definitely stopping Irans influence is a huge priority, if not they will screw up Iraq just like they have Lebanon.
on a side note: I seriously thought the Sunnis were going to be the bigger problem, very surprising how this has turned out
March 29th, 2008 at 6:34 amDoes This Sound Familiar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiW5FXs1n6M&feature=related
Especially at the end of this N. Vietnam propaganda clip
March 29th, 2008 at 6:47 amIf Al-Sistani were running the show….this shit would never have happened. Even Al-Sistani considers Mookie to be a nutcase.
Mookie wants to take Al-sistani’s place and be the bigshot his father was. Only Mookie is just a puppet on an Iraniac string. A troublemaker and a poor liar.
Best thing to do is to wipe out his militia and get rid of the little bitch mookie once and for all.
BTW: Anytime there is an Arab reporter(s) involved in a story, I don’t trust their report, especially regarding civilian casualties.
March 29th, 2008 at 9:20 amSeems to me the Brit explanation about why they withdrew to lessen violence is pretty much irrelevant, now. But Ball-less Brown will never permit them to get back into the fight. Though I bet they’re chomping at the bit; there was never a soldier-level problem with the Brits’ approach.
March 29th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Another 48 bite the dust.
March 29th, 2008 at 7:01 pmFour dozen more gone, four dozen more gone,
48 bite the dust,
yes, we’er gonna get Mookie too!
Another 48 bite the dust.
Cheers
Awww, look at those little piglet bitches getting lead away. People complained that Abu Ghraib was bad. Those little fags pictured above are in for something much worse, a typical middle east run prision. Say good buy to your anal virginity Mehdi warriors. Hope sadr was worth it.
March 29th, 2008 at 8:00 pmlol, the truth is the iraqis are switching over to the Mahdi side, both in Baghdad and in Basra, and the fighting is spreading over the south. That surge is really working eh Petraeus?
Better get those choppers ready for the evacs bushie
March 30th, 2008 at 4:33 am