Al Sadr Threatens All-Out War - Update: His Stronghold Falls In Basra
Update From Today: (AP) Iraqi soldiers swooped on the Mehdi Army’s stronghold in Basra. Iraqi officials said they now controlled the bastion, known as the Hayaniya district.
The dawn raid by government troops there was backed by a thunderous bombardment by U.S. warplanes and British artillery.
Related: Government Takes Control Of Basra As Militias Lose Grip
BAGHDAD (AP) - Anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened a new uprising Saturday if U.S. and Iraqi forces persist with a crackdown against his followers.
The statement, which was posted on his Web site, accused the U.S.- backed government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of betraying the movement and the Iraqi people.
“So I direct my last warning and speech to the Iraqi government to refrain and to take the path of peace and abandon violence against its people,” al-Sadr said in the statement. “If the government does not refrain and leash the militias that have penetrated it, we will announce an open war until liberation.”
Al-Sadr fiercely opposes the U.S. presence in Iraq and launched two major uprisings against U.S.-led foreign forces in 2004. His Mahdi Army militia also was accused of being behind some of the worst retaliatory sectarian violence against Sunnis after the February 2006 bombing of a key Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad.
The cleric ordered his fighters to stand down in late August. But the truce has been severely strained by crackdowns against his Mahdi Army militia in Baghdad’s Sadr City and the southern city of Basra.
“Do you want a third uprising?” al-Sadr asked in the statement.
He also evoked a comparison with Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime, which widely suppressed Iraq’s majority Shiites.
“Despite our freeze of the Mahdi Army, our initiatives to defuse the tension and our calls for peaceful protests and strikes, after all these negotiations and concessions, you are becoming arrogant and adopt the policies of Saddam who used to ban Friday prayers, close the clerics’ offices and resort to assassinations,” he said.
The lifting of the Sadrist cease-fire could jeopardize recent security gains. The military considers the truce one of the pivotal factors behind a sharp decline in violence, along with a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and an influx of some 30,000 U.S. troops.
The recent fighting began when al-Maliki launched an operation against Shiite militias in Basra on March 25, prompting widespread retaliation throughout the southern Shiite heartland as well as the main Mahdi Army stronghold of Sadr City.
Al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, also said publicly this month that al- Sadr must disband the Mahdi Army or get out of politics.
The government and the U.S. military have said they are targeting criminal gangs, not al-Sadr’s movement. But the cleric and his followers have accused them of trying to undermine the group ahead of expected provincial elections in the fall
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I wish someone would blow him the fuck up once and for all! Ugly son-of-a-bitch!
April 19th, 2008 at 12:38 pmOh, man, those teeth…
April 19th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Mookie is in denial. The IA and US troops have already opened all out war against his band of idiots. His words dont mean shit now. show your face mookie so some Iraqi army troop can blow it off for you.
April 19th, 2008 at 12:44 pmAnother title:
Backing up to draw another line in the sand, the mookie threatens to get his ass kicked again.
April 19th, 2008 at 12:45 pm“Do you want a third uprising?” al-Sadr asked in the statement.”
me: I would counter by asking the Mookster if he’s looking for another Faluja. Or perhaps he’s looking to go the same way as the VC in 1968?
The mookster is cruising for a brusing. Lets get it on so that the rest of the Shia can get back to enjoying freedom w/o this kafir ruining their lives and stifling their hard-won freedoms.
I hope all the rest of the Shia render Mookie a proper salute with a bullet from an AK and their middle finger extended.
April 19th, 2008 at 12:48 pmKinda like if ya’ll don’t quit kickin my ass I’m really gonna get pissed!
April 19th, 2008 at 12:56 pmThis guy must be the Iraqi Harry Reid.
Mookie, been taking oral-hygiene lessons from the demorats?
April 19th, 2008 at 1:17 pmPlease go see a dentist before we kill you.
Find Mookie. Kill Mookie. A dead Mookie is a good Mookie.
I’ll say it again,
April 19th, 2008 at 1:52 pm“Skin that smoke-wagon and see what it gets ya” -Wyatt Earp
bring it on Mookie
April 19th, 2008 at 1:59 pm@ cb10
Kinda like if ya’ll don’t quit kickin my ass I’m really gonna get pissed!
This guy must be the Iraqi Harry Reid.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:23 pmLittle Hitler’s puppet speaks.Everyone must listen. The US should go after this guy and go deep into Sadr city. They will be very surprised at what they find there. The only other thing I can say is you can’t get good dental work in Sadr city or Iran. What a no tooth MF!
April 19th, 2008 at 2:29 pmThe offensive three weeks ago pre-empted any chance of a Mahdist “offensive.” Mookie’s “troops” are aimlessly retreating/plotting/shooting/dying, and now even the Iraqi Army can crush them. And will.
You cd tell things had changed when Maliki was on the front lines in Basra…while Mookie was sending out faxes from Teheran…Where he will remain.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:14 pm“ban Friday prayers, close the clerics’ offices and resort to assassinations,” he said.
Now there’s an idea what’s time has come, make Mookie rat food.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:48 pmDamn, i still can’t believe this sumbitch is still walking around.
I do believe his days are numbered though.
Just give him one well placed 2,000 pounder. Please???
April 19th, 2008 at 7:44 pmIf I were Al-Sadie, I would ante up some of my stolen, rube donated mosque funds to the nearest orthodontist so I could have a nice smile on my face when my followers bounce me out of the casket like my hero the Ayatollah Khomeini.
Everyone wants to look their best before the eternal reaming.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:10 pm“Do you want a third uprising?” al-Sadr asked in the statement.
Well…uh… YEAH. You keep quitting (er…declaring cease-fire to negotiate) in the middle of us kicking your ass. Bring your third uprising to the table and get your ass killed once and for all already. The more of your guys we shoot on sight, the better off your whole freaking country will be in the long run… bitch.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:27 pmI love this:
“Kinda like if ya’ll don’t quit kickin my ass I’m really gonna get pissed!
This guy must be the Iraqi Harry Reid.”
That about sums it up.
for mookie 
for the troops.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:34 pmWhat… no dental plan?
April 20th, 2008 at 12:50 ambuy a fuckin tooth brush maggot
April 20th, 2008 at 4:20 amhey mookie-a third uprising? is your head full of camel shit? you didn’t fare too well in the first two.a third? i say giddy-up!!
April 20th, 2008 at 5:21 amI can hear it now: “OK my brothers. Launch your war on the Americans and Maliki while I keep my fat ass in Teheran and supervise.” Pussy!
April 20th, 2008 at 7:46 amWhat’s that guy been eating, camel shit? Eat this
April 20th, 2008 at 8:50 amThere must be some reason the U.S. has not flushed that toothless turd but its a mystery to me…
April 20th, 2008 at 12:03 pmMark F, I bet chalabi had something to do with the fact we let him live. chalibi iran and sadr dance together. early on we apparently trusted chalabi a bit too much.
April 20th, 2008 at 1:17 pm& you lot thought us limeys had bad teeth!
April 20th, 2008 at 2:05 pmDo not under estimate Mookie. He has more political strenghth than you think. When he decides to unleash his militia we are going to feel it.
April 20th, 2008 at 10:51 pm