Chaos, Political Pressure, Bloodshed And Paranoia Rock Al Sadr And Mahdi Army
BAGHDAD - At least 13 Shiite militants were killed in the latest clashes in Baghdad’s militia stronghold of Sadr City, the U.S. military said.
The U.S. military said the American soldier was killed in a blast Saturday morning in northwestern Baghdad but did not say whether Shiite militiamen were responsible.
The death raised to at least 19 the number of American troopers killed in Iraq since last Sunday. The expanding showdown with Al Sadr and Iran has not surprisingly provided for the bloodiest week this year for U.S. forces.
American casualties have risen with an outbreak of fighting in Baghdad between U.S. and Iraqi forces and the largest Shiite militia—the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, repeated on Saturday his demand for American soldiers to leave the country and urged his fighters not to target fellow Iraqis “unless they are helping the (U.S.) occupation.”
Al-Sadr also blamed the Americans and their Iraqi allies for the assassination Friday of one of his top aides and cousins, Riyadh al-Nouri, director of his office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
Gunmen ambushed al-Nouri as he was returning home from Friday prayers, and al-Sadr followers shouted anti-American slogans at his funeral in Najaf.
Despite the strident rhetoric, however, there were signs that al-Sadr was trying to calm his militia to avoid all-out war with the Americans. Al-Sadr is also under intense, possibly make-or-break polticial pressure from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, also a Shiite, to disband the Mahdi Army or face a ban from politics. His forces have suffered heavy losses, and his ranks are filled with paranoia about who is or isn’t their enemy within both Iraq and Iran.
Sadrist officials told The Associated Press they had received orders from their headquarters in Najaf to avoid confrontations with Iraqi and U.S. forces unless the Americans try to move deep into Sadr City, which has been under siege for two weeks.
The officials said the Sadrist leadership was concerned that the ongoing clashes were turning into a war of attrition that was weakening the movement and undermining support within its Shiite power base.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to discuss policy with outsiders.
In a move to bolster its image among Sadr City residents, the government Saturday lifted a ban on entering and leaving the district, home to some 2.5 million people. Police announced that one of the entrances had been opened to motor traffic.
Army patrols warned residents through loudspeakers to keep off the streets, saying the rebels had planted roadside bombs that needed to be cleared by the security forces.
Also sure to hurt Al Sadr and the Mahdi Army’s image at home, Iraqi soldiers acting on tips from detained Shiite militiamen found 14 bodies that had been buried in a field south of Baghdad, officials said Saturday. It was the second discovery this week of mass graves in the area, raising to 45 the number of bodies located there. Al Sadr’s men have been blamed by both the Iraqi government and the U.S. military for the killings and dumping of the bodies
Recent clashes in the Baghdad area have severely strained a unilateral truce which al-Sadr imposed on the Mahdi Army last August. He ordered the standdown to allow time to reorganize the force and purge criminal factions that had tarnished the image of his movement.
U.S. officials have acknowledged that al-Sadr’s truce, as well as growing weariness among the Iraqi people with the bloodshed caused by the Mahdi, along with the Sunni Arab revolt against al-Qaida, had played a major role in reducing American and Iraqi deaths, especially in the Baghdad area.
With renewed Shiite militia fighting, Baghdad is now accounting for a growing number of American casualties.
Last month, 61 percent of the U.S. military deaths occurred in Baghdad, compared with 28 percent in February and 47 percent in April, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press.
Fighting in Baghdad broke out following last month’s Iraqi government offensive against Shiite militias and criminal gangs in the southern city of Basra.
Al Sadr quickly sued for peace, fearing an all-out defeat. Iran brokered the deal.
Although fighting has eased in Basra, U.S. and Iraqi troops have been pressing militias in Baghdad’s Sadr City to drive them beyond rocket range to the Green Zone.
(The AP contributed to this report )
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The key phrase from “Al Sadist” here is avoid confrontations with the Iraqi or US forces unless the American Forces try to move deep into Sadr City.
They are saying this because of what the Americans will find deep into Sadr City. More weapons and Iranian operatives working inside Iraq. Now is the time for the Americans and Iraqi Army to catch Sadr’s, Iranian friends and a lot of weapons, rockets and bombs. PS his Iranian thug friends are dressed like the Mehdi army. Rats in a drowning ship.
Too bad Sadr is in Iran where we can’t take his picture
April 12th, 2008 at 7:18 pmwith one of our hellfire missles.
I still don’t grok the Pavarotti pic taking the place of a filthy terrorist.
April 12th, 2008 at 8:05 pmAhhh, if you can lie and kill in the name of islam, I guess you get what you deserve from you friends, LMAO!
April 12th, 2008 at 8:17 pmI’d say Mookie better get himself to a doc for a shot of GARDASIL because he’s about close to getting fucked by multiple partners …
Wouldn’t want the HPV to kill that pussy before our artillery, or a hangman’s rope, does …
I have to think Maliki is all show, and secretly hopes/wishes the American troops finish him off.
April 12th, 2008 at 8:28 pmone question - is this a luciano pavarotti on a picture the dude is holding ?
April 13th, 2008 at 5:30 amI hope that we continue to press into Sadr city and get those bastards. Every time we don’t press on they get the chance to regroup and change strategy. In the meantime, we’re wasting more time and money on killing shitbags that should have been killed during the previous cease fires and truce attempts.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:23 am