Iran Screams Bloody Murder Over Liberation Of Sadr City
Related: Failed Mahdi Army Counterattack in Sadr City
Wake up and smell the camel shit. The government of Iraq is not going to allow Al Sadr and Iran to run a shadow government and army any more than they let Al Qaeda do it. This assault is not about “pushing them too far back to shoot mortars”, it’s about the annihilation and emasculation of the Mahdis and other Shiite militias run by Iran. How these idiots thought they were going to get away with this shit forevever is beyond me. Perhaps they thought that Maliki, being a good ‘ol boy Shiite would let them do what they wanted. Uh, uh. He is in an infringement on his and the rest of the country’s power, and high noon is here. Pull up a chair.
(BAGHDAD) — Iran’s ambassador to Iraq on Saturday denounced U.S. military operations in Baghdad’s Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, saying they had led to the deaths of innocent people and threatened to aggravate an already tense situation.
The comments by Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi came after police and hospital officials reported that 12 Mahdi Army members had died in overnight clashes in Sadr City.
U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by air power have largely blocked off the southern section of the sprawling district in a bid to prevent Shiite militia fighters led by the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr from firing rockets at the U.S.-protected Green Zone.
Iraqi troops also kept up the pressure on Shiite militants in the southern city of Basra, where they fanned out through a Mahdi Army stronghold.
The chief security commander in Basra, Gen. Mohan al-Fireji, said Iraqi forces were making a new push into the Hayaniyah area and had chased gunmen off a main street, with many abandoning their weapons. Several others were detained, he said, without providing numbers.
Qomi expressed support for the Iraqi-led Basra offensive, which was launched on March 25, but warned that “the insistence of the Americans to lay siege” on Sadr City has led to the killing of several innocent people and “is a mistake.”
U.S. and Iraqi troops clamped down on Sadr City after fighting spread and attacks against the Green Zone intensified in the wake of the offensive. Four Americans were killed in near daily shelling.
“We criticize the measures taken by the U.S. forces. Shelling cities and surrounding people will aggravate the situation and make things worse,” Qomi said during a news conference at the Iranian Embassy.
“The U.S. insistence on continuing this military action is a mistake and it will lead to negative results that the Iraqi government will have to shoulder the responsibility for,” he added.
In Sadr City’s general hospital, officials said 71 people were admitted for treatment of injuries received in the overnight fighting and 12 bodies were received.
The fighting came amid reports that Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces were trying to recapture a position in the district abandoned a day ago by a company of Iraqi soldiers.
Security forces in the area also have come under repeated attack by militants trying to prevent the construction of a concrete wall through the district.
The wall — a concrete barrier of varying height up to about 12 feet — is being built along a main street dividing the southern portion of Sadr City from the northern, where Mahdi Army fighters are concentrated.
American commanders hope the wall will hamper the fighters’ ability to fire rockets and mortars at the Green Zone, the central Baghdad district where government offices and the U.S. Embassy are located.
Militants have used mortars and rockets of various calibers in attacks on the Green Zone.
The U.S. military said one of its attack helicopters located and hit a mortar crew in Sadr City at 3:30 a.m. Saturday, killing two gunmen and destroying the weapon.
The near-daily clashes in Sadr City since then have fueled worries over a total breakdown of a truce called last year by al-Sadr, with fears of wider violence.
The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also kept up the pressure on al-Sadr’s followers in Basra, launching an operation early Saturday aimed at clearing militants from the Hayaniyah district, a Mahdi Army stronghold in Iraq’s oil capital.
British artillery and U.S. warplanes were supporting the Iraqi army operation, which met minimal resistance, military spokesman Maj. Tom Holloway said.
He said that as a show of force British gunners fired a barrage of shells into an empty area near Hayaniyah and U.S. warplanes bombed it.
“This was intended to demonstrate the firepower available to the Iraqi forces,” Holloway said.
A Sadrist spokesman, Aqil al-Bahadili, also said the group had evacuated their Basra offices under orders by al-Sadr’s main office in the holy city of Najaf. The cleric has maintained a cease-fire despite continuing military operations.
Clashes also were reported near Nasiriyah, a city about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. Authorities imposed a curfew on the town of Suq al-Shiyoukh after a firefight in which one militant was killed and six policemen were wounded.
(AP)
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“How these idiots thought they were going to get away with this shit forevever is beyond me”
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Pat
Iran hasnt been hit hard yet. they are dumb enough to think Iraq is going to be another Lebanon where they can pretty much make the central government nothing more than a puppet regime while their proxies and even main forces run the show.
forget that shit. Iran will be taught its lesson soon enough. you Mess with the US or our allies and you will get your ass handed to you.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:44 pmIf they cause to much more trouble, Cheney will start bombing runs that will make this look little league.
Let them cause trouble, it will be the end of iran.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:50 pmI’ve been saying … Mookie’s got no business in the Iraqi government, or anywhere in the Iraqi political landscape.
That’d almost be like putting one of Hitler’s top dogs in the post-WWII Germany’s government … or in their political system … And isn’t that sort of what happened with leaving Hitler around Germany post-WWI ????
April 19th, 2008 at 3:51 pm“Iran’s ambassador to Iraq on Saturday denounced U.S. military operations in Baghdad’s Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, saying they had led to the deaths of innocent people and threatened to aggravate an already tense situation.”
me: That’s right apostate. You and your puppet Mookie are responsible for that. Of course, among yourselves you only say “inshallah” to any civilian deaths…cause you just don’t care.
Fess up loser, its all about Iranian supremacy, hegomey and conquest ain’t it?
Yeah, thought so.
Not a problem…come on out from behind your women’s skirts, you evil cowards… your 72 virgins (chuckle, chuckle) are waiting for you.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:55 pmNothing motivates like success. Its good to see the Iraqi Army finally stand up and fight competently. The Iraqis are kicking ass in Hayaniyah/Basrah and have now taken the district with the help of Brit artillery, US aircraft and likely US special operators.
Roggio
I am extremely proud of US Forces on many levels. In this instance they have created a competent and apparently motivated Iraqi army.
Hopefully they will now kill al Sadr.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:11 pmWow, that guy looks like George Clooooney after a couple of days drinking and having a good ol’ time.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:39 pmYea, Dick would go in and clean house.
Time to show these bastards that we mean business.
That gots me thinking, the fact that if the Iraqi’s wack that bastard it will go down much better politically in Iraq. He does have some support domestically, so best they kill him themselves.
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Husaini al-Sistaniis not on sadr’s side.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:42 pmWe are not fighting The Mehdi army. We are fighting the Iranian Quds forces disguised as Sadr army. We need to take it to the Iranians by bombing the border camps were the Militias are being trained. The Iranian bastards are killing Americans as well. There would not be any civilian casualities if the cowards would stop fighting from civilian areas in Sadr city. Kill Sadr’s militia and your are killing Iranians, pure and simple. Iranian Nazi goat fucking bastards.
April 19th, 2008 at 5:20 pmWe are not fighting The Mehdi army. We are fighting the Iranian Quds forces disguised as Sadr army. We need to take it to the Iranians by bombing the border camps were the Militias are being trained. The Iranian bastards are killing Americans as well. There would not be any civilian casualities if the cowards would stop fighting from civilian areas in Sadr city. Kill Sadr’s militia and your are killing Iranians, pure and simple. Iranian Nazi goat fucking bastards.
The Iranian ambassador needs to get his story straight. The Iraqi army is fighting the militias under Maliki’s orders and the US is supporting them. This is an Iraqi Army operation. Sadr needs to tell his army to turn in their weapons. Iran needs to stay out of Iraq. Sadr needs to see a dentist.
April 19th, 2008 at 5:25 pm“Iran’s ambassador to Iraq on Saturday denounced U.S. military operations in Baghdad’s Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, saying they had led to the deaths of innocent people and threatened to aggravate an already tense situation”
Which is Islam-o speak for “We don’t want you to find out what we’ve been doing in there” followed by “Maybe we should call a cease-fire and negotiate with you guys” to give them time to relocate and rearm… we fall for it every time…
April 19th, 2008 at 9:23 pmWTF business does Iran’s ambassador have commenting on the actions of Iraq’s government in one of its own cities? Butt out, BB-brain!
April 20th, 2008 at 6:41 amBut what about this?!:
“Qomi expressed support for the Iraqi-led Basra offensive, which was launched on March 25″
So is he for it or agin it?
April 20th, 2008 at 7:14 amCan’t you tell? The Mehdi army HAS no dental plan. I have to go now and polish my tooth.
April 20th, 2008 at 7:24 amMookie is the perfect example of why church and state need to be separated.
I still say an extraction team in Iran to remove the midget king would go a long why in helping the Iranian people stand up and take their country back. we defiantly need to shut Iran up.
April 20th, 2008 at 7:31 amKik the shi* out of the pigapes - love it - sic ‘em Cheney.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:22 amYou know? The Iranians can denounce whatever ’til hell freezes over and who is going to care?
You and I know that if we were to start sorties into Iran like we did in Iraq during Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, how would they be able to defend against such an onslaught?
We would fuck them up back into the seventh century.
Let’s get it on! What are we waiting for?
April 20th, 2008 at 3:12 pm