Posted on 04/27/2004 5:27:41 PM PDT by blam
Iraq rebels shaken by US offensive
By Toby Harnden in Baghdad
(Filed: 28/04/2004)
American forces went on the offensive in Iraq yesterday, killing dozens of Shia militiamen near the holy city of Najaf and bombarding Sunni insurgents in the restive city of Fallujah.
US commanders said 64 Shia fighters were killed in the engagement near Najaf, which occurred as American soldiers replaced departing Spanish troops.
An anti-aircraft position manned by men loyal to the rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was blown up in the action, which began on Monday afternoon between Najaf and the nearby town of Kufa.
Last night the sky over Fallujah was lit up as American aircraft unleashed heavy fire. Television pictures showed columns of fire leaping into the sky and smoke enveloping the city.
It was not clear whether the attack was the start of the all-out assault on insurgents threatened by US forces. Earlier, aircraft dropped leaflets offering the gunmen what appeared to be a last chance to give up their arms.
"Surrender, you are surrounded," they said. "If you are a terrorist beware, because your last day was yesterday. In order to spare your life end your actions and surrender to coalition forces now. We are coming to arrest you."
The heavy fighting in Najaf appeared to mark a tightening of the screw by the Americans, who have had 2,500 soldiers deployed outside the city. Sadr is taking refuge in his offices next to the shrine of Imam Ali, nephew of the Prophet Mohammed.
As the battle was beginning, Paul Bremer, the US governor of Iraq, issued a statement deploring the "dangerous situation" in Najaf.
"Weapons are being stockpiled in mosques, shrines and schools," he said. "This explosive situation cannot be tolerated by those who seek a peaceful resolution.
"The coalition certainly will not tolerate this situation. The restoration of these holy places to calm places of worship must begin immediately."
Commanders have been reluctant to enter the city for fear that this would increase the popularity of Sadr, who is supported by only a small minority of Shias, and inflame southern Iraq.
But hopes that Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a moderate cleric who regards Sadr as an upstart, and other religious leaders would eject the Mahdi forces from Najaf and Kufa have been dashed so far.
Brig-Gen Mike Kimmett, a US military spokesman, said the first phase of the battle was on Monday afternoon when militiamen opened fire on an American patrol. In the gun battle that followed seven insurgents were killed.
Several hours later, militants attacked an American M1 Abrams tank with rocket-propelled grenades. This sparked a prolonged engagement during which planes led by an AC 130 Spectre gunship destroyed an anti-aircraft gun belonging to the militia and an estimated 57 gunmen were killed.
Television footage taken at night between Najaf and Kufa showed US army helicopters flying low over plumes of smoke amid flashes of gunfire. Witnesses said the explosions echoed through Najaf. The dead men in the hospitals of Najaf were all of military age, adding weight to the American insistence that they were all insurgents.
Mustaq al-Khafaji, a Sadr aide in Najaf, accused the Americans of trying to advance to Kufa in preparation for an invasion of Najaf. "We will face the Americans whenever they show up," he said.
But American officials said there were no plans to storm Najaf because the potent symbolism of battles around the holy sites would outweigh any military advantage gained by defeating Sadr's forces. American threats to "kill or capture" Sadr have not been repeated in recent days.
Members of the International Red Cross Committee visited Saddam Hussein, who is being held at an undisclosed location, on the eve of his 67th birthday. In Baghdad, an American soldier was killed in the Sadr City slum, bringing the total of US military dead this month to 115, the same number lost in the invasion of Iraq.
Then we must target mosques, shrines and schools.
No, the US must target the Mosques.
In Texas we have fire ants. You can stand next to the nest and kill them as fast as they come out. But they will keep coming out. You either have to kill the main ant (queen) or destroy where they all organize from.
Since 9/11 I read about Islam. Read a lot. I've read the followers writings and the Imams edicts. I've read a lot of the Muslim "book".
It's a "religion" of bullies by bullies. There is only one way to handle bullies.
Well, they're certainly not neat!
Becki
Mirex?
You are correct. Mosques are one of the institutions who spread this ideology. You must target all those institutions who spread militant Islam, whether they be the media, mosques, schools, etc. First it must start in Iraq, but it must move on to the rest of the Islamic world, or else Iraq will fail. Iraq has already shown signs that militant Islam is still there. Take for example anti-Jewish talk by Iraqi government officials themselves, or the fact Iraqi police has turned on us. This targetting does not need to be done only militarily, by targetting for example radio stations in Saudi Arabia. The free world must isolate these regimes, not trade with them, etc. The world must remove this militant Islamic ideology, which is a cancer, if it ever seeks to destroy the terrorism. Terrorism is a product of the ideology. Going simply after the terrorism will not stop the terrorists. You must target what is causing them to murder non-Muslims in the first place. However, political correctness has so far prevented such action abroad and at home. For starters, we must stop buying their oil, and look for oil not coming from Islamic terror states like Saudi Arabia. It is only through this that the US will suceed. Just killing terrorists will not do the trick.
The irony here is rather profound.
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