Maliki warns insurgents of wider crackdown

Reuters ^ | 3/4/07

[bnelson44]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday told insurgents fighting his U.S.-backed government to accept an olive branch or face a security crackdown that will cover "every inch" of Iraq.

The U.S. military said it would set up a security outpost in the Shi'ite militia stronghold of Sadr City "in the very near future" in what will be a test of Iraqi and U.S. determination to tackle the most politically sensitive area of Baghdad.

U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted patrols in Sadr City on Sunday but a large-scale push promised by American commanders has yet to happen. The district is a bastion of the Mehdi Army of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a key Maliki ally.

[bnelson44]

Please spread the word about an appeal for redress that people in the military can sign to show support for the mission:

www.appealforcourage.org

[stm]

Until we can get the people of Iraq to start dropping the dime more frequently on these people we will always be pissing in the wind. That is what Maliki needs to focus on and appeal to. The Iraqi people have to take their own country back, we can't do it for them. It has to start with their own citizens. I don't know what it is going to take to break their pain threshold. You would think a dozen or more killed each day by these MF's would do it but apparently not.

[bnelson44]

From Mudville Gazette:

U.S. troops to live in Sadr City
Soldiers will join Iraqi forces inside militia stronghold

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military has reached an agreement with representatives of the Shiite community in Baghdad's Sadr City enclave that will allow American forces to maintain a permanent presence in the militia stronghold for the first time since 2004, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Saturday.

Under the agreement, the U.S. will open one of the joint security stations that are a prominent feature of the new Baghdad security plan, with American soldiers living alongside Iraqi forces in a police station just inside the impoverished neighborhood, said Rahim al-Daraji, one of Sadr City's two mayors.

MNF-I has deeper background:

New plan for greater security
By Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. Public Affairs
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO

BAGHDAD – Coalition and Iraqi security forces are bringing new ideas into the ongoing operation to secure Baghdad.

Sadr City is being included in negotiations through efforts on all sides. Commanders from the Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police, and 2nd Brigade Combat, 82nd Airborne Division met with a civic leader of Sadr City, Raheem Al Darraji, on March 1 in order to discuss upcoming security plans for Sadr City and the infusion of national level Iraqi security forces. The meeting took place at a police station in Sadr City that will soon become the area’s first Joint Security Station, manned 24 hours-a-day by all elements of the security forces including U.S. forces.

“It was a very positive meeting,” said Col. Don Farris of Lone Star, Texas, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team based out of Fort Bragg, N.C., “They’ve shown they are willing to reach out to the government of Iraq and coalition forces.”

The 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division is the first of several BCTs that will flow into Baghdad in the coming months as part of the troop surge to combat sectarian violence. They are already having an impact in the key area of Sadr City.

Farris’ unit has been establishing small bases called combat outposts on the edges of Sadr City since early last month, positioning themselves for a significantly increased presence in the densely populated six square mile area. That move, which at one time would have been politically unthinkable for the Iraqi government, is now becoming a reality.

This time rather than barricade them off, it appears that leaders in Sadr City are ready to work with coalition forces when they come.

Weary of a cycle of violence and militia activities, as well as al-Qaeda attacks in the area, Mr. Raheem Al Darraji stressed again and again during the meeting that he welcomed the presence of Iraqi and U.S. forces, and the help they could provide his people.

“We want you here sooner, rather than later,” Al Darraji said. Initial reports indicate the overall Baghdad Security Plan – which has placed thousands of additional troops on the streets of the Iraqi capital – has achieved reduced levels of violence thus far.

Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem, commander of the 8th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, a joint partner said there is no reason why the successes of the security plan in other parts of Baghdad can’t be replicated in Sadr City. “We will do the same as we did in Adhamiyah. It is one nation and no one is above the law,” Kareem said.

Farris also stressed that point. The Iraqi Government and its coalition partners have the authority to go after criminals, extremists, and insurgents wherever they are located.

“There are no sanctuaries, anywhere,” Farris said.

also:

Iraqi police, Army and tribal fighters rout a major al-Qaeda in Iraq attack