Posted on 08/15/2007 10:51:39 PM PDT by esarlls3
BAGHDAD – The American soldier sitting next to me flipped open his Zippo lighter and gloomily lit a cigarette. “Do you know why this base isn’t attacked by insurgents?” he said.
I assumed it was because his area of operations, in the Graya’at neighborhood of northern Baghdad out of Coalition Outpost War Eagle, had been cleared of insurgents. Many American military bases and outposts in Iraq are attacked by Al Qaeda terrorists and Mahdi Army militiamen with mortars and rockets. War Eagle was quiet and had not been bombarded for months.
“We aren’t being attacked because the Mahdi Army is in the next building,” he said. “They don’t want to hit their own people.”
...
Master Sergeant Jeffrey K. Tyler met with me privately.
“It’s true,” he said. “Many of the Iraqi Army soldiers here are supporters of JAM.” JAM is military shorthand for Jaysh al Mahdi, or Moqtada al Sadr’s radical Shia Mahdi Army militia. “They aren’t in JAM cells necessarily, but they are sympathizers. They may let JAM guys through checkpoints, for example. They aren’t out kidnapping Sunnis or anything like that. They are sympathizers, not direct actors. Almost all the Iraqi Army soldiers here are Shias.”
...
(Excerpt) Read more at michaeltotten.com ...
Money quote:
“I think the reason the U.S. hasn’t killed Sadr yet is because they are trying to flip him to their side,” said Hammer. “All it takes is money. It’s all about money money money for these guys. He has only 16 percent support among the Shia. I am a Shia. I know lots of Shia in Sadr City who hate and fear him, but he has lots of power and influence....“If we flip Sadr Iraq might very well reach a tipping point,”
First time I've ever heard that.
If this were really true, it is one of the most mind-bogglingly stupid ideas to ever come out of Washington.
If it were really a question of money, Iran would always be willing to outbid us, and failing that, THEY would have no hesitation about killing him themselves, as al Sadr well knows.
This is a fool's game...
Sadr killed by Iran wouldn’t be the worst thing.
The Iranians would simply blame it on us. And, everyone would believe them...
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