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Sadr delivers sermon in Kufa after returning from Iran in May. [AP Photo] Click to view. |
Posted on 10/21/2007 10:16:59 AM PDT by Tennessean4Bush
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Sadr delivers sermon in Kufa after returning from Iran in May. [AP Photo] Click to view. |
Multinational Forces Iraq conducted a major raid in Baghdad's Sadr City. Forty-nine Special Groups operatives were killed in a nighttime raid targeting a cell leader of the Iranian-backed Shia terror group.
Coalition forces, often the cover name given to the special operations forces hunter-killer teams of Task Force 88, met heavy resistance in Sadr City as they cleared buildings in search of the Special Groups leader. The clearing teams "received sustained heavy fire from adjacent structures, to include automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades, or RPGs," and killed 33 terrorists. Six more terrorists were killed as air support was called in on a team attempting to maneuver and hit the Task Force with RPGs, and another ten were killed as the raiding party was leaving the site.
The size and scale of the engagement indicates Coalition forces may have, either knowingly or unknowingly, came close to a high-value target far greater than "an individual reported to be a long time Special Groups member specializing in kidnapping operations," who has sought funding from Iran.
Multinational Forces Iraq also issued a warning to Muqtada al Sadr in its press release on the killing of the 49 Special Groups fighters. Multinational Forces Iraq has repeatedly warned Sadr and his Mahdi Army to hold to the ceasefire announced in late August.
By mentioning Sadr and the Mahdi Army in the same breath in a press release on the killing of Special Groups fighter, Multinational Forces Iraq is reminding Sadr the US recognizes the link between the two groups still exists. The mention of Sadr and his Mahdi Army in press releases on the Special Groups is fair warning that the distinctions made between the Special Groups and Sadr's militia can be lifted at any time.
Iraqi and US forces have focused significant resources on targeting the Iranian-back Special Groups since the start of 2007. Most recently, Iraqi and US forces conducted two high-profile raids against the Special Groups over the past three weeks. On September 30, Coalition forces captured 15 members of the Special Groups during a raid in Baghdad. On October 5, 25 Special Groups fighters were killed during an engagement northwest of Baqubah in a raid designed to capture a Special Groups leader.
Diwaniyah
As the raid in Sadr City captures the headlines, Coalition and Iraqi forces have been clashing with the Mahdi Army in the southern city of Diwaniyah. The city has been a battleground in the past as the Mahdi Army has attempted to assert control of the city.
Elements of the Mahdi Army shelled the largely Polish force at Camp Echo, while attacking a convoy with machinegun fire on October 15. Twenty civilians and two Polish troops were reported wounded in the attacks.
On October 17, Iraqi forces arrested a Qadisiyah provincial council member "who is suspected of facilitating terrorist attacks." The council member was a member of Sadr's political movement as well as the Mahdi Army; Multinational Forces Iraq also warned the Mahdi Army to keep the peace in this press release. On the same day, a roadside bomb killed seven Iraqi policemen as they were on a patrol in the city.
On October 18, fighting was reported in a district in Qadisiyah province between Iraqi Security Forces and a group called Kataib al Hussein, or the Hussein battalions. The Shia group "had driven Iraqi police from a major district in the province, but reports issued following the attack allege the group has been driven out."
On October 19, Polish helicopters killed two "extremists" after they targeted a Coalition patrol with three IEDs, machine guns and RPGs. On October 20, US and Iraqi forces were reported to have detained 30 Mahdi Army fighters during a sweep in Diwaniyah.
Shia extremist groups have specifically targeted Polish troops and interests in Iraq over the past month, as they on the Polish envoy and embassy in Baghdad. The terror groups are attempting to influence the Polish elections and force a withdrawal of the eastern European nation.
Sadr called for a cessation of Mahdi Army attacks after a clash in Karbala with Iraqi Security Forces during a religious festival resulted in 52 killed and over 300 wounded. The festival was shut down due to the fighting. Sadr has been directly implicated in the Karbala fighting and is believed to be behind the assassinations of the governors of Muthanna and Qadisiyah provinces. Shia are beginning to turn on Sadr's Mahdi Army in the Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City.
“any Iranians (or others) in the casualty count,...” I would like to know the same thing. If so, I could not care less if they’re deader than the proverbial door nail.
Mookie should have been taken out when he was holed up in that mosque in 2004.
The size and scale of the engagement indicates Coalition forces may have, either knowingly or unknowingly, came close to a high-value target far greater than "an individual reported to be a long time Special Groups member specializing in kidnapping operations," who has sought funding from Iran. Multinational Forces Iraq also issued a warning to Muqtada al Sadr in its press release on the killing of the 49 Special Groups fighters.Heads on spikes over the town gate.
49 less Democrat voters!
Rack’em and stack’em, just don’t let them register to vote.
Murtha?
But really...we can get the leftist view by just turning on the TV or picking up the Washington Post.
You defeatists are getting desperate now, aren't you?
Sucks to be you.
There is never a shortage of assholes behaving badly in time of war....
Mustn’t waste time with the bastards until they grow a pair and do something stupid enough to warrant shooting their ass.
I’ll admit being from the school, more in favor of widespread destruction, death and mayhem before we invest too much in “nation building”..
I could even get behind the razing of Sadr City.,....
Burying all within under the rubble...
Then perhaps the damned “Jihadists” will begin to experience the consequences of Jihad....
Reading the headline and teaser one might think that it was 49 of OUR guys that were killed...
Because in the rats nest that is Counter Insurgency Al Sada is playing in the Gray area. He isn't wholly against us and yet is not wholly on our side. Thus we don't really have the grounds to squish him and we don't really know that what might replace him may not be worse.
You also need to consider what message wacking Al Sadr send to the Iraqis. Take him out and you send the message "See the Americans and their Democracy are no different then Saddam. Speak against them and they kill you". Even if it were possible to pull an untraceable hit, we are going to get the blame.
Counter Insurgency is not Total War. This is as much about Politics as it is about Military action. Al Sadr is an annoyance, he is not a threat at this point. Taking him out would hurt us more then help us at this point. However, after the Coalition authority expires in 2008, I expect the Iraqis themselves will arrange for Al Sadr to have an "accident". He is too much a thug for any new Govt to want him around.
Care to provide an estimate in Friedman Units?
1.5
Which is when the Coalition Authority hands over authority to the Iraqi Govt and disbands.
But I know, don't confuse you with the facts! You got your Neo Isolationists dogmas as dictated to you by your god, Der Paul, and cannot be bothered with anything as pedestrian as fact or reality.
So, when will we be able to trust "Iraqi officials"...?
Actually the questions is when will the Neo Isolationists Freepers stop taking the word of the Associated Press over the US Military? Notice that your source doesn't name any Iraqi officials, merely claims some unknown "Iraqi official" said this?
There have been hundreds of reports like this that have been proven over and over as just a lie manufactured by a local Iraqi stringer and fed to the AP. I say your Iraqi stringer merely made this up so he could feed the AP Reporter what they wanted to hear.
Care to try and prove me wrong?
Ah but of course not, that would mean you would actually have to learn something about the world in general, and Iraq in particular. You would rather just mindless shout the Neo Isolationists dogmas dictated to you by your god, Der Paul, then actually have to learn anything.
Post a verifiable source for this claim please. Kind of curious how this is possible since the Marines are not, and have not been, operating in Al Sadr's area.
So Gondring, care to explain to us why it is a self styled arch Conservative like yourself habitually uses Leftist blogger slang?
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0404/05/acd.00.html
Yes it is CNN but the warrant was real.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2004/08/_family_and_fri.html
http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/2004/08/najaf-at-this-writing-us-marines-are.html
Especially look for stories from the CSM.
The 408 uses a necked down 50 cal shell casing doesn’t it?
Ever since we backed off and let al-Sadr slip away at the beginning, I've suspected that we managed to secure an intel source who is near the fat guy. This strike seems to support my speculation.
IMHO, Mookie remains alive to serve as bait, continuing to draw Iranians across the border so we can kill them.
I wouldn’t know, I don’t know about ballistics.
In the end, yes. Look at the ignorant left. That’s what they have to draw to.
More to the point: We're there any Iraqis?
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