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U.S. troops engage in Sadr City offensive
UPI ^

Posted on 03/28/2008 8:17:28 AM PDT by maquiladora

BAGHDAD, March 28 (UPI) -- U.S. military troops fought militia in Sadr City, the huge Shiite stronghold in Baghdad, while Iraqi forces held the area's outskirts, officials said.

The clashes Thursday indicate U.S. forces were drawn more deeply into a broad offensive Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki undertook in the southern city of Basra earlier against rouge militias, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The Mehdi Army of cleric Moqtada Sadr, a Shiite rival of Maliki, seems to have absorbed the brunt of the attacks in Basra, and fighting has spread to other southern cities and parts of Baghdad, the Post said.

Maliki implemented the offensive without consulting his U.S. allies, White House officials said. With little U.S. presence in the south and British forces in Basra confined to an air base outside the city, one administration official told the Post, "(We) can't quite decipher" what's happening.

Three rival Shiite groups have been trying to position themselves in Basra to dominate recently approved provincial elections.

In Baghdad, Post reporters said they saw four U.S. Stryker armored vehicles in Sadr City and heard the noise of American weapons and Mehdi Army's AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alsadr; iraq; mookie; sadr

1 posted on 03/28/2008 8:17:29 AM PDT by maquiladora
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To: maquiladora

Keep up the good work guys!
I am so proud of our Military!


2 posted on 03/28/2008 8:18:20 AM PDT by Poetgal26 (God bless the US Military and our vets!)
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To: maquiladora

Is fat boy still in Iran?


3 posted on 03/28/2008 8:18:55 AM PDT by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: maquiladora
Should have engaged in wiping out Mookie's fortress years ago. D@#n political decisions kept them from it.

vaudine

4 posted on 03/28/2008 8:21:15 AM PDT by vaudine (RO)
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To: pissant

I look at everything now as sort of “Post D-day”. The bad guys only get weaker even though they may try to ramp it up in a few places. And in each case it only weakens them more. And the bigger the fight, the more it weakens them.

We will win this, unless they are able to set off a nuke.

If they do, then we will REALLY win this.


5 posted on 03/28/2008 8:21:56 AM PDT by RobRoy (I'm confused. I mean, I THINK I am, but I'm not sure. But I could be wrong about that.)
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To: maquiladora
I would love to see the faces of these pigs when they realize that the US military now has them in their cross hairs.

That has to be a major buzz kill for your average Jihadi.

6 posted on 03/28/2008 8:25:20 AM PDT by lormand (Texas - What America used to be)
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To: maquiladora
Maliki implemented the offensive without consulting his U.S. allies, White House officials said. With little U.S. presence in the south and British forces in Basra confined to an air base outside the city, one administration official told the Post, "(We) can't quite decipher" what's happening.

Maybe not the smartest move but he's the duly elected guy and he gets to call the shots. Funny but the Iraqis are doing more and more to take over and no one wants to talk about it. Press reports continue to talk about insurgents instead of saying that the Iraqi government is taking steps to address a real problem in the country as any sovereign nation will do.

7 posted on 03/28/2008 8:27:37 AM PDT by misterrob (Obama-Does America Need Another Jimmy Carter?)
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To: maquiladora

I thought the Troops were gonna stay out of this one and let the Iraqi military call in Air strikes and handle this one themselves..??


8 posted on 03/28/2008 8:27:47 AM PDT by BGHater ($2300 is the limit of your Free Speech.)
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To: RobRoy

Post D-Day included the Hedgerows, Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. Although the end was not in doubt, there was and is a lot of hard fighting left.


9 posted on 03/28/2008 8:28:23 AM PDT by Republic of Texas (Socialism Always Fails)
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To: BGHater

My guess is our troops are taking limited steps to secure supply lines to critical parts of the city.


10 posted on 03/28/2008 8:30:13 AM PDT by untrained skeptic
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To: maquiladora

Yikes, this is scary, because this is truly drawing us directly into Iraqi civil war territory.


11 posted on 03/28/2008 8:31:07 AM PDT by PC99
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To: untrained skeptic
That is a understandable response; it is frustrating for the commons waiting on the Iraqi military to get up to full war fighter status.
12 posted on 03/28/2008 8:32:48 AM PDT by BGHater ($2300 is the limit of your Free Speech.)
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To: maquiladora

Part of me hates hearing this, but knowing what our guys can do, the militia is really screwed now. Pray for our troops.


13 posted on 03/28/2008 8:35:01 AM PDT by ZX12R
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To: Republic of Texas

>>Post D-Day included the Hedgerows, Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. Although the end was not in doubt, there was and is a lot of hard fighting left.<<

Exactly! That was my point. ;)

I actually own “A Bridge Too Far”.


14 posted on 03/28/2008 8:35:26 AM PDT by RobRoy (I'm confused. I mean, I THINK I am, but I'm not sure. But I could be wrong about that.)
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To: RobRoy

Hard to believe that we had screwups like Market Garden or the Bulge AND STILL WON! According to the modern media, that’s not possible.


15 posted on 03/28/2008 8:39:30 AM PDT by Republic of Texas (Socialism Always Fails)
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To: maquiladora

I’d appreciate a prayer for my son and all our troops in Iraq at this moment.


16 posted on 03/28/2008 8:42:57 AM PDT by oneolcop (Take off the gloves!)
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To: maquiladora

It’s nothing new for US forces to conduct ops in Sadr city. The only extraordinary thing US forces did was fire a couple missiles that killed 4 terrorist in Basra. The media is now trying to make it seem the Iraqis have lost control and the Americans are picking up the pieces.
More propaganda from the enemy MSM.


17 posted on 03/28/2008 8:45:08 AM PDT by tobyhill (The media lies so much the truth is the exception)
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To: PC99

It’s not a true civil war when one side is financed, supported, directed and encouraged by a foreign country that wants to take over the country where the fighting is taking place. If the South had won the War Between the States France would not have moved in and taken over the new country of South USA.


18 posted on 03/28/2008 8:47:04 AM PDT by jwparkerjr (Sigh . . .)
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To: PC99

What “civil war”? This is Iraqi forces with minimal US help killing Iranian Proxy Terrorist.


19 posted on 03/28/2008 8:47:05 AM PDT by tobyhill (The media lies so much the truth is the exception)
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To: Republic of Texas
Gee, I didn't know that we screwed that up. I must have been in the wrong war.
20 posted on 03/28/2008 8:47:32 AM PDT by ANGGAPO (LayteGulf BeachClub)
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To: vaudine
I am sure that with a little effort we could get enough B-1’s in the air to turn Sadr City into a dust bowl. Carpet bombing is a real convincer.
21 posted on 03/28/2008 8:50:49 AM PDT by ANGGAPO (LayteGulf BeachClub)
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To: ANGGAPO
My point was that everything doesn't always go they way one would like in war, but it is still possible to win. Decisively. Market Garden was a bad plan and the Bulge was bad intelligence. It wasn't meant as an insult to any WWII vet. I'm sorry you took it that way.
22 posted on 03/28/2008 8:52:36 AM PDT by Republic of Texas (Socialism Always Fails)
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To: Republic of Texas
Not insulted at all. But, Market Garden was a good plan except that we didn't know that the Germans had sent troops into that area for R&R just about the time the plan was launched. The Bulge, the Germans did what we didn't think they could do.And Patton did what no one thought he could do.
23 posted on 03/28/2008 9:03:02 AM PDT by ANGGAPO (LayteGulf BeachClub)
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To: ANGGAPO

Market Garden also left paratroopers exposed with no support. Part of that was planning, part of it was circumstances. When the enemy does what you don’t think they can do, it’s called an intelligence failure. We overcame those and other missteps and won the war. This should be no different. Thank God we didn’t have the modern media in WWII, we might not have won.


24 posted on 03/28/2008 9:07:08 AM PDT by Republic of Texas (Socialism Always Fails)
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To: maquiladora

It’s the Iranian dogs and their Sadrs Slaves, in Sadr City that are attacking the Green Zone. Of couese we’re going to take the lead...Lots of dead Iranian cleric/dogs coming right up!


25 posted on 03/28/2008 9:22:44 AM PDT by DGHoodini (Fall on your knees! Oh hear, the angels voices)
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To: PC99

Not really.


26 posted on 03/28/2008 9:23:54 AM PDT by DGHoodini (Fall on your knees! Oh hear, the angels voices)
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To: maquiladora

“...against rouge militias...”

Dang fags are everywhere!


27 posted on 03/28/2008 9:39:18 AM PDT by Adder (hialb)
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To: maquiladora

“drawn deeper into” (implying ‘the quagmire’) seems to be the theme that all the press services are playing now. Geez, do these guys hang out at the same bar or what? Exactly the same headline from Reuters today.

The reality is that the US has air and armor to punch into tough areas, and Iraq doesn’t. That puts us in the lead.

Just the fact that they are cleaning out Sadr City is amazing. NO ONE predicted that this would happen with the current Iraq government.


28 posted on 03/28/2008 9:47:14 AM PDT by Wiseghy ("You want to break this army? Then break your word to it.")
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To: Republic of Texas

It is because the Germans were already done-for. It was ours to lose at that point. And we would have nad to REALLY screw up to lose. Theoretically, the case could be made that if we had moved slower we would not have killed so many of our guys. But of course that is debatable.


29 posted on 03/28/2008 10:01:49 AM PDT by RobRoy (I'm confused. I mean, I THINK I am, but I'm not sure. But I could be wrong about that.)
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To: oneolcop

Prayers said, May he stay safe.


30 posted on 03/28/2008 10:57:19 AM PDT by Wil H
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To: Adder

Not in Iran they’re not! >Bo)


31 posted on 03/28/2008 11:09:12 AM PDT by DGHoodini (Fall on your knees! Oh hear, the angels voices)
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To: Wiseghy

Geez, do these guys hang out at the same bar or what?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yep! ‘The Baghdad Prosthetics’ hotel lobby bar.

little round ones... >Bo)


32 posted on 03/28/2008 11:14:56 AM PDT by DGHoodini (Fall on your knees! Oh hear, the angels voices)
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To: Wil H

Thank you.


33 posted on 03/28/2008 11:40:37 AM PDT by oneolcop (Take off the gloves!)
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To: PC99
Negative...this is exactly what the Surge plan was...we do the killing Iraqi forces hold and secure...\

we did not attach Sadr in the initial phases because he pulled a Clinton and chose not to fight...when he popped up his head and Hit the Green Zone it became personal again...and as I love to say...Hell is pleasant compared to the US Dogs of WAR!

I not killing Sadr brings him to his senses like Qaddafi in Libya

34 posted on 03/28/2008 1:32:27 PM PDT by Turborules
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To: RobRoy
Yes we could have moved slow like the Brits...but Patton and his support knew that we had to get to Berlin before the Communist...Stalin would have closed us out of Germany if we did not cross the Rhine before Berlin was won by Russia...Eisenhower knew that too...although I think he had to Hold FDR's hand we needed Patton at Potsdam...

PS I is my opinion, that if the Battle of the Bulge had not happened, Patton's Third Army would have been stalled at the Rhine long enough th Give Germany and the other conquered countries to Russia by default...

America's communist would not have allowed defeat of Russia politically here in the US...McCarthy new the Truth about the Traitors in the US Government...

Turbo

35 posted on 03/28/2008 1:43:30 PM PDT by Turborules
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To: oneolcop

No, thank YOU - to your son..


36 posted on 03/28/2008 5:59:35 PM PDT by Wil H
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To: oneolcop
God give peace and strenght to our sons who are once again asked to fight against the evil sons of bitches in the shit hole of Sadr City. Father, we humbly ask that this time you do not allow the scumbags to put women and children up front. I ask you father that you do not spread any more grief upon our brave soldiers and their families as all we ask for is the shield of your love. AMEN!
37 posted on 03/28/2008 6:21:50 PM PDT by glaseatr (Father of a Marine, Uncle of SGT Adam Estep. A Co. 2/5 Cav. KIA Thurs April 29, 2004 Baghdad Iraq)
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