Basra militants 'worse than al-Qa'eda', says Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki

Telegraph (UK) ^ | 4:42pm GMT 29/03/2008 | Colin Freeman and Damien McElroy

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, today vowed to continue the military operation against Shi'ite fighters in Basra "until the end", as British forces joined the fighting for the first time.

• Mr Maliki's comments came after radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr defied a call by the Iraqi government for his Mehdi Army to give up its weapons, as clashes with troops continued for a fifth straight day.

  	Fighting in Basra, Baghdad and the central town of Kut has claimed at least 100 lives this week

  At least 133 bodies and 647 wounded have been brought to five hospitals in the eastern half of Baghdad, the head of the health directorate for eastern Baghdad, Ali Bustan, said.

  In Basra, government troops said they had killed 120 fighters.

  Speaking on state television, Mr Maliki said troops would not leave Basra until "security is restored" and described the militants as "worse than al Qaeda".

  "Our determination is strong ... those who break the law are punished, and those who draw their weapons in the face of the state are punished," he.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the body of the report:

The Iraqi government's lack of success in Basra was highlighted yesterday when Mr Maliki extended a deadline by 10 days for Shi'ite militia loyal to Sadr to give up their weapons, and offered them cash to do so.

Previously the deadline was to have been today.

There are reports that this is being misreported...

[VaRepublican]

isnt this where the Brits left? I know I could look this up, just asking.

[Dog]

Ernie...Maliki... screwed up.

He started a fight he can't finish....or win...we will have to bail him out.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From Confederate Yankee:

The Pitiful Josh Marshall..miseporting...by the Blogosphere

I don't typically go after other bloggers directly, but this particular combination of smugness and idiocy got under my skin.

Perhaps if one intends to publicly attack a political figure for the craven act of extending a deadline when things start getting dicey in combat, one should actually verify that such an extension has been made.

It hasn't, according to the AP article appended to the very NPR story he linked to.

Al-Maliki's office also announced it has given residents in Basra until April 8 to turn over "heavy and medium-size weapons" in return for unspecified monetary compensation.

The deadline is separate from the three-day ultimatum announced Wednesday for gunmen to surrender their arms and renounce violence or face harsher measures, government adviser Sadiq al-Rikabi said.

The move instead appeared to be aimed at noncombatants who may have weapons like machine-guns and grenade launchers either for smuggling purposes or to sell to militants or criminal gangs.

Two different deadlines have been set down, the original being a deadline on small arms, and the second, separate deadline for "heavy and medium-size weapons." The small arms deadline has not been changed, and it is the deadline on larger weapons that takes effect on April 8th.

[RedOhioan]

My little brother whose a Marine with 3ID India co. is set to come home in a month and all this shat starts up. Im now gonna be a nervous wreck till he gets to leave that shat hole. Im emailing him to see how things are where he is at, which he can’t say, but have not been in contact with him for almost a week.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Blam posted this :

Rift Between UK Diplomats And Army In Basra

*******************

But it appears from this later article that the Ground based Brits are using some artillery.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Aren’t the marines out in Anbar,...a Sunni area?

If so,...it’s likely quiet.

[VaRepublican]

Oh for christs sake, C’MON do something!!

[VaRepublican]

“British forces today became directly involved in the battle to stamp out militias from Basra, engaging suspected Mehdi Army positions with artillery.”from Telegraph. Sorry guess the brits r getting busy.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From Financial Times:

US sends in back-up for Iraqi offensive

**************************EXCERPT************************

By Steve Negus, Iraq correspondent, and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington

Published: March 28 2008 18:20 | Last updated: March 28 2008 23:26

President George W. Bush called the Iraqi offensive in Basra a “defining moment” on Friday as violence continued to spread across the country.

“This happens to be one of the provinces where the Iraqis are in the lead…and this is a good test for them,” Mr Bush said.

******************snip**************

US officials have portrayed the four-day operation as evidence that the Iraqi government has the political will, and its security forces the capability, to tackle militias. The death toll in the four days of fighting since Mr Maliki launched operation Sawlat al- Fursan, or Charge of the Knights, was unclear, but appeared to have risen above 200.

Retired general Jack Keane, who advised the White House on the surge, said the offensive was a “very positive indication” that the Iraqi government was starting to address the deteriorating security situation in the south.

[RedOhioan]

“Aren’t the marines out in Anbar,...a Sunni area?”

When he first deployed, he was at or near the Syrian border, but things were very quite there so a few months ago they redeployed to another area and now I have no idea where that is, but I think it’s closer to the captiol.

I don’t understand why we don’t have a fleet of C130’s hovering over Basra and Sadre city slaughtering any gd Mehdi Army fks they see?

[DJ Elliott]

1. The PM is demonizing them more. That means ISF is winning and he knows it.

2. Sadr is calling for negotiations and appealing to “arab unity” to support him. That means he is losing and he knows it.

The rest is ignorant reporters spreading Iranian propaganda.

Have you noticed that the word “powerfull” has been dropped from the press when refering to JAM of late? Even the id10ts in the press are realizing who is winning and are down-playing the ISF accomplishment...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From yesterday:

Iraqi militia success means Britain must fight – or admit failure ( Times of London Headline)

[Fox_Mulder77]

“He started a fight he can’t finish....or win...we will have to bail him out”

From what I’ve read Maliki didn’t start this fight, it was the Sadr people that started it by shutting down entire cities in protest to their extreme psycho militants being arrested for violent acts.
Maliki only moved troops in after the Sadr people started the violence.

[DJ Elliott]

If the ISF doesn’t hack it, splitting the MEF into two MEBs and sending one to Basrah is an option. Anbar is quiet.

As to his recent move, the Army’s 1BCT-3ID just handed Ramadi to the Marines. MNF-W is now just 2 brigade equivalents of USMC only. So they have been rearanging the force. 17 US Combat Bdes left in Iraq.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

More from London (Times:

British warplanes fire on Basra as civil war looms with Shia militia

************************EXCERPT****************************

James Hider in Baghdad and Michael Evans, Defence Editor

British bombers strafed Iraq’s second city yesterday as an embryonic Shia civil war raised the prospect of British troops being drawn back on to the front line of the Iraq conflict.

The heavily armed 1 Scots Guards battle group, equipped with Challenger 2 tanks and Warrior armoured vehicles, was on alert and ready to leave its fortified airbase outside Basra as fighting spread to a string of cities across southern Iraq.

RAF Tornado GR4 bombers flew low over the city and fired warning shots at positions around Basra but the Iraqi Army had not yet asked for British troops to join the battle against Shia militia, which has left at least 120 dead since Tuesday. The remaining 4,000 troops sat and watched from Basra airport as the Iraqi Army it helped to create struggled to defeat militias the British allowed to flourish in the city.

The intense fighting means that Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, is likely to tell the Commons next week that British troop levels will remain at about 4,100 for the next few months, abandoning plans to reduce numbers to 2,500 from the spring.

The British handed control of Basra to Iraqi forces six months ago and are reluctant to wade in again now, despite their superior firepower. Coalition forces are, though, being drawn into the new fighting that has flared up across the Shia south. US war-planes from bases to the north dropped bombs on Mahdi Army militiamen in Basra yesterday. The Mahdi militiamen are holding government troops at bay, and parading US-supplied armoured vehicles they had captured in front of television cameras.

Coalition officials claim that they were not informed of the impending Iraqi attack on rogue militias until the very last minute, stressing that it was an “Iraqi-planned, Iraqi-led and Iraqi-executed operation”.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See the updates after your post.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Excellent comments....the press is not to be trusted ....

[VaRepublican]

So basically it was all a brilliant plan.The incredibly brite British forces were just trying to lure them out.........Right?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

LOL!

[VaRepublican]

You know......rope a dope

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

More like the Iraqi army had to come down and restore some order since theBrits were in a Big hurry to leave...prematurely!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Meanwhile the surrendercrats are at it again...from the Blogospher(Flopping Aces):

This Is News?

*********************EXCERPT*************************

osted by: Curt @ 4:03 pm in Barack Obama, The Iraqi WarVisited 427 times, 284 so far today

Um, this is news?

More than three dozen Democratic congressional candidates banded together yesterday to promise that, if elected, they will push for legislation calling for an immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq that would leave only a security force in place to guard the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad…

The starkest difference between the group’s proposal, dubbed a “Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq,” and those embraced by many senior Democrats and the party’s presidential candidates is that it rejects the idea of leaving U.S. troops on the ground to train Iraqi security forces or engage in anti-terrorism operations. The group instead calls for a dramatic increase in regional diplomacy and the deployment of international peacekeeping forces, if necessary.

Who in the world did NOT know that their objective was to cut n’ run, whether we’re winning or losing makes no difference. Just the fact that Bush put them there matters…..

But at least these fools all agree with Obama’s plan to leave, and maybe go back if once we have left we have discovered that, wonder of wonders, al-Qaeda has taken over….

[golfisnr1]

The Brits are a baunch of pukes. They were criticizing our troops all along on not waging a good anti-terrorist war. They cited their vast experience in Ireland. LOL
Then they took a hike from Basra leaving this mess.
But this is what is really going on:
Maliki has Basra surrounded. Despite what the press is saying it is not going well for Al Sadr. Because: The Iraqi army is trained by the best, and irregulars won’t last very long against it in a stand-up fight.

[DJ Elliott]

This has been building for months.
That it kicked off shortly after the new IA 32nd Bde arrived to fill a gap in the IA in Wassit and the new IA 52nd Bde arrived in Basrah to tighten things up there, is not a coincidence.
The ISF has been preping for this since August...

[Frankie Tuba]

Two different deadlines have been set down
residents in Basra until April 8 to turn over “heavy and medium-size weapons”
three-day ultimatum announced Wednesday for gunmen to surrender their arms and renounce violence

Hmmm don’t see much difference in that. April 8 for the gun-woman?

Too bad we’re backing this Iranian puppet

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the info...

AP Report ...with much spin:

US warplanes widen airstrikes in Iraq (drop two precision-guided bombs on suspected stronghold)

[Perdogg]

Why are we so afraid of the Mahdi Army? It’s time to take them down.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Mahdi Army justed moved up from Target #2 to Target #1....Al Queda has relinquished the #1 position.,

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993658/posts?page=7#7

[SunkenCiv]

so, a leftist scumbag lied, pretty typical. Thanks again.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1993658/posts?page=5#5

[brushcop]

I don’t see how that’s possible. 3ID (Infantry Division) is US Army, not Marines. My son has been in the 3ID for years, is currently SW of Baghdad and due to rotate back home this May after 14 mos. Check your brother’s unit designations again, let me know via personal mail option.

[brushcop]

Red Onion, did you mean 3rd MARINE DIVISION?? let me know, the rotation dates are very close, that’s what got my attention. Thanks! RB

[shhimundercover]

Anyone remember this story a little bit back? British forces killed a senior al-Qaeda fugitive in a raid on a house in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

The Officials named the dead man as Omar al-Farouq, a top lieutenant of Osama Bin Laden in south-east Asia.

Farouq was captured in Indonesia in 2002 but escaped from a US military prison in Afghanistan last year.

These same Security sources said that although he was hiding in Basra, al-Qaeda was not known to be actively operating in the area

Now, this is not Baghdad, this is Basra. Does anyone care to explain to me, how this Al Queda ‘top lieutenant’ ends up in Basra? Now, what is Basra?

What a disgrace!

[SunkenCiv]

[DJ Elliott]

I think you are addressing me and sending this wrong.

- 1st Bde/3rd ID was in Ramadi under I MEF (aka MNF-W), they are now enr home with trail party arriving by the 7th. The 1st RCT (USMC) extended its AO to cover their departure without relief. One bn of 1-3ID was attached to 3rd Div/MND-C last fall.

- 3rd ID is also known as MND-C and owns a major chunk of Iraq south of Baghdad. Current subordinates are 2nd, 3rd, and 4th BCTs of 3ID plus 3BCT/101ABD and 1st Georgian Bde.

3rd MarDiv is in Okinawa and is not part of the Iraq rotation...

[cookcounty]

"isnt this where the Brits left? I know I could look this up, just asking."

Yup. As soon as Tony Blair stepped down, the Brits quit and withdrew to the Basra airport.

[cookcounty]

It isn’t a “civil war.” The Iraqi Army is largely Shi’a. It’s the Central Shi’ite dominated government against the Mahdist extreme Shi’ite wackos, i.e., the government against the Mafia.

[DJ Elliott]

Note: If you want Bde general locations...

http://www.longwarjournal.org/multimedia/IraqBdeOOB27.php
http://www.longwarjournal.org/oob/index.php

[DeweyCA]

This is a fight that is about 3 years past due. Taking down Muqtada al Sadr and his army is one of the FIRST things that should have been done after the initial invasion. I’m just glad that Muqtada’s boys made their move now, rather than wait until a Dem becomes President.

[DJ Elliott]

Why do you think they have made the move now?
A. To get this out of the way before the Iraqi and US elections.
B. To preempt any attempts at a “Tet” scenario just before the US elections.
C. They stood up enough new ISF brigades to carry it out.
D. All of the above.

D.
As I said before, they have been preparing for this since August when they stood up the Basrah Operational Command.

[FreeReign]

This is a fight that is about 3 years past due. Taking down Muqtada al Sadr and his army is one of the FIRST things that should have been done after the initial invasion. I’m just glad that Muqtada’s boys made their move now, rather than wait until a Dem becomes President.

Our "first" priority was Al Qaeda.

Now that Al Qaeda has been dealt with and now that the ISF is trained and ready to go, it's time for the Iraqi's and the ISF to take out their own fat-boy trash.

[RedOhioan]

“Red Onion, did you mean 3rd MARINE DIVISION?? let me know, the rotation dates are very close, that’s what got my attention. Thanks! RB”

Oh dear Lord, I meant 3rd battalion, not division. If my brother knew I said that he was with 3ID(Army), he’d kill me. :)

No offense to Army guys or your son, my dad was in the Army, but Marines take BIG offense to that. I’ve made that mistake before. :)

Anyhow, my mom forwarded me this email from his commander that “says” they are still in Anbar, but my brother told me months ago that he was being redeployed to a more active area, but could not say where. I sent him another email to please get ahold of me and let me know how he is cause he is so close to coming home I just don’t want anything to happen to him now. We’ve been going through this for 6 months and we are all, including him, in much need of a break. I just need a break from not thinking that every time I hear one of our guys gets killed that it’s him. I know this may sound very selfish, but I can’t help it. I just want him home and want to drink a beer with him and grill out while watching the race like we did before he left. He sent me an email saying he bought tickets for the May 25th race at Lowe’s and Im so happy he will get to go to it, if all goes well.

He’s 14 years younger than me and we lost our dad 5 days before 9/11...so he is more like a brother/son since I’ve had to take care of him since then. Sorry Im letting all this out, but have no one to really talk to about this and Im just so scared something will happen to him before he gets home. If you pray, please pray that God will bring my brother home to us unhurt.

Here is the email from his commander....

“Subject: Operation Iraqi Freedom Update #7

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Family and Friends of 3d Battalion, 2d Marines:

Greetings from the Edge of the Empire!! I once again apologize for not writing as often as I should. I find myself apologizing frequently to my Iraqi counterparts too, as I often go extended periods without seeing many of the key players around here. Have simply found myself heading in quite a few new directions over the course of the last couple of months.

All continues well in Al Qa’im, Rawah, and Anah. We have been focused first and primarily on making sure that the insurgents do not regain a foothold in any of the urban areas we are responsible for. Traditionally in Iraq as the weather warms up, the insurgents tend to get more active -— they apparently are not much for the cold winter nights out here in western Al Anbar. The weather is pretty interesting out here -— seems like we had a couple of months chilled in 50-60 degree days and 30 degree nights -— then we had a week of pretty nice temperatures in the 70’s -— then it kicked right into the 90’s. Guess you are either freezing or melting for the most part out here. (Actually, the temperatures have moderated just a bit over the last few days).

As I’m sure you expect, we continue to work with our Iraqi Police and Iraqi Army counterparts to maintain security, as they assume more of a lead role now that we have spread out a little bit more. They are the ticket to America’s long-term success in Iraq. We seek to place a little more responsibility on them each day, trying to build their capabilities without going too fast. Still a pretty long road ahead for those who will follow us. Speaking of our replacements -— we are spending the rest of the time setting up our “chess pieces” in the battlespace to be in just the right position for when we turnover to the new battalion. Has seen much shifting of small groups of Marines to different battle positions across the battlespace. We are looking to stabilize all within the next few weeks so we can get into a routine for our replacements to fall in on.

Hard for me to believe, but we are now on the verge of the initial steps to execute our redeployment. In early-April, we will redeploy what we are calling our “Vanguard” -— it is a lead element of five Marines led by Gunner Sipe and GySgt Jackson who will return to Camp Lejeune to begin the initial steps to prepare for our arrival. They will link up with our Family Readiness Staff Non-Commissioned Officer (FRSNCO), Gunnery Sergeant Lehrke, and our Remain Behind Element (RBE -— the few guys who stayed back from the deployment). The Vanguard is primarily focused on identifying all the weapons, vehicles, and other equipment that we will accept upon our return home (most of the gear we have now will stay in Iraq). Towards the later part of April, our Advanced Party (ADVON) of some (50) Marines will redeploy to Camp Lejeune. This group has been identified and consists of approximately (30) Marines from H&S Company and about (3-4) Marines from each of the other companies. The ADVON gets into the serious business of preparing for our return -— re-establishing battalion spaces (Headquarters, Barracks, Comm Shop, Armory, Supply Warehouse, etc.) and continuing the efforts of the Vanguard as related to equipment.”

[RedOhioan]

Lol, I just noticed you called me “Red Onion”.