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?