Posted on 04/23/2008 12:06:31 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
The senior-most Iraqi general in charge of the security operation in Basrah has issued an ultimatum for wanted Mahdi Army leaders and fighters to surrender in the next 24 hours as the Iraqi and US military ignore Muqtada al Sadr's threat to conduct a third uprising. US troops killed 15 Mahdi Army fighters in Baghdad yesterday and have killed 56 fighters since Sadr issued his threat last weekend.
In Basrah, General Mohan al Freiji, the chief of the Basrah Operational Commander and leader of the security operation in the province, has given issued warrants "for 81 people, including senior leaders of the Mahdi militia, and they have 24 hours to give up," The Associated Press reported.
Iraqi troops continue to clear Basrah, although the fighting has been sparse since security forces cleared the Mahdi Army-controlled Hayaniyah neighborhood in Basrah last weekend. Iraqi forces "seized a cache containing huge amounts of weapons and ammunition" in the Al Tanuma neighborhood in eastern Basrah, Voices of Iraq reported. "The cache contains more than (1000) mortar rounds of different calibers, explosive equipment, and improvised explosive devices," a source told the Iraqi newspaper.
Mahdi Army targeted in Baghdad
(Excerpt) Read more at longwarjournal.org ...
Iraq News ping!
“The senior-most Iraqi general in charge of the security operation in Basrah has issued an ultimatum for wanted Mahdi Army leaders and fighters to surrender in the next 24 hours as the Iraqi and US military ignore Muqtada al Sadr’s threat to conduct a third uprising.”
So what iteration of truce are we on now with this guy? 12? 13?
The ceasefire might be preserved after all, especially if one side simply disappears.
IRAQ: Sadr's in a JAM -- It looks like his militia got routed.
**************************EXCERPT INTRO****************************
ALMOST FROM THE MOMENT IT began on March 25, the inside-the-Beltway Conventional Wisdom about the Iraqi Army's offensive against Muqtada al-Sadr's "Jaysh al Mahdi" militia and other, more criminal elements in the city of Basra--the second-largest city in Iraq and whose port is Iraq's lifeline to the international economy--was that it was a half-baked enterprise and soon a fully-baked disaster. But the latest news from Iraq strongly suggests that is, once again, the narrative of defeat that is half-baked. Over the weekend, the Iraqi Army asserted control over the Basra neighborhoods that had been Sadrist "strongholds" (though, as in the past, the pattern of JAM behavior is flight-not-fight when its losses begin to mount) and continued to apply strong pressure on Sadr City, the main JAM redoubt in Baghdad.
But, before the reality check, let's indulge in a retrospective of the failure fantasies of recent weeks. "I hope we don't hear any glorification of what happened in Basra," House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi warned Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker before they delivered their Iraq update testimony to Congress on April 9. Pelosi was parroting the left's rush to judgment that the Iraqi operation was a conclusive failure and that Muqtada al Sadr and Iran were the big winners. Basra was an unpleasant "lesson" for the Maliki government, wrote Robert Dreyfuss on March 31 in the Nation; the prime minister personally "lost face" and the initial cease-fire "worked out in Qom, Iran and mediated by Tehran," was "doubly embarrassing." But it was worse for the United States and an "utter humiliation" for President Bush.
The Islamos still alive in Muqtada al Sadr’s militia need to use a few rounds to shut Muqtada al Sadr up.
The more he talks, more of them get killed.
Important note from the article
On April 17, The Long War Journal reported that Nouri was pushing for the Sadrist movement to disband the Mahdi Army lest the party be shut out from the political process, and US military officers believe he was killed because of this.
Great news. Sadr is suddenly in the cross-hairs. He’s got to be wondering what changed. IMO the intention was always to run him over with the Iraqi army ... no way can he martyr his way out of that.
The Fox News panel had been saying Sadr won until yesterday when all but Juan admitted the MSM, them included, are a bunch of morons for declaring Sadr the winner when he was still taking a beating.
There must be gnashing of teeth in Tehran.,....From the article:
**************************EXCERPT*********************
There are also divisions over potential negotiations with the United States military. The Sadrists have asked former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to mediate a cease-fire with the U.S. military, Voices of Iraq reported on April 21. “Sadrist bloc lawmakers called on [me] two days ago to mediate with U.S. troops to cease military operations and to stop the concrete walls siege imposed on Sadr city for over a month,” Allawi said at a press conference in Baghdad, referring to the barriers being put up to partition the city to allow Iraqi and U.S. forces to stabilize the neighborhoods.
Good show, Iraq! Keep hanging tough - this is the only way long-lasting security and stability will be achieved.
We're right behind you.
You ARE SUPPOSE TO BE RELAXING....
Understand that if Mookie is going to get killed, that’s how it has to happen.
Family ties and names are much more important in places like Iraq than they are here. And Mookie’s father, unlike Mookie, was the real deal - a true religious leader and martyr murdered by Saddam Hussein for resistance against the regime. Some of that still attaches to Mookie. Marching up to him and putting a bullet in his head will still cost us a lot more than the 5 cents for the bullet. But the more this kind of thing goes on, the more that his death is not only likely to be an intermural event, it’s more likely to be SEEN as an intermural event.
Will it cost some more American lives to wait for this to happen? Yes. Will it cost more American lives than it would just to march up and kill him? Not clear, not clear at all.
I still have to keep an eye on my baby. I feel duty-bound to debunk the media whenever necessary and I also must keep my ear to the ground so that I know what I'm returning to in a couple of months. :-)
Outstanding news, Allegra. Hope you’re having a nice visit at home.
What we had here was Pelosi trying to re-create the effect of the infamous Tet offensive from Vietnam. It was a major tactical defeat for the NV, but the American media turned it into a major STRATEGIC win for them. It worked then - but that was BEFORE the internet, FR, and breaking the media monopoly.
I never knew that. Thank you RonF.
Sure. Sadr City is named after Mookie’s dad, not Mookie.
When all the bad guys are dead, the firing will surely cease.
Also; part of Mookie’s dad’s ability to lead came from his authority as a religious leader. Mookie doesn’t have that; he’s not a religious scholar. That’s one reason why he’s in Iran. He’s studying to gain that status. There are specific steps to gain and demonstrate knowledge of Shiite doctrines and laws, and the places to do that are pretty much in Iran, not Iraq. Now, he’s certainly got other reasons to be in Iran, but this is one of them as well.
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