Free Republic

he Central Intelligence Agency, working with American troops during the occupation of Iraq, repeatedly purchased nerve-agent rockets from a secretive Iraqi seller, part of a previously undisclosed effort to ensure that old chemical weapons remaining in Iraq did not fall into the hands of terrorists or militant groups, according to current and former American officials. The extraordinary arms purchase plan, known as Operation Avarice, began in 2005 and continued into 2006, and the American military deemed it a nonproliferation success. It led to the United States’ acquiring and destroying at least 400 Borak rockets...

<p>They came at dawn, thousands of Iraqi troops and US special forces on a mission to reclaim a lawless city from the militias who ran it.</p> <p>By the end of the day, al-Amarah was under Iraqi Government control - without a shot being fired.</p>

An Iraqi tank is stationed on the main road leading into Amarah. AFP photo. Iraqi security forces, backed by the US military, have started an operation against the Mahdi Army in the southern border province of Maysan. Amarah, the provincial capital of Maysan, is thought to be one of the locations senior Mahdi Army leader retreated to after Iraqi forces moved into Sadr City last month. Amarah is also a forward command and control hub for Iranian operations in southern Iraq. Iraqi security forces established checkpoints along the entrances to the province, and have closed down the border crossing...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Shiite militia run by the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr briefly seized control of the southern Iraqi city of Amarah on Friday in one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by the country's powerful, unofficial armies. The militiamen later withdrew from the streets after Iraqi soldiers and mediators arrived, lifting their siege of police headquarters under a temporary truce negotiated with an al-Sadr envoy. It was not clear whether the cleric knew about his militia's planned takeover in advance. British military spokesman Maj. Charlie Burbridge said 600 Iraqi army soldiers had retaken control of the city,...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Shiite militia run by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seized total control of the southern Iraqi city of Amarah on Friday in one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by one of the country's powerful, unofficial armies, witnesses and police said. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dispatched an emergency security delegation that included the Minister of State for Security Affairs and top officials from the Interior and Defense ministries, Yassin Majid, the prime minister's media adviser, told The Associated Press. The Mahdi Army fighters stormed three main police stations Friday morning, planting explosives that flattened the buildings,...

AL AMARAH is a particularly difficult and violent place to police. With an estimated population of about 400,000, it has a history of rule by rival sheikhs, each with their own private armies. Even Saddam Hussein found it hard to maintain control over the Shia population and in 1999 he had to send in his Special Republican Guard to try to suppress a local uprising. When British troops took over from United States forces at the end of the war, they attempted to work with the sheikhs to establish ground rules for local government. Initial attempts appeared to be successful...

At least nine British soldiers have been murdered in Iraq by terrorists working for the radical Islamic regime in neighbouring Iran, it was reported last night. US and British military intelligence officers told Time magazine that the three British troops killed in Amarah last month were among the victims of the undeclared war between Iran and the West. "One suspects this would have to have a higher degree of approval [in Teheran]," a senior American officer told the weekly. A British officer expressed astonishment at the reluctance to confront Iranian interference in Iraq. "It's as though we are sleepwalking," he...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Three British soldiers have been killed during hostile action in southern Iraq. The British command says the clash occurred in the southern city of Amarah, located north of Basra. A British spokesman says more details will be released later today. Iraqi police say a British patrol was hit by a roadside bomb. Britain's force is largely based in the mostly Shiite southern Iraq, where support for the Shiite-led government in Baghdad is stronger.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A British foot patrol came under attack in the southern city of Amarah on Saturday, sparking a seven-and-a-half-hour gunbattle with insurgents in the city center that left five Iraqis dead and six British soldiers injured, witnesses and a British forces spokesman said. Witnesses said the five Iraqis killed were members of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army. The bodies of the dead were brought to al-Sadr's office in the town, they said. The clashes were ongoing Saturday night, said British Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Jonathan Arnold, a military spokesman. He confirmed the six British wounded...

AMARAH, Iraq - The coalition-backed police chief of this major southern Iraqi city was shot to death as he left a mosque after prayers, officials said Saturday. Brig. Hamid Hadi Hassan al-Abe was leaving the al-Hussein mosque after Friday prayers when he was gunned down by assailants firing from several locations, police Maj. Kathim Mohsen Hamadi said. The attackers escaped, Hamadi said. Several hundred men, many of them armed with rifles and pistols, turned out Saturday for the funeral service of al-Abe, who will be buried in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. Hamadi said al-Abe had a good relationship...

Iraqi police chief assassinated The police chief of the British-controlled southern Iraqi city of Amarah has been shot dead as he left a mosque after prayers. Brigadier Hamid Hadi Hassan al-Abe was leaving the al-Hussein mosque after Friday prayers when he was gunned down by assailants firing from several locations. The assailants escaped.Several hundred men, many of them armed with rifles and pistols, have turned out for Brigadier al-Abe's funeral. He will be buried in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. Brigadier al-Abe had a good relationship with British occupation authorities, who are responsible for the city, about 75 miles...

AMARAH, Iraq -- The Marines of Charlie Company did not sleep well Monday night. The next day's mission was their most serious yet -- a probable tank battle with an Iraqi armored division in this city on the Tigris River. That night and the next morning, many Marines talked openly about the possibility of dying. At dawn Tuesday, the company rolled out, a vanguard of a task force planning to attack the Iraqi tanks. But not much goes according to plan these days, and that's not always such a bad thing. When the convoy approached this alleged enemy stronghold, the...