 Tens of thousands of Iraqis staged a peaceful rally in the southern city of Najaf on Monday to demand the withdrawal of US forces, four years to the day after Baghdad fell to invading American troops. In another development, military officials said Monday that more than 60 Shiite militants have been killed or captured in deadly battles that started on Friday with Iraqi and US forces in the central city of Diwaniyya.
| Here's an estimate saying that 3 million people were on the road to Najaf. They were about 2.96 million short. |
Responding to a call by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, marchers waved red, white and black Iraqi flags and choked the 7-kilometer road between Najaf and neighboring Kufa and clogged streets leading to Sadrein Square, the main rallying point. Many had come from Baghdad and Shiite areas in the south. | Mookie himself was a no-show. |
Some Sunni religious groups also joined the rally. The streets of the Iraqi capital itself were largely empty after authorities clamped a 24-hour ban on vehicles to prevent insurgent attacks, especially car bombings.
Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told reporters traveling with President George W. Bush to Arizona: "I note today that Sadr called for massive protests. I'm not sure that we've seen ... the numbers that he was seeking. But Iraq, four years on, is now a place where people can freely gather and express their opinions, and that was something they could not do under Saddam. And while we have much more progress ahead of us - the United States, the coalition and Iraqis have much more to do - this is a country that has come a long way from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein."
| Think any of the Dhimmicrats will remember what happened to people who organized protests against Saddam? |
Johndroe complained that Sadr's Mehdi Army militia was "operating outside the rule of law in Iraq" and that such groups "will be dealt with."
In Diwaniyya, US commander Colonel Michael Garrett said the fighters killed or captured in the clashes appeared to be from the Mehdi Army. "I don't know enough to know if this is a splinter group or how committed they are to Jaish al-Mehdi," he said. "But it doesn't necessarily appear to be a splinter group. It appears to be an organized resistance." |