Comments

You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name

Your e-mail (optional)

Website (optional)

	My Original Nic Pic-a-Nic Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Foto

Submit your comments on this article

Iraq

Sadr militia seizes parts of S. Iraq town

2008-03-26

KUT, Iraq - Armed followers of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr seized control of five districts in the southern Iraqi town of Kut on Tuesday, police sources said. The sources said Sadrs Mehdi Army militia were in control of the Jihad, Shuhada, Zahara, Sharqiya and Hawi districts of the city, which has 18 districts in total. A Reuters witness in the city said he could hear shooting and explosions. U.S. warplanes were circling overhead.

We ask U.S. forces to help us with aircraft and vehicles. The militants have spread out through Kut, said police Captain Majid al-Imara. He said 8-10 policemen had been wounded in clashes in the town of Aziziya north of Kut.

Iraqs security forces have repeatedly clashed with Sadrs followers in Kut over the past two weeks. In Samawa, capital of southern Muthanna province, police imposed a curfew after Mehdi Army fighters appeared on the streets. Curfews were also imposed in Hilla and Kut, police said.

Sadr imposed a ceasefire on the Mehdi Army last August, a move the U.S. military said contributed greatly to falling levels of violence in Iraq. But in recent days there have been signs that the truce is fraying, with Mehdi Army fighters complaining that Iraqi and U.S. security forces are exploiting it to target them. Sadr called for nationwide sit-ins on Tuesday in protest against what he said were attacks on his followers and threatened a civil revolt if the crackdown did not stop.

It's spring time and a young man's fancy turns to jihad ...

Posted by:Steve White

#18 from the link:

Some Lebanese even have a precise date for it: April 6 the day Israel's biggest emergency drill ever starts, when they believe the Israeli Defense Forces juggernaut will roll across the border to finish the job they should have during the 34-day conflict. Although, mind you, there's not a thread of evidence that the Israelis are really going to invade.

Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-03-26 20:39

#17 This + Euro naval buildup reports convinces me more that OSAMA + RADICAL ISLAM desire and need to ensure IRAN devs the so-called "ISLAMIST BOMB". Given MSM reports that Dubya will not = can't undertake any milaction agz Iran in his lasy year as POTUS, for at least six months iff not ever thru Jan 2009, IMO OSAMA, SADR, ETC. HAVE CHOSEN TO ESCALATE BY KEEPING IRAQ-AGHAN AS A "HOLDING FRONT" AGZ THE US-COALITION, AND REFOCUS INSURGENCT EFFORTS TOWARDS CENTRAL ASIA, + AFRICA< BUT PRIMARILY CENTRAL ASIA WHERE RUSS IS HARD-PRESSED TO INTERVENE EVERYWHERE = ESPEC NUCLEAR-WMD ARSENALS LOC WITHIN THE FORMER, MOSTLY MUSLIM SSRS. Read - even iff the USA attacks IRAN per se, RADICAL ISLAM > there's always Russ [unsecure]Cold War stockpiles or caches, former SOviet NucPerts living in the former SSR's, + RUSS MAFIAS/OTHER MAFIAS. THESE ARE EXCLUSIVE OF ANY NUKES-WMDS WEAPONS ANDOR TECHS ACQUIRED BEFORE 9-11 TO PRESENT

E.G. UKRAINE > BELIEVES "DUAL-USE"/NUKE CAPABLE COLD WAR SOVIET TCMS, WARHEADS + MISSLES, WENT MISSING AND WERE LIKELY SECRETLY DELIVERED TO IRAN. * NOT ONLY FROM UKRAINE.

Iff I am correct about this [covert]Islamist strategy, US-WEST > ARE IN REAL DANGER NOT ONLY FROM THE "ISLAMIST BOMB" = POTEN ISLAMIST NUKE TERROR ATTACKS, BUT ALSO FROM A ISLAMIST-DESTABILIZED CENTRAL ASIA. i.e. A RETURN OF COMMIE-STYLE TOTALITARIAN ANTI-DEMOCRACY IN RUSSIA DUE TO RUSS FEARS OF NUCLEARIZED IRANIAN EMPIRE = NUCLEARIZED ISLAMIST BLOC ON ITS BORDERS, WHICH RUSS WILL BLAME ON THE US-WEST/NATO.

Lest we fergit, Russ blamed the USA for 9-11, the rise of Al QAEDA as a US CIA-INTEL PROXY, BESLAN,and for its Islamist troubles in Chechnya, etc.

*"HEZBOLLAH versus ISRAEL" also a HOLDING FRONT? ISLAMIST BOMB > TIME + NUKE NUMBERS IS AGZ ISRAEL IN LR.

* ISRAELI INTEL > IRAN WILL "THE BOMB" AS EARLY AS 2009.

Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-03-26 20:03

#16 Basra? Can't be. The Brits were in charge of that.

Posted by: Mike N. 2008-03-26 18:24

#15 we can now safely say the date being observed in the region where many expect war to break out is April 6th.

April 6th is really soon. But why exactly that day, Nimble Spemble?

Posted by: trailing wife 2008-03-26 18:23

#14 "...I say again, expend all remaining on my pos. Zips in the wire. Have a happy fucking day."
-- Platoon (Dale Dye)

Posted by: Chief Running Gag 2008-03-26 17:58

#13 from what I can gather the mahdi army is well equipped and fighting back hard in Basra. Teheran may be thinking this is Lebanon 2006, redux. But Maliki doesnt have a timetable with a UNSC resolution looming, like the Israelis did. Hes probably planning on something more like the second battle of Fallujah. I dont know the geography of basra well enough, it may be he can cut it into slices and take one at a time. There may be hunger and thirst problems for civvies if the battle goes too long, as the obvious strat, which they seem to be employing, is to surround the hostile areas and cut them off.

Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-03-26 17:17

#12 If the Iraqi Army can make this happen, it will be a stunning victory. Now is the time for Sistani to speak up if he wants to be the man.

If the Iraqi Army wins decisively and Basra is retaken, then oil pipelines are safe. When was the last time an Arab army had a victory over an armed, organized, and seasoned foe?

Posted by: Penguin 2008-03-26 15:13

#11 And let's use the Internet and every conversation we can with friends and family to make sure the MSM can't spin this one away. They'll try, for sure. Let's work to make that impossible for them.

Youtube, folks. Nothing like videos online, like the Moving America Forward demonstrations and the Vets for Freedom and the Protest Warriors and .... all getting viral traction in the Net.

Won't dent the leftists, but it can influence the moderates. And maybe even get a clip or two on the TV news.

Posted by: lotp 2008-03-26 12:08

#10 This could be, for Tater, a Tet offense that doesn't work.
The Tet Offenisve was a disaster for the Communist forces. They lost 40000 dead. The Viet Cong was essentially wiped out as a fighting force; after that the North Vietnamese had to move in.
People think the Tet offensive was a disaster for America because Walter Cronkite said so.
Let's hope Tater Tot's offensive works out as well for him, but that the traitors in the media can't spin it into a victory for him.

Posted by: Rambler in California 2008-03-26 12:01

#9 The ARVN marines that we (82nd.)operated with around Hue in 68 were very good. I believe the Iraqi units involved in Basra are the cream of their army. Time will tell if they are a BCS team or a mid major.

Posted by: bman 2008-03-26 11:16

#8 The fighting in the Kut area is far more prolematical for Sadr than Basra. His guys are outsiders there. The region is the heartland for Sistani's Sadr Militia.

BTW, anyone who think Sadr had the remotest influence over this revolt beginning? He's in Iran, being "educated". This is Iran trying to state a Tet Offensive, pure and simple.

Too bad for them that the Iraqi security forces are stronger than South Vietnam's.

Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2008-03-26 10:26

#7 i agree with old spook. The govt wants to weaken Sadr - they may not even really want to destroy him altogether - anyway their priority is to fix the longstanding mess in Basra. Their weakness is the limits on the overall number of reliable forces available to the govt (esp with the war with AQinIRaq far from finished) Mahdi Army has lots of militants, but theyre local bhoys who cant be moved from city to city that easily (esp with the coalition controlling the air and -thus- the roads).

From a pure military strat POV - the govt can concentrate force in space - Mahdi Army cant. Ergo the Mahdi army strat is to concentrate in time - to attack everywhere at once to make it harder for the govt to concentrate in space.

As Lincoln said, those who cant skin, can still hold a leg.

Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-03-26 09:37

#6 If the tater tots are still as poorly led and trained as they were back in 2003-2004, the Iraq Security Forces ought to be able to handle them reasonably well - in fact with luck the ISF will do more killing then we would. Perhaps there have some Iranians to help them but given the cultural problems that might not work.

This could be, for Tater, a Tet offense that doesn't work.

Posted by: mhw 2008-03-26 09:28

#5 Just kill all of his followers this time.

Posted by: DarthVader 2008-03-26 09:17

#4 This is also an effort to embarrass Petraeus and derail the surge. He's due to "report" to Congress in a couple of weeks and the Iranians would like to have their Tet offensive in full motion during the hearings.

Galrahn also has an interesting post about the level of naval activity, especially EUropean, in the ME.

naval activity represents the largest Naval buildup around the Middle East region since late 2003, particularly east of the Suez Canal, however because it is not the US Navy the media is ignoring this massive buildup of force.

As we observed back in January, we predicted that by late March there would be an enormous naval surge to the Middle East region. Our predictions have proven right, but due to the nature of the naval buildup, there is very little discussion of it. There is no question the build up represents scheduled deployments and alliance naval activity of a routine nature. There is also no question that the tension level for war is growing, and we can now safely say the date being observed in the region where many expect war to break out is April 6th.

Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-03-26 09:15

#3 This is a reaction to Basra. The Sadrists are getting hit hard there by Iraqi forces.

Posted by: OldSpook 2008-03-26 09:00

#2 Do you believe the contractors were only just killed, Atomic Conspiracy?

Posted by: trailing wife 2008-03-26 05:49

#1 Basra, Kut, and Sadr City. It looks like a general uprising by stages and the murder of our captive contractors was probably timed to coincide with it. It will remove the last barrier to eliminating Tater and his tots for good.

Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2008-03-26 00:07

00:00