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| Iraq |
| Residents says Iraqi soldiers warn them to leave Sadr City |
| 2008-05-08 |
| BAGHDAD - Iraqi soldiers for the first time warned residents in the embattled Sadr City district to leave their houses Thursday, signaling a new push by the U.S.-backed forces against Shiite extremist who have been waging street battles for seven weeks. "Are you ready to Ruuummmbbbblllleeee!!!!!" Iraqi soldiers, using loudspeakers, told residents in some virtually abandoned areas of southeastern Sadr City to go to nearby soccer stadiums, residents said. UNICEF says about 6,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Sadr City, most of them from the southeastern section. U.S. forces have increased air power and armored patrols in an attempt to cripple Shiite militia influence in Sadr City, a slum of 2.5 million people that serves as the Baghdad base for the Mahdi Army led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The U.S. military is trying to weaken the militia's grip in the slum and disrupt rocket and mortar strikes from Sadr City on the U.S.-protected Green Zone, which includes the U.S. Embassy and key Iraqi government offices. Several civilians were injured in rocket or mortar attacks that hit downtown Baghdad this week. The battles started in late March after the Iraqi government opened a crackdown on militias and armed gangs in the southern city of Basra, including some groups Washington says have links to Iran. At least four people were killed and 13 injured in clashes late Wednesday in Sadr City, Iraqi health officials said Thursday. It was not clear whether any militants were among them. On Wednesday, Claire Hajaj, a UNICEF spokeswoman based in Jordan, said up to 150,000 people — including 75,000 children — were isolated in sections of Sadr City "cordoned off by military forces." She said about 6,000 have fled their homes. Iraqi soldiers on Thursday shut down a local radio station, al-Aahad, run by the Sadrists after raiding offices of the station in a neighborhood near Sadr City, police said. Meanwhile, gunmen wearing police uniforms killed a police captain Wednesday after kidnapping him from a police station in Shiite neighborhood of Abu Dshir, police said Thursday. His body was found near the station. In the southeastern Shiite city of Kut, gunmen on Thursday stormed the Technical Institute and abducted a professor, Nuri Kamil Khanjar, local police said. It was not clear why Khanjar was kidnapped. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #12 And they're not a bunch of theocratic nut jobs. I'd suspect we've done a lot of weeding in the last 3 years, too. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-05-08 19:06 |
| #11 Shieldwolf makes a good point: though the Iraqi Army is nowhere near US quality, they are already the most professional in the Arab world, a fact that has to make an impression on Iraq's neighbors. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-05-08 18:59 |
| #10 What people seem to be missing is that the Iraqi Army and Police are the ones doing the heavy lifting in this set of battles, not the US Army. This is the result of all of that training and equipping of the past 3 years - Iraqi forces that CAN take the battle to the enemy. Plus with the Iraqi forces being trained to go for single aimed shots and equipped with M-16/M-4 carbines, anyone doing a spray-and-pray with an AK is an automatic target, cause he ain't one of the good guys. It takes time to train a proper army, instead of the rent-a-thugs operation that most armies in the Arab world are. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2008-05-08 15:47 |
| #9 It all comes down too she ROE again. I mean hell just let our guys shoot the shit out of anyone bt=rave enough too leave the house |
| Posted by: sinse 2008-05-08 14:59 |
| #8 This should have been handled several years ago. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda. The strategic and political situation was not conducive until recently. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-05-08 14:29 |
| #7 I agree with bigjim-ky. It's about frakin' time. I'm sure the MSM will spin the upcoming battles as "loss of control." |
| Posted by: Mizzou Mafia 2008-05-08 12:34 |
| #6 The UNICEF spokeswoman is, in effect, a Madhi Army propagandist. The Iraq govt needs to begin denouncing these types. |
| Posted by: mhw 2008-05-08 11:13 |
| #5 Instapundit: GETTING READY FOR A BIG PUSH IN SADR CITY, and a media-related prediction: "This will likely take weeks to complete. Once the battle starts, expect to read and hear plenty of media reports emphasizing civilian deaths, setbacks in the battle, defections in the Iraqi Army, and statements of defiance from Sadr. What we won’t hear is progress by Maliki and the US in finishing off Sadr’s forces until it suddenly becomes impossible to ignore it — and then we will hear about how inept the Iraqi forces were in achieving victory. Call it the Basra Narrative. Just because it failed in Basra doesn’t mean the defeatist media won’t use it again, and again, and again." The basic rule of press coverage is that if there's fighting, we must be losing. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-05-08 11:07 |
| #4 Start warming up the innocent women, children, kitten and baby duck counter. |
| Posted by: DK70 the Scantily Clad7177 2008-05-08 10:40 |
| #3 "time to tent the house to rid it of pests. You'll have to leave for a couple of days" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-05-08 10:10 |
| #2 This should have been handled several years ago. High time we got it over with. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-05-08 09:16 |
| #1 In that the Mehdi thugs are firm believers in human shields, this is probably very good advice. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-05-08 09:14 |