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| Iraq |
| The Mahdi Army, has been profoundly weakened - NYT |
| 2008-07-27 |
| The New York Times reporting good news from Iraq? They must figure this will help the Obamasiah. BAGHDAD -- The militia that was once the biggest defender of poor Shiites in Iraq, the Mahdi Army, has been profoundly weakened in a number of neighborhoods across Baghdad, in an important, if tentative, milestone for stability in Iraq. It is a remarkable change from years past, when the militia, led by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, controlled a broad swath of Baghdad, including local governments and police forces. But its use of extortion and violence began alienating much of the Shiite population to the point that many quietly supported American military sweeps against the group. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki struck another blow this spring, when he led a military operation against it in Baghdad and in several southern cities. The shift, if it holds, would solidify a transfer of power from Mr. Sadr, who had lorded his once broad political support over the government, to Mr. Maliki, who is increasingly seen as a true national leader. It is part of a general decline in violence that is resonating in American as well as Iraqi politics: Senator John McCain argues that the advances in Iraq would have been impossible without the increase in American troops known as the surge, while Senator Barack Obama, who opposed the increase, says the security improvements should allow a faster withdrawal of combat troops. The Mahdi Army's decline also means that the Iraqi state, all but impotent in the early years of the war, has begun to act the part, taking over delivery of some services and control of some neighborhoods. "The Iraqi government broke their branches and took down their tree," said Abu Amjad, a civil servant who lives in the northern Baghdad district of Sadr City, once seen as an unbreachable stronghold for the group. The change is showing up in the lives of ordinary people. The price of cooking gas is less than a fifth of what it was when the militia controlled local gas stations, and kerosene for heating has also become much less expensive. In interviews, 17 Iraqis, including municipal officials, gas station workers and residents, described a pattern in which the militia's control over the local economy and public services had ebbed. Merchants say they no longer have to pay protection money to militiamen. In some cases, employees with allegiances to the militia have been fired or transferred. Despite the militia's weakened state, none of the Iraqis interviewed agreed to have their full names published for fear of retribution. In a further sign of weakness, Shiite tribes in several neighborhoods are asking for compensation from militia members' families for past wrongs. The changes are not irreversible. The security gains are in the hands of unseasoned Iraqi soldiers at checkpoints spread throughout Baghdad's neighborhoods. And local government officials have barely begun to take hold of service distribution networks, potentially leaving a window for the militia to reassert itself. The militia's roots are still in the ground, Abu Amjad said, and "given any chance, they will grow again." At the peak of the militia's control last summer, it was involved at all levels of the local economy, taking money from gas stations, private minibus services, electric switching stations, food and clothing markets, ice factories, and even collecting rent from squatters in houses whose owners had been displaced. The four main gas stations in Sadr City were handing over a total of about $13,000 a day, according to a member of the local council. "It's almost like the old Mafia criminal days in the United States," said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey W. Talley, an Army engineer rebuilding Sadr City's main market. Um Hussein, a mother of 10 in Sadr City, the largest Shiite district in the capital and one of the poorest, said her family's fuel bill had dropped so far that she could afford to buy one of her daughters a pair of earrings with the savings. Others interviewed listed simpler purchases that had now become possible: tomatoes, laundry detergent, gasoline. One young man said that even though his house was right across from a distribution center that sold cooking gas, he was not allowed to buy it there at state prices, but instead was forced to wait for a militia-affiliated distributor who sold it at higher prices. "We had to get our share of the cooking gas from Mahdi Army people," Um Hussein said. "Now, everything is available. We are free to buy what we want." Before, the Mahdi Army controlled the 12 trucks that made daily deliveries of cooking gas canisters for the district, because the leader of the Sadr City district council, who was affiliated with the militia, was the one who handled the trucks' documents. "We had no idea when they were coming or where they were going," the council member said, referring to the trucks. Those who questioned the militia's authority were dealt with harshly. A gas station worker from Kadhimiya recalled a man in his 60s being beaten badly for refusing to pay the inflated gas price last year. The Sadr City council member described his relationship with the militia by touching his hand to his face. "I was kissing them here, here and here," he said pointing to his right cheek, his left cheek and then his forehead. |
| Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC |
| #5 This is worrisome. Since the Times is always wrong, things in Iraq must be a lot worse than they appear. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-07-27 22:29 |
| #4 Kitchener, I presume! Good job old boy! Have a good chuckle from the grave... |
| Posted by: borgboy 2008-07-27 17:50 |
| #3 The AP reports good news from Iraq because it is there for everybody to see and they cannot propagandate™ it under the rug any more. NOTE: They never admit that they were wrong. They will never do that. They are still ideologically driven lefties, and they consider the facts a minor setback in their true believer minds. A skirmish lost, as it were. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-07-27 17:11 |
| #2 Of course, didn't Obama just get back from fixing Iraq? Damn he is good. /sarcasm |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2008-07-27 15:43 |
| #1 Two "flying pigs" pics needed, one for the AP story, and one for this one. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2008-07-27 12:03 |