The showdown between the forces of the US and Iraqi government vs Al Sadar have begun after a long and costly truce. (More than $350m paid to buy back weapons and reparations)


Is this a proxy war between the US and Iran? I believe Al Sadar is supported by Iran and wants the US out of Iraq.

As usual the US policy is to solve this political problem militarily.

And so it begins...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7321362.stm

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=89209737

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=89220384

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=89220402

Follow along and post your thoughts...

From NPR...
BAGHDAD March 31, 2008 · The fortified Green Zone came under fresh attack Monday, less than 24 hours after anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told his fighters to stand down following a week of clashes with government forces.

Al-Sadr's order stopped short of disarming his fighters and left the militia intact in a blow to the credibility of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who flew to the southern oil city of Basra a week ago to personally oversee a crackdown on militia violence.

The Shiite leader promised "a decisive and final battle" but made little headway. A key adviser to al-Maliki said the operations against al-Sadr's followers would end within days.

"Before the end of this week, the operations will come to an end and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will be back to Baghdad," the adviser, Sami al-Askari, said.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said, however, that "operations will not end until Basra reaches a secure and acceptable situation enabling Iraqi citizens to live normal and secure lives."

He did not elaborate on how long that might take.

The rocket or mortar attacks on the nerve center of the U.S. mission and the Iraqi government continued more than a week of near-daily fire mostly from Shiite-dominated areas of eastern Baghdad.

The clashes between Shiite militias and Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces began Tuesday, when al-Maliki launched military operations against the group and vowed to remain in Basra until the mission was accomplished. The battles there and violence that spread to other southern cities and Baghdad killed at least 400 people.

Al-Sadr's cease-fire call followed intense negotiations by Shiite officials, including two lawmakers who traveled to Iran to ask religious authorities there to intervene, according to Iraqi officials familiar with the negotiations.

The situation in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, was relatively calm on Monday, although sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the streets and AP Television News footage showed Iraqi troops searching house-to-house apparently targeting militants.

Al-Sadr's order was announced Sunday after lawmakers Hadi al-Amri and Ali al-Adeeb reportedly asked Iranian authorities to stop the flow of weapons to al-Sadr's Mahdi Army as well as groups closely allied with the Americans. Tehran denies that it backs Iraqi militias.

The lawmakers — both of whom have close ties to Iran — also asked the Iranians to pressure al-Sadr to come up with a face-saving initiative, according to Iraqi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Link to full story...http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=19318352

Note: This article makes no mention of the truce deal that Al Sadar is negotiating. He is asking for the release of detainees not proven guilty of crimes, as well as amnesty for his fighters.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=89266065

From NPR...
Morning Edition, April 1, 2008 · A week ago, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to crush militias loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the southern oil city of Basra and in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Six days later, he ended up suing for peace with people he described as "worse than al-Qaida." Now he is weakened, and dealing with the aftermath.

His decision to drive Shiite militias out of Basra was meant to illustrate resolve. He told the Iraqi people there would be no retreat, no talks, no negotiation. But when the fighting spread to Sadr strongholds across the country, four members of the Iraqi parliament quietly traveled to the holy city of Qom in Iran and hammered out a cease-fire. The week drew to a close with hundreds of Iraqis dead, the prime minister weakened and Sadr stronger than ever.

"It doesn't look very good for Mr. Maliki, launching a campaign and giving an ultimatum to the Sadrists and then accomplishing nothing," said Joost Hiltermann, an Iraq expert with the International Crisis Group: "Already there are rumors in the Green Zone today that ... Adel Abdul Mehdi, one of the senior leaders of the Supreme Council" will be the next prime minister. "I am not sure that will happen, but the fact that this is being rumored is significant."

In post-invasion Iraq, politics grow from the muzzle of a gun. Maliki has always ruled from a weakened position because he represents a party that doesn't have its own militia. He came to power as the compromise choice of parties that do. If Iraqi security forces had performed last week, Maliki would have emerged emboldened. Instead, he came out bowed.

"Clearly, the Iraqi security forces cannot stand on their own. They have shown they cannot in this internal policing effort, and they certainly cannot defend the country, which is what an army is supposed to be doing," Hiltermann said. "The United States provided air support and some Special Forces support for the campaign in Basra, and that didn't clearly tip the balance. The American generals know the Iraqi army is very far from the army it is supposed to become."

Iraqis may be sensing that, too. They spent last week watching as Sadr's Mahdi Army militia ran roughshod over Iraqi security forces. The two sides fought to a stalemate until American forces finally swooped in to help. The palace in Basra where Maliki was personally overseeing the operation came under heavy fire. There were some reports that the Americans had to evacuate him to a nearby palace.

In the Green Zone, where the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi parliament are located, diplomats were holed up all week — having to take cover from a barrage of mortar shells and rocket attacks that rained down on them.

All this violence comes just days before the head of coalition forces, Gen. David Petraeus, and the ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, update U.S. lawmakers on the war. For now, both the Americans and the Iraqis seem determined to accentuate the positive. Defense Secretary Robert Gates glossed over the fact that Maliki had promised a "decisive and final battle."

United Iraqi Alliance parliament member Abbas al-Bayati, a Maliki supporter, was similarly upbeat. "These events have shown Maliki to be a first-rate statesman," he said. "He is a brave man determined to face the outlaws."

Mahmood Othman, a Kurdish member of parliament, says Maliki's popularity will surely take a hit. "Everyone thought he would be decisive," he said. "I think his popularity will go down, yes, that is what I expect."

The Iraqi Health Ministry said nearly 500 people were killed and 900 were wounded in the latest fighting. One resident from Baghdad's Sadr City, which saw some of the fiercest battles, bitterly said Maliki was no better than Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "Maliki signed the execution decree against Saddam for killing 150 people," he said. "He has killed more in this war."

Maliki went on Iraqi television Monday night sounding more humbled than defiant. Among other things, he asked the people who stole government vehicles during the violence to please return them. "People who have taken vehicles that belong to the government should give them back," he said. "I am ready to give them another one, but they first must give the state car back."

Much of what occurred last week had to do with political parties jockeying for position ahead of provincial elections in October. Most people see last week's violence as Round One in what is expected to be a very violent political season in Iraq.

From NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=89388187

Evidence of Executions by Iraqi Forces Surfaces
by Eric Westervelt



All Things Considered, April 4, 2008 · Recent fighting between Shiite militia and Iraqi troops highlighted severe, lingering problems for the U.S.-trained forces, including tactical and logistical issues and desertion.

Even more grave, evidence points to executions of detained Shiite militiamen by members of the Iraqi security forces.

NPR has obtained audio broadcast last week from an Iraqi police radio channel in the Shiite city of Karbala. In the audio, an Iraqi policeman asks his commander what to do with a wounded member of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia.

"Do not bring him over, do not bring him over here, as I told you before, kill him, do not make him reach here," the supervisor orders.

"Clear sir, clear," the policeman replies.

NPR confirmed with hospital officials in Karbala and the family of the militiaman referred to in the audio, Aqueel al Hez-ali. His family says al Hez-ali was found dead five days ago with multiple bullet holes in his head and torso.

A spokesman for the Iraqi government, Ali Dabbagh, did not respond to repeated phone calls seeking comment.

According to U.S. officers in Baghdad, the Iraqi army performed far better than the police in many places and proved tough during intense fighting. But overall, they say, the results were mixed.

During a recent battlefield tour Brig. Gen. Mike Milano, the deputy commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, praised the Iraqi security forces' overall performance in the capital.

But he concedes there were big shortcomings, especially in terms of the Iraqi army's own support mechanisms, the key to any military's ability to conduct and sustain independent operations.

From the BBC News...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7333806.stm

US soldiers killed in Green Zone

Three US service personnel have been killed and 31 wounded by rocket attacks on the Green Zone and a base elsewhere in Baghdad, the US military has said.

The rocket attack at 1530 (1230 GMT) on the Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies, killed two personnel and wounded at least 17.

A separate attack at the same time on a forward operating base in the Rustamiya district killed one and injured 14.

The attacks came after fighting between US and Iraqi forces and a Shia militia.

Twenty-two people were killed and more than 50 others injured in the clashes in the capital's eastern district of Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army.

The militia's leader, radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, has called for a mass demonstration in three days' time against the US military presence.

On Saturday, the Iraqi president, prime minister and other political leaders called for militias to be disbanded. Analysts said the call was aimed mainly at the Mehdi Army, which has recently been involved in heavy fighting with the security forces across southern Iraq.

Students freed

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces said they had found 42 university students unharmed after they were kidnapped near the northern city of Mosul earlier on Sunday.

The male students were on two buses ferrying them to Mosul from their homes in Shurkat, 70 km (40 miles) further south, when they were ambushed and captured.

Students who live outside Mosul often travel home on Thursdays, and return on Sundays.

Mosul has recently been the scene of extra security effort as US and Iraqi forces try to target al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters, who have regrouped in the area since being forced out of Baghdad and western Iraq.

Also on Sunday, hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Father Youssef Adel in the capital's Karrada district.

The Assyrian Orthodox priest was killed on Saturday at his home.

One of the mourners, Midhat Faez, was quoted as saying the assassination was aimed at provoking conflict between Muslims and minority Christian community.

"As Christians, we are terrified and our numbers are gradually diminishing," he said.


Iraqi leader warns Sadr movement

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7334402.stm

Iraq's prime minister has threatened to exclude the supporters of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr from politics.

Nouri Maliki told CNN that the cleric's movement would not be allowed to take part in elections unless it disbanded its militia, the Mehdi Army.

The prime minister and major Iraqi parties had already called for militias to be dissolved as the government waged a security campaign against the groups.

But it was the first time that Mr Maliki had singled out the Mehdi Army.

Aides to Moqtada Sadr on Monday said he would disband the militia if senior Shia religious leaders ordered him to do so.

They said a delegation would be sent to discuss the issue with the top Shia cleric in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and a grand ayatollah based in Iran.

Growing confrontation

In his interview, Mr Maliki said: "A decision was taken... that they no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army.

"Solving the problem comes in no other way than dissolving the Mehdi Army."

"We have opened the door for confrontation, a real confrontation with these gangs." Nouri Maliki, Iraqi prime minister.

The provincial elections are scheduled for later this year.

Mr Maliki took power with the help of Moqtada Sadr, but broke with the cleric last year.

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Baghdad says the confrontation between the two men is growing.

Two weeks ago the prime minister sent thousands of troops into the city of Basra to try to force the Mehdi Army into submission.

The militia withdrew from the streets, but the operation was inconclusive.

Mr Maliki said the government would continue the crackdown. "We have opened the door for confrontation, a real confrontation with these gangs, and we will not stop until we are in full control of these areas," he said.

An MP for the Sadr bloc, Liqaa Aal Yassin, told the BBC Arabic service that two delegations would be sent - to Grand Ayatollah Sistani in Najaf and Grand Ayatollah Kazem al-Husseini al-Haeri in Iran - to discuss the possible disbanding of the Mehdi Army.

Ms Yassin said the government was also sending a delegation to Moqtada Sadr to discuss Mr Maliki's demand.

Mr Maliki's comments came after heavy fighting between US and Iraqi forces and the Mehdi Army at the weekend.

At least 22 people were killed and more than 50 others injured in clashes in the capital's eastern district of Sadr City, a stronghold of the militia.

Five US soldiers were killed, including three who died during rocket and mortar attacks in Baghdad.

Two of those died in attacks on the heavily-fortified Green Zone.

Moqtada Sadr has called for a mass demonstration on Wednesday against the US military presence.



Can anyone see what is happening? This conflict is erupting.

thought this was worth sharing.... from Congressman Wexler, seems to be a genuine anti-war rep... his report on Gen. Petraeus testimony in Congress this week....he had asked for suggestions for questions to ask him....



I want to thank you for the overwhelming response we received to my request for questions for General Petraeus. Thousands of emails poured in from all over the nation. My staff and I examined every suggested question and we were truly impressed with the passion, sophistication, and knowledge of the submissions. Choosing a few questions out of so many excellent entries was an extraordinarily difficult task.

One of the most commonly suggested questions centered on how General Petraeus defines victory in Iraq. This question struck a chord with me - as it no doubt did with so many of you - because it demands that the Administration actually define its goals (which, as you'll see below, are totally unrealistic).

Underscoring the tragedy of the Administration's failed policy, one of my constituents died in an attack on the Green Zone on Monday. I spoke with his parents yesterday, and they asked me to ask General Petraeus a simple question: For what? For what had they lost their son?

I asked him this question, and then asked him to define "victory."

I did not expect General Petraeus to answer either directly, but he did.

He stated that we were fighting for national interest, including region's "importance to the global economy." (In my mind, a stunning admission of the true motives behind this war.)

He stated that they were trying to achieve a country that is "at peace with itself and its neighbors," "could defend itself" that was "reasonably representative of and broadly responsive to its citizens."

These are not reasonable objectives. Half the countries around the world are not able to defend themselves. Many have internal and external conflict - and few - including our own, are broadly responsive to its citizens.

(I find that last objective sadly ironic, as the Bush Administration, by continuing this misguided war, is broadly unresponsive to American citizens.)

I was out of time before I could ask a follow up… but if you read between the lines, his answer is vast in its scope. Clearly, their goals for Iraq and interpretation of "national interest" are wholly at odds with a swift redeployment of forces.

It has been a year and a half since the 2006 elections - more than enough time for us to have required, through provisions attached to funding, a phased withdrawal. At the least, we could have forced a genuine showdown with President Bush that would have forced him to defend his policies.

There is no excuse for even one more American casualty in Iraq. Our troops must be redeployed. The Bush/Petraeus policy that denies reality must not carry the day.

I urge you to remain active and steadfast in your opposition to this open-ended, vaguely guided war.

Please read my exchange with General Petraeus below.


Congressman Robert Wexler

www.wexlerforcongress.com


TRANSCRIPT
Congressman Wexler:

Thank you. General Petraeus, last week in anticipation of this hearing I sent an urgent e-mail asking my constituents and other Americans: if they were serving on this committee, what is the one question they would pose to you.

There was an extraordinary response, with more than five thousand questions submitted, these e-mails and phone calls expressed deeply held frustrations about the war in Iraq, and reflect the concerns of millions across the nation who feel their opinions and concerns were cast aside by the Bush Administration.

I want to thank everyone who responded and submitted a question for today's hearings. While many of the respondents rightfully-highlighted the bravery of our troops, a majority of the e-mails expressed a strong desire to see withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq, and an end to this five year war, that has cost our nation so dearly.

Most of the question! s boiled down to this: General we often hear President Bush and Senator McCain say we must win in Iraq. What is the definition of winning? What would a military victory look like, that was sufficient enough, to allow us to begin leaving?

Then, in a horrific turn of events, two of my constituents: Hester and Linn Wolfer of Boca Raton Florida, learned that this past Sunday their son had been killed for this war. Major Stuart Wolfer was a thirty six year reservist on his second tour. He was married with three young children ages five, three, and twenty months. His family was relieved that he was in the green zone, for they hoped he would be safe there. He was not.

I spoke to Mr. Wolfer yesterday last night, who asked me to ask you, simply: For What, for what had he lost his son? So allow me to combine if you will, the questions from the people that responded to me and Mr. Wolfer: What has all this been for? And please, respectfully, don't tell us as you told Senator Warner yesterday: to remove a brutal dictator. That's not good enough.

There are many dictators in the world. For what did Stuart Wolfer and the other four thousand and twenty four sons and daughters die for? And how will we define victory, so we can bring this never ending war to a close?

And if I will, when Mr. Burton asks for a definition of what is failure, we get a litany of items. But when Mr. Ackerman asks what is the definition of victory, we get little. Please tell us General, What is winning?

General Petraeus: First of all, Congress, let me tell you that what we are fighting for is national interest.

It is interest that as I stated have to do with Al Qaeda, a sworn enemy of the United States and the free world, has to do with the possible spread of sectarian conflict in Iraq, conflict that had engulfed that country and had it on the brink of Civil War.

It has to do with regional stability, a region that is of critical importance to the global economy, and it has to do with certainly the influence of Iran, another obviously very important element, in that region.

In terms of what it is that we are trying to achieve, I think simply it is a country that is at peace with itself and its neighbors, it is a country that can defend itself, that has a government that is reasonably representative and broadly responsive to its citizens, and a country that is involved in and engaged in, again the global economy.

Ambassador Crocker and I, for what it's worth, have typically seen ourselves as minimalists, we're not after the Holy Grail in Iraq and we're not after Jeffersonian Democracy.

We're after conditions that would allow our soldiers to disengage, and that is in fact what we are doing. As we achieve progress, as we have with the Surge, and that is what is indeed allowing us to withdraw the Surge forces, again well over one quarter of our ground combat power five of 20 brigade combat teams plus two marine battalions and the marine expeditionary unit by the end of July.

Congressman Wexler: Thank you.

Thanks for that kj, I enjoyed watching (on Lehrer) the grilling Petraeus got the other day.

Is the surge the reason or is Al Sadar's truces the reason for last 12 months of declining deaths?

Notice what happened in the last few week? The surge is still in effect and all hell is breaking loose. That the surge is working is a false claim.

I saw the general a few weeks ago on Charlie Rose, but do not agree with his logic.

....seems like alot of discussions i have with folks about the war derives from how it's going, Iraq tribal fighting....etc.... and it's worth discussing and learning about....

....but for me the truth is that none of this has anything to do with why this country (read administration) went there and continues to find reasons to stay there.... it's smoke and mirrors..... the bottom line is controlling a very
lucrative and powerful area of the world with an essential resource (oil)....and in the process making alot of money for the private contractors of which there are many, many more than in any other war to make the upper class of this country and other countries even richer....
....so any arguments about morality or military tactics or patriotism seem like part of the smoke and mirrors to me...

if there is a safe, enormous presence in that country by an American embassy and alot of contractors who continue to mine the country's oil fields
with some tolerance from an exhausted and overburdened populace who will not attack so often and learn to "behave".... we will see some troops come home.... this is McCain's thousand year war....

of course, alot of us will be in major economic trouble by then....

unless we can identify and get rid of the captains running this malicious greedy journey...

Ah greed, or GREED, the #1 problem with America, for sure.

Well said kj, all of it double true.

Arlo is playing in my birthplace tonight...and we are not there. Maybe we will get to the fall show...Next best thing is playing music while cooking dinner.

And drinking...St. James Infirmary is now playing...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/7036068.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/7036466.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7341890.stm#map

I'll take another shot of booze.

John McCain says normalcy is returning to Iraq.

I wonder how he defines "normalcy."

It starts with one kid walking in and saying, "Shrink, I don't beleive in a supreme being" and walking out...