IRAQ: Sadr's in a JAM -- It looks like his militia got routed.

Weekly Standard ^ | 04/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Tom Donnelly

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

ALMOST FROM THE MOMENT IT began on March 25, the inside-the-Beltway Conventional Wisdom about the Iraqi Army's offensive against Muqtada al-Sadr's "Jaysh al Mahdi" militia and other, more criminal elements in the city of Basra--the second-largest city in Iraq and whose port is Iraq's lifeline to the international economy--was that it was a half-baked enterprise and soon a fully-baked disaster. But the latest news from Iraq strongly suggests that is, once again, the narrative of defeat that is half-baked. Over the weekend, the Iraqi Army asserted control over the Basra neighborhoods that had been Sadrist "strongholds" (though, as in the past, the pattern of JAM behavior is flight-not-fight when its losses begin to mount) and continued to apply strong pressure on Sadr City, the main JAM redoubt in Baghdad.

But, before the reality check, let's indulge in a retrospective of the failure fantasies of recent weeks. "I hope we don't hear any glorification of what happened in Basra," House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi warned Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker before they delivered their Iraq update testimony to Congress on April 9. Pelosi was parroting the left's rush to judgment that the Iraqi operation was a conclusive failure and that Muqtada al Sadr and Iran were the big winners. Basra was an unpleasant "lesson" for the Maliki government, wrote Robert Dreyfuss on March 31 in the Nation; the prime minister personally "lost face" and the initial cease-fire "worked out in Qom, Iran and mediated by Tehran," was "doubly embarrassing." But it was worse for the United States and an "utter humiliation" for President Bush.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

MSM is looking BAD ,,,Harry and Nancy are disappointed...

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Hey Mookie, the wages of sin is death...so long nimrod!

[pissant]

The democrats entire world is crumbling.

[Former MSM Viewer]

“I hope we don’t hear any glorification of what happened in Basra,” House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi warned Gen. David Petraeus

SHOCKING in the depravity of this woman and all the Left who want to do anything to bring us down...

[jazusamo]

Paging Pelosi, Reid and Murtha!

The Iraqi people are winning despite you working against them.

[agere_contra]

MSM defeatists on both sides of the pond are looking pretty stupid. But they won’t change their narrative one little bit.

Kudos to the Iraqi army and - of course - the Coalition embeds.

[mad_as_he$$]

IMHO Mookie is dead. He was suppose to have returned to Baghdad about a month ago from Iran. Then it was reported that he went to Basra to support the glorious fight. Over the weekend it was reported that he threatened Malarki with all out war FROM IRAN!!! All of this time he has not been seen on real time TV in over 7 months. He's is toast and somebody is running his crew and getting all of his fools killed doing it. Pretty good plot.

[mad_as_he$$]

IMHO Mookie is dead. He was suppose to have returned to Baghdad about a month ago from Iran. Then it was reported that he went to Basra to support the glorious fight. Over the weekend it was reported that he threatened Malarki with all out war FROM IRAN!!! All of this time he has not been seen on real time TV in over 7 months. He's is toast and somebody is running his crew and getting all of his fools killed doing it. Pretty good plot.

[SENTINEL]

The dims are doing what they always do. I hope the Iraqis really have the chutzpah to keep sadr in check.

The biggest disappointment in this entire story however, is that Osama Bin Laden and Muqtada Al Sadr will both still be in power after President Pollyanna has finished his second term.

[CodeMasterPhilzar]

Congratulations Iraqi Army. Hope this is just the latest in what will become a long string of victories over these outlaw groups.

[chopperman]

The biggest disappointment in this entire story however, is that Osama Bin Laden and Muqtada Al Sadr will both still be in power after President Pollyanna has finished his second term.

Bin Laden's dead, Jim. And Mookie's afraid to step foot out of Iran.

[SunkenCiv]

I can’t figure out how this is still being called a victory by the right wing MSM. It’s obvious that the entire Iraqi army and police force threw down their weapons and turned tail, or worse yet, joined the insurgents. This is just so typical of the right wing lies that were used by the war criminals in the White House and Pentagon to ship our sons and fathers into this illegal war. /sarcasm

Thanks Ernest! Fat Turban Boy will be eternally eaten alive by daemons in Hell for this abject failure to eject the infidel crusaders from the sacred Moslem domain. ;’)

[G8 Diplomat]

Didn't I say it earlier? Jaish al-Mahdi's in a JAM!

[Allegra]

Yes, the media has lied worse on this event than on any of the previous occurrences in Iraq and that's saying a lot. I believe the fact that al Qaeda has been marginalized and that the Iraqi government finally stood up to these Sadrist, Iran-backed thugs has gotten the media and their henchmen such as Pelosi and Reid feeling quite desperate.

While things had been quite calm in most parts of Iraq, including Baghdad for several months, we knew that the Mehdi Army problem was merely lying dormant and would have to be faced head-on eventually. Better now than later.

Enough with Mookie holding his fake "ceasefires" over the heads of the Iraqis and the coalition. If Maliki and the government continue to stand strong on this, it will be a huge step in gaining long-lasting security for Iraq.

[SENTINEL]

That’s bull and you know it.

[Marine_Uncle]

But these clowns only have to make some new half baked remarks and the L/MSM will mostly protect them.

[purpleraine]

Ping me when he’s dead.

[Marine_Uncle]

I am sure you are right Ernie. Pelosi and Reid and their like minded bozos continue to be countered by the realities on the ground taking place in Iraq both security wise as well as politically.
McCain has a golden opportunity to set the record straight later this year if he has the will and a good staff that closely assemble all the right materials into a few conclusive "facts of life".
The Iraqi owe us big time, and the least they could do is make the world show they now have the goods to keep the ball rolling in a positive way.