Iraqi troops pour into Baghdad Shiite stronghold ( 'Operation Peace' )

AFP ^ | May 20 , 2008 2 hours ago | AFP

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraqi troops poured into Baghdad's Shiite bastion of Sadr City on Tuesday for the first time in eight weeks as militiamen who have been battling US forces held their fire in line with a truce deal.

Large numbers of heavily-armed soldiers fanned out in Sadr City for the first time since the deadly fighting broke out between loyalists of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and US troops in late March.

Security officials said they launched "Operation Peace" at dawn to clear the area where mines had been planted by Shiite militiamen in the teeming slum district of northeastern Baghdad.

The Iraqi troop action is in line with a truce deal reached on May 10 between the government and Sadr's powerful Shiite movement.

"Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers are deployed in different sectors of the city," an officer leading a unit of armoured vehicles told AFP. He said troops had already removed several mines from the city.

"The citizens are cooperating with the Iraqi forces, they welcomed our presence. There were no attacks that targeted the Iraqi military. The situation is peaceful."

An AFP reporter in Sadr City said residents were welcoming the Iraqi soldiers who began spreading out in the sprawling district of two million people while American soldiers remain on guard outside.

No gunfire was heard for the first time in weeks, when residents ran the risk of getting caught up in the crossfire between the militia and the American troops.

Streets were crowded with people going about their daily life among the ruins of dozens of buildings which had taken the brunt of the fighting.

"The entering of Iraqi security forces does not represent a violation of the (truce) deal," Sadr spokesman Salah al-Obeidi told AFP from the central shrine city of Najaf. "The forces have a right to enter and ensure law and order."

However, he said there had been a violation when US troops arrested several residents from Sadr City on Monday.

Much of the fighting had been centred around a huge concrete wall that the US military was building to cut off one third of the Sadr City in a bid to prevent the flow of heavy weapons to the rest of Baghdad.

The Americans had said that they had completed about 80 percent of the work on the wall which became a key issue for the militia men who constantly attacked those working on the construction under tight US protection.

Residents crept through large holes dug out of the wall to cross from the northern side of the city to the south without risking sniper fire while cars were moving freely within the congested area.

There were also no signs of US helicopters which had previously kept close watch on any movements along the wall and directed Hellfire missiles at suspected hostile activity in the neighbourhood.

The US military had directed heavy aerial attacks against targets inside Sadr City. Residents claimed that civilians were affected by the firing, but the Americans maintained they used precision bombing to get their targets.

Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting in the Sadr City since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on militias in the main southern city of Basra in late March.

The fighting quickly spread across Shiite areas of Iraq, particularly Sadr City, a bastion of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.

Both US military and Iraqi officials had reported a marked scaling down of violence in Sadr City since the Sadrits entered a truce deal nine days ago that would allow the Iraqi military to enter.

A five-member delegation from the Sadr movement arrived in Sadr City last week to follow-up on implementation of the agreement and said there was good cooperation between the two sides.

The latest military deployment in Sadr City came a day after the Iraqi military carried out search operations in the neighbouring Al-Shaab district and arrested five suspected members of the Mahdi Army.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Early morning thread:

Iraq - Iraqi forces enter Sadr's Baghdad bastion

But I like the headline...Troops puring into Sadr City.... has a special FEELING to it.

Now will harry Reid give a speech on the Senate Floor about the Surge failing ...?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And how will the Leftists Media spin this...one of their recent efforts?:

Al-Sadr Wins Another Round

[SlayerOfBunnies]

And how will the Leftists Media spin this...one of their recent efforts?

Oh no - we lose! The details are unimportant.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Related thread:

SUCCESS IN IRAQ: A MEDIA BLACKOUT

[LZ_Bayonet]

I've been saying, "it's starting to look like it's all over but the shooting*", but the Iraqi military seems to be making even greater "peaceful" progress recently, and the Coalition forces appear to be moving further and further into the background (It's a good thing!).

* Iran? Iran? Iran?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From Flopping Aces:

President Bush’s Hands On Diplomacy in the Middle East

*************************EXCERPT***********************

Another excellent example of what personal diplomacy and leadership really means!

It’s been less than four months since President Bush’s last trip to the Middle East. His attendance at the World Economic Forum in Egypt this weekend afforded him another opportunity to make diplomatic progress on a host of issues, but most importantly, Iran.

With leaders of so many of the region’s leaders present, the message was unmistakable and clear: Iran’s theocratic government is a threat to peace and the best way forward is not to recognize ore reward it with meaningless talks it, but to isolate it. That has been the longstanding policy of the United States under both Democrat and Republican Administrations. Despite the calls of Iran’s enablers in the U.S. for talks for the sake of talking, President Bush is continuing U.S. leadership whose ultimate goal is non-military regime change in Iran.

If Democrats really sought a peaceful solution to the problem of Iran they would support these efforts, not undermine them.

President George W. Bush speaks before the World Economic Forum on the Middle East Sunday, May 18, 2008, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The President told his audience, “I know these are trying times, but the future is in your hands –- and freedom and peace are within your grasp.” White House photo by Chris Greenberg

[Desron13]

I've just found my new favorite word of the month.

"whorespondents"

What a perfect description of most MSM tools.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Another good word...enemedia

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the Blogosphere ...(The Strata Sphere ):

Sadr City Residents Welcome End Of Mahdi Army Siege

*******************************EXCERPT******************************

Published by AJStrata at 10:52 pm under All General Discussions, Iraq

Well, well. Seems the residents of Sadr City are damn glad to see the Iraqi Government show up. Example one:

One of the aims of the deal was to impose a four-day cease-fire and get troops into the district a few days later to impose law and order, clear bombs, and collect weaponry used by militias.

The Iraqi army entered the area on Friday. They were welcomed by the people of Sadr City and had started removing roadside bombs from the streets, Atta said at the time.

Example 2:

According to an Iraqi intelligence official, JAM and special groups extort over $1 million monthly from the hundreds of traders at Jamilla market, a sprawling area of wholesale warehouses that supply Baghdad’s merchants with bottled water, soft drinks, snack foods and canned goods.

“The businessmen are tired of it. They complain all the time. They don’t want to keep giving them their money,” Yehea said.

He and his men know Sadr City well. All are Shiites, and virtually all come from Sadr City themselves, although many have moved their families elsewhere because of death threats.

…

Yehea and his men, however, held and distinguished themselves in repelling repeated attacks, U.S. officers said.

“Col. Yehea is a very charismatic leader. He has a passion for what he does and it’s very clear,” said U.S. Amy Maj. Philip Halliburton, a military adviser who works with the Iraqi unit. “I see a pride of country, a ‘let’s do this for the country’ attitude, and that translates into the unit.”

Yehea believes a push into the main part of Sadr City is necessary and inevitable.

“We must have IA [Iraqi army] units over there, this is what I’ve heard from my leadership,” he said. “There is no way to stop this. If we were to stop, we’d give them a chance to reorganize.”

Iraqi military forces are already drawing up plans for entering Sadr City and have been consulting with U.S. military forces, U.S. and Iraqi forces said.

There are more examples out there and coming. What seems clear right now is that the Mahdi Army is fractioning into those who will listen to the Sadrists and those who have take their orders from elsewhere - most likely Iran. The fact is the Mahdi Forces are getting decimated and many are calling it quits:

Eight weeks of fighting have caused the Mahdi Army over 4,000 casualties (dead, wounded, captured, deserted). For an outfit estimated to have a peak strength of 6,000, that’s some pretty serious losses. The Mahdi Army can quickly recruit new gunmen. Nearly every family has at least one firearm. But the new recruits are green, and die easily in combat, if they don’t run and hide when the shooting starts. So the Mahdi Army has a manpower shortage. More resilient are the pro-Iran factions, which are sometimes led by Iranian Special Forces (Quds Force) operatives. There are several of these running around (and pursued by Iraqi troops and American Special Forces).

And more here:

After seven weeks of heavy fighting in Sadr City in northern Baghdad, the Mahdi Army recently signed a shaky truce with the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But splinter groups have not abided by the cease-fire, launching attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces in southern Baghdad. Last week, roadside bombs barely missed two American convoys. On Friday night, someone fired a machine gun at American and Iraqi forces searching the neighborhood of unpaved roads, rancid pools of stagnant sewage and stray dogs that bark all night in mounds of trash. On Saturday, a U.S. patrol stumbled upon a bomb made out of a 155mm round buried in a street; that night, a dozen gun shots rang out just beyond the U.S. outpost in Risala.

“JAM guys are following Sadr’s cease-fire; special groups are attacking us,” said Army Capt. Sean Chase, a company commander stationed in Risala. JAM is the acronym for the al-Sadr militia’s Arabic name, Jaish al-Mahdi.

American troops believe the militants are trained and armed by Iran and terrorize the locals into providing them a haven. Chase says militants often press-gang Iraqis by threatening to harm them or their families. They also force shopkeepers to pay duty or face retribution.

“People are afraid of being killed, shaken down for money,” Chase said. “Basically, it’s the mafia operating by mafia rules.”

Basically the Islamo Fascists thugs cannot hide their true nature to the people they try and control through oppression. So when these Muslims are liberated their horror stories about the Islamo Fascists start spreading out, and them and those who back them go from being the future of Islam to the enemy of Islam. It has been happening with such regularity and predictability in Iraq since the Anbar Awakening in the fall of 2006 it is amazing there are still people out there who don’t understand this has become a fixed pattern of oppression, liberation and revolt - where the Muslim Steet ends up allied with America and the idea of democratic freedom.

More here and here and here on the progress the Iraqi forces are making in standing up and taking control of Iraq’s political destiny. I understand why John McCain is running on the premise we are winning in Iraq. Because we ARE winning in Iraq.

3 Responses to “Sadr City Residents Welcome End Of Mahdi Army Siege”

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And the NY Slimes comments:

Iraqi Troops Make Push to Regain Control of Sadr City

Not sure when they ever had control...oh well....

****************************EXCERPT*************************

Getty image

An American soldier watched as Iraqi army vehicles crossed into the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad on Tuesday.

By MICHAEL R. GORDON and STEPHEN FARRELL

BAGHDAD — Iraqi troops pushed deep into Sadr City Tuesday as the Iraqi government sought to establish control over the densely populated Shia enclave in the Iraqi capital.

The long-awaited military operation, which took place without the involvement of American ground forces, was the first determined effort by the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to assert control over the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood, which has been a bastion of support for Moktada al-Sadr, the rebel cleric.

The operation comes in the wake of the government’s offensive in Basra, which for the time being seems to have pacified the southern Iraqi city and restored government control.

By midday in Baghdad, Iraqi forces had driven to a key thoroughfare that bisects Sadr City and taken up positions near hospitals, police stations and the political headquarters of Mr. Sadr. There was no significant resistance.

By early Tuesday afternoon, the Iraqi Army was stationed in large numbers in many — but not all parts — of the district.

Numerous Iraqi tanks and armored personnel carriers were parked on street corners, relaxed-looking soldiers sleeping in their vehicles or looking out onto the street through steel hatches.

The Iraqi flag was flying from the army vehicles in many areas of Sadr City that had been under the control of the Shia militias.

Other soldiers manned checkpoints, some chatting with children. There were no visible signs of the Mahdi Army, although many walls bore posters of Mr. Sadr, and they seemed to have been put up in the last few days.

Many of the walls also bore the marks of bullets and shells from the fighting over the past couple of months.

The stage for the operation in Sadr City was set weeks ago. Shiite militias began firing rockets at the Green Zone from Sadr City in late March in response to the offensive in Basra.

[BOBTHENAILER]

"The entering of Iraqi security forces does not represent a violation of the (truce) deal," Sadr spokesman Salah al-Obeidi told AFP from the central shrine city of Najaf. "The forces have a right to enter and ensure law and order."

Well now, if that isn't a sure sign of capitulation...I dunno what is.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

More:From the LA Times:

Iraqi security forces begin crackdown on Sadr City

******************************EXCERPTS*************************

U.S. forces were playing no part in the operation to wrest control of the Baghdad district from militiamen loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr.

By Alexandra Zavis and Caesar Ahmed, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
3:18 AM PDT, May 20, 2008

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi security forces moved deep into Sadr City today to wrest control of the vast Baghdad district from militiamen loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr.

Columns of Iraqi armored Humvees and tanks, backed by helicopters, lumbered down the slum's main arteries, while soldiers fanned out over the rooftops and into narrow allies. Others set up checkpoints, searching vehicles for weapons and fighters.

Despite the heavy military presence, residents said the district remained calm and no shots were fired at the troops. Sadr's representatives in the neighborhood, which is named after the cleric's revered father, wandered the streets, welcoming the Iraqi soldiers and presenting them with Korans, the Muslim holy book.

"It's like a normal day here," said Ahmed Mohammed, a grocery store owner. "It's very calm so far … no fighting or firing of bullets."

U.S. forces were playing no part in the operation, the military said.

The crackdown, dubbed operation Peace and Security, began at dawn, said Maj. Gen. Qassim Musawi, an Iraqi military spokesman.

[Future Snake Eater]

"The citizens are cooperating with the Iraqi forces, they welcomed our presence. There were no attacks that targeted the Iraqi military. The situation is peaceful."

Uh-huh. I found the same to be true. But once you go into Shaab, Ur, New Baghdad, and Adamiyah, watch out.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The NY Times article is pretty detailed,..on how it was all done....seven brigades went thru the gaps in the wall ...guarded by American Tanks...brigade is about 700 men...

So the word POURED INTO seems appropriate and Capitulation is the right response when nearly 5,000 armed men with TANKS suddenly show up in the neighborhood.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Different brand of Shiite live in those areas?

[BOBTHENAILER]

Poured into is a wonderful description of the events.

[Marine_Uncle]

With so little resistance over all in this city over the past few weeks I hope it is indicative the Shia really do not wish to fight the Iraqi military and police.
They must be awakening to the fact, their glorious leader is no longer around to lead them, and realize with the help of the US forces, if it came to a blood bath, they will loose big time. What they need to see is Sunni and Kurdish elements move about freely to help improve their squalid living conditions.
Iraqi protecting Iraqi regardless of sectarian attachment.
This huge slum offers a perfect opportunity for the government to show that it does want to improve the lives of it's citizens. Clean the place up and provide more heating oil, and electricity will go a long way in showing them the better option is for cooperation, not resistance.
Once security becomes the norm, they will seek less assistance from the militia, assuming it still stays in tack.

[Rokke]

I discussed (dismantled) this article on my blog here....

http://www.therightreasons.net/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=3&showentry=118

[Future Snake Eater]

No, the Shi’ite terrorists who live in Sadr City, work in those adjacent neighborhoods. Sadr City is actually remarkably clean (well...clean for an Iraqi urban area anyway) and destruction free. They’ve put a lot of money and work into it to make it that way, but they don’t mind trashing the neighboring areas.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Excellent...dismantling....

[STARWISE]

http://talismangate.blogspot.com/2008/05/fascinating-jihadists-admit-defeat-in.html

Thursday, May 15, 2008
Fascinating: The Jihadists Admit Defeat in Iraq

A prolific jihadist sympathizer has posted an ‘explosive’ study on one of the main jihadist websites in which he laments the dire situation that the mujaheddin find themselves in Iraq by citing the steep drop in the number of insurgent operations conducted by the various jihadist groups, most notably

***
Al-Qaeda’s 94 percent decline in operational ability over the last 12 months, when only a year and half ago Al-Qaeda accounted for 60 percent of all jihadist activity!
***

The author, writing under the pseudonym ‘Dir’a limen wehhed’ [‘A Shield for the Monotheist’], posted his ‘Brief Study on the Consequences of the Division [Among] the [Jihadist] Groups on the Cause of Jihad in Iraq’ on May 12 and it is being displayed by the administration of the Al-Ekhlaas website—one of Al-Qaeda’s chief media outlets—among its more prominent recent posts. He’s considered one of Al-Ekhlaas’s “esteemed” writers.

The author tallies up and compares the numbers of operations claimed by each insurgent group under four categories: a year and half ago (November 2006), a year ago (May 2007), six months ago (November 2007) and now (May 2008).

He demonstrated that while Al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq could claim 334 operations in Nov. 06 and 292 in May 07, their violent output dropped to 25 in Nov. 07 and 16 so far in May 08. Keep in mind that these assessments are based on Al-Qaeda’s own numbers.

The author also shows that similar steep drops were exhibited by other jihadist groups, and he neatly puts it all together in these two charts:

(((Shown at top link)))

I don’t have the time to translate these charts right now, or translate the analysis he provides, but I wanted to share this with you immediately

***
because it is a stunning and unprecedented admission of defeat!
***

Back in March 2007, I predicted as much in a column titled Jihadist Meltdown, and I wrote the following:

• The Al Qaeda-led Islamic State of Iraq orchestrates 60% of the actions, including most of the spectacular mass murders of civilians and military engagements with the American military.

Most of the rank and file is Iraqi as is al-Baghdadi himself, but foreign nationals are better represented in the leadership.

• Other jihadist groups such as Ansar al-Sunna, the Islamic Army of Iraq, the Mujaheddin Army, and the 1920 Revolt Brigades, most of which are Iraqi organizations with longstanding Salafist roots, conduct 30% of the operations.

• Various Iraqi Baathist factions orchestrate 10%.

I go on to describe why I thought that this defeat was inevitable:

This sense that they were running out of time compelled Al Qaeda to take a bold initiative of declaring the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq four months back, appointing the hitherto unknown Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as its head.

This was no propaganda stunt for Al Qaeda. This was the real thing: the nucleus state for the caliphate, with al-Baghdadi as the candidate caliph.

But this was a fatal strategic mistake for Al Qaeda, a mistake that threatens to pull down all the other jihadist insurgent groups along with it.

Al Qaeda tried to leap over reality, but it was a leap into the abyss of uncertainty.

Trying to pick a caliph is fraught with historical and judicial complications since there is no historical precedent — not even from the time of the Prophet Muhammad — that would serve for an uncontroversial transfer of power.

It is one of the most delicate ideological matters among jihadists, a matter so sensitive that most of them have decided to leave it aside for the time being lest it result in splintering off dissenters.

~~~

More at top link ... Hallelujah! Let peace truly and finally begin .. God bless and protect our absolutely awesome troops!

[STARWISE]

More news the MSM refuses to show.

News Video — Freedom Journal Iraq - outreach
in Sadr City - May 19, 2008, the “Raid
Report” of terrorists captured, killed and
caches found, and “Moment of Valor”.

Scroll down to “Watch Video”

http://dvidshub.net/?script=video/video_show.php&id=39003#

Kudos to those good and brave Sons of Iraq, paving
the way for peace and freedom in their country, and
trained by the best troops in the world: the awesome
American military. God bless and protect them all.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Now that is excellent news....take that Sen. Harry Reid!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From LWJ:

Iraqi Army presses into Sadr City

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This is ugly:

al-Qaeda Running Out Of Fighters, Goes After Children

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Just realized I had a typo....from post #2....

Troops puring into Sadr City....

And Spell checker doesn't catch it...

[BOBTHENAILER]

Al Qaeda tried to leap over reality, but it was a leap into the abyss of uncertainty.

Absolutely stunning reading in this post.

Into the abyss with their measly asses.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Special ping for look at Jihad Websites!

[elhombrelibre]

Great news. The Shia militias have lost their hiding places and the elected government now has its forces in place in Basrah and in Baghdad.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And see #22 for news on al Qaeda.

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, no one died when Harry Reid lied. Well, yeah, I guess they did, because he’s constantly doing that. Thanks Ernest for both links.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018626/posts?page=2#2

[Marine_Uncle]

Nancy slit his throat the other day. She realizes there is simply to much good news coming out of Iraq and she would not like to be on the wrong side of the card. Harry will just slink into some hole and not open his mouth again. Every point he has made for the past three years turned out to be totally false, or only temporary. Marry Reid lost the war. Pelosi is to slick to go against the wave at this point.
She did not just go to Iraq on the fly for a vacation. She most likely had to verify in her stupid lame head that it was over for them. Now she sees what many of us have seen for some time.

[nikos1121]

Isn’t funny. Nothing in the news for the past several days about deaths in Iraq. What’s going on over there?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Try this :

Turning Point: The Good News About Iraq ( From ABC News....but watch for the spin )

[valkyry1]

Hey, bump to your Blog Rokke, WooHoo!