Heavy Fighting in AR Ramadi Iraq~~~ Sadr's fighters have attacked US Forces.

Fox News

[Dog]

Just broke on Fox

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Whatever we do, we need to stop pretending that the war is over and stop pretending that a well trained police force can handle the situation. We are at war and as much as I hate to say this, we are either going to have to wipe out city blocks with air and artillary power or we're going to have to take the enemy street by street, building by building in the type of bloody combat that our enemies at home

Agreed! Some people here are under the impression that after we tkae Fallujah that this will "all be over". Bomb the city and use it as a warning to those who start up another riot

[LurkingSince'98]

Hey Cec!

tell the Marine thats been on two weeks R&R that he's getting soft!

WTF?!?!

Lurking'

[Williams]

Can't get out of my mind that as this trouble was starting, Kennedy was declaring this is "Bush's Vietnam." And Biden - who the republicans including Gingrich treat with respect - saying the US will emerge from this "failed policy" demoralized and defeated with no ability to "threaten" Syria and Iran. Biden directly stated that is a good thing.

Will America be smart enough to reject the dems as they stab us in the back?

[Dog]

There are American dead and wounded...

[MEG33]

How old ARE you?

[Petronski]

TET offensive Iraq style?

Well, that's what I was thinking:

Last gasp desperation move trying to break morale: Either TET or the Battle of the Bulge.

Hopefully the results will be more like TET than the Bulge, but it would only be a matter of time either way....and in any event, I don't think this operation is as large as either of those precedents.

[Mo1]

Estimated 100 fighters have attacked.....This is the 1st Marine Division HQ building

Bret also mentioned something about personal are also involved in the firefight and that this is very unusual for this to happen

[Bobber58]

situational awaremess

[OXENinFLA]

U.S. Marines with the 2nd Battalion 1st Marine Regiment pause after a gunbattle with the Iraqi insurgents on the outskirts of Fallujah, Iraq (news - web sites), Tuesday, April 6, 2004. Hundreds of U.S. Marines attacked several neighborhoods in the western Iraqi city of Fallujah in order to regain control of the city. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)

[LdSentinal]

The Kurds have helped us fight the insurgency in Mosul and Kirkuk.

They have also indirectly helped by pushing many Sunnis south of Tikrit.

Anything south of Tikrit is not their jurisidiction.

[MEG33]

Profound

[StriperSniper]

Brett Baer FNC - A number of Americans wounded, probablly some deaths, no firm numbers.

[oceanview]

i'm not willing to see 100 dead marines, to kill 1000 of these islamic fanatics, when 5 helicopters could do the same job.

[thoughtomator]

What week of the year doesn't have a Christian holiday of some sort? Every day is some saint or other's day.

[boxerblues]

Prayers for the families. Lord knows we need these brave men.

[Sprite518]

We need to bring in the Gunships to protect our Marines!

[r9etb]

Forgive my ignorance....

FWIW, we're all ignorant of what's really going on. The Marines do not release details very readily, and we have no idea how many casualties are being suffered, nor do we have much info about what our side is using or doing in the fighting.

The last thing we need is for people on this thread to run around screaming and waving our arms about PC, butt-kicking, and all manner of crap.

It would behoove you to recall that it is U.S. Marines who are engaged in battle. They are Bad-Ass Mother F***ers who know very well how to obliterate the bad guys.

Calm down, and have faith in our fine troops.

[kcvl]

Sadr moves to Najaf, vows to fight US

Najaf, April 7. (AP): A radical Shiite cleric sought by U.S. forces said Tuesday he is willing to die resisting any attempt to capture him, while battles between gunmen and coalition forces in Shiite cities in the south killed at least 15 Iraqis and wounded dozens.

Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to ``defend their rights'' against U.S.-led forces, as his aides said he had moved from the fortress-like mosque where he had been holed up to his office in this holy Shiite city.

``America has shown its evil intentions, and the proud Iraqi people cannot accept it. They must defend their rights by any means they see fit,'' al-Sadr said in a statment released by his office.

The United States declared an ``outlaw'' after his militiamen battled coalition troops Sunday in Baghdad and outside Najaf in fights that killed 61 people _ including eight U.S. soldiers.

U.S. officials announced an arrest warrant against al-Sadr on Monday, suggesting they would move soon to detain him. The 30-year-old cleric has been a sharp critic of the U.S. occupation and has built up a private militia, the al-Mahdi Army, that U.S. officials say they want to dismantle.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks Monday and Tuesday in a northern Baghdad neighborhood near an area that saw clashes Monday between al-Sadr militiamen and Americans, the military said _ though it was not immediately clear whether they were killed by al-Sadr supporters.

Since Sunday, the showdown with al-Sadr has prompted a wave of violence against coalition troops in normally quiet cities of southern Iraq.

Gunmen battled Italian forces in Nasiriyah in fighting Tuesday that killed 15 Iraqis and wounded 35 others, Paola Della Casa, a spokeswoman for the U.S.-led coalition in Nasiriyah, told the Apcom news agency in Rome. The Defense Ministry said 12 Iralians were wounded.

Al-Sadr supporters clashed Tuesday with British troops in Amarah, where hospital officials reported 42 wounded and an unknown number of deaths. Bulgarian forces also came under fire in Karbala.

At least 11 Iraqis were killed overnight by blasts in Sadr City, a mostly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad that saw some of the fiercest fighting Sunday between militiamen and U.S. troops.

Since Sunday, al-Sadr was in the main mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, poretcted by armed militiamen. But a top aide, Sheik Qays al-Khaz'ali, said Tuesday that al-Sadr had moved to his main office, in the nearby city of Najaf.

On Tuesday, dozens of heavily armed militiamen were outside the Najaf office, located in a small alley near Shiism's holiest site, the golden-domed shrine of Imam Ali. The black-garbed gunmen, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, crowded the narrow alley and roamed nearby streets.

There was no way to confirm reports that al-Sadr was inside.

Asked if al-Sadr will resist if U.S. forces come to arrest him, al-Khaz'ali replied: ``God forbid if this happens, al-Sayed will win martyrdom'' _ referring to al-Sadr by an Arabic title meaning ``master.''

Al-Khaz'ali quoted al-Sadr as saying, ``My fate will be either assassination or arrested.''

A move from Kufa to Najaf would be an unusual move. Al-Sadr is widely unpopular in Najaf, where most Shiites support older, more moderate clerics. By contrast, his al-Mahdi Army has been in virtual control of Kufa since Sunday, holding the police station and patrolling the streets. The main mosque in Kufa has high, fortresslike walls.

In a statement released earlier by his office, al-Sadr said he was moving to avoid bloodshed in the Kufa mosque. ``I feared that the sanctity of a glorious and esteemed mosque would be violated by scum and evil people,'' he said. The Americans ``will have no qualms to embark on such actions.''

``I have pledged not to allow a drop of blood to be shed except my own,'' al-Sadr said. ``I'm prepared to have my own blood shed for what is holy to me.''

He also denounced U.S. President George W. Bush, who said Monday that al-Sadr aimed at wrecking democracy in Iraq.

``I would like to direct my words to the father of evil, Bush,'' al-Sadr said. ``Who is against democracy? Is it the one who calls for peaceful resistance or the one who bombs people, sheds their blood and leads them away from the leaders under feeble and dirty pretexts?''

The confrontation with al-Sadr could increase tensions with Iraq's Shiite majority. However, many Shiites see al-Sadr as a renegade because of his youth and volatility and look to older, more moderate clerics for leadership. U.S. officials appear to be hoping Shiites won't rally around him in a crackdown.

The arrest warrant was issued on charges al-Sadr was involved in the slaying of a rival cleric last year.

The arrest of an aide to al-Sadr last week on the same charges prompted widespread protests by al-Sadr supporters that turned into heavy gunbattles in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City and outside Najaf.

[rintense]

God please watch over our soldiers...

That said, it's time to seriously destroy these nutballs.

[babaloo]

Bret Baier sorta made it sound like there are US dead and wounded just now. This is very sad. Shep says an army has attacked our compound.