Posted on 08/06/2004 7:41:24 AM PDT by nypokerface
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Coalition forces battled militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in several Iraqi cities Friday, saying they killed about 300 militants in Najaf over two days of fighting. Battles in other Shiite areas of the country have killed dozens more, according to Iraqi authorities.
The death toll among the anti-coalition fighters was among the largest in a single continuing engagement since the end of the war to oust Saddam Hussein last year.
Two U.S. Marines and an American soldier were killed in Najaf on Thursday, and 12 troops were wounded, the military said. Fifteen U.S. soldiers were wounded in Baghdad.
In Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, U.S. helicopters on Friday attacked militants hiding in a cemetery near the Imam Ali Shrine in the old city at Najaf's center, where smoke could be seen rising. The fighting began Thursday in Najaf and has since spread to other Shiite areas across the country, as the truce that marked an end to a similar rebellion two months ago appeared to have been shattered.
Al-Sadr blamed the United States for the violence in Iraq in a sermon read on his behalf Friday in the Kufa Mosque close to Najaf.
The interim government had called America "our partner," he said. "I say America is our enemy and the enemy of the people, and we will not accept its partnership."
Regardless, al-Sadr's aides called Friday for a return to the truce. They asked for the United Nations and Iraq's interim government to stop the violence.
"From our side we did not want to escalate the situation, because the situation in Najaf affects that of other Shiite areas," Mahmoud al-Sudani, a spokesman of al-Sadr in Baghdad, told reporters. "But the actions of the American troops have enraged the sons of these cities."
But the government said Friday it would not tolerate independent militias, including the Mahdi Army.
The militias "are considered criminal and terrorist groups that we do not condone and that we will fight," said Georges Sada, spokesman for interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. "We will fight them and will not allow their criminal actions in the various cities, irrespective of who they are or how big they are."
In April, the Mahdi Army militia launched sustained attacks on U.S. and coalition troops in several cities, the first major Shiite violence against the Americans. The confrontation dragged on for two months until Iraqi politicians and religious leaders negotiated a series of truces.
Each side blamed the other for breaking the cease-fire. The U.S. military accused the militants of repeatedly attacking police in Najaf, and al-Sadr loyalists accused U.S. forces of surrounding the cleric's house Monday.
Some of the worst violence hit the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, where the Health Ministry said 19 people were killed and 111 wounded during fighting Thursday and early Friday between U.S. troops and al-Sadr militants. Separate attacks blamed on al-Sadr's followers wounded 15 American soldiers in Baghdad.
Militiamen also seized four police stations in Amarah, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad, witnesses said.
On Friday, helicopter gunships pounded militant positions in Najaf, while Italian soldiers exchanged gunfire with militants who attacked their positions and a police station in the southern city of Nasiriyah, an Italian military spokesman said. Clashes also were reported Friday between U.S. troops and insurgents north of the capital in Samarra.
In the Najaf cemetery, gunfire and explosions rang out as U.S. soldiers and Iraqi policemen advanced toward the area, witnesses said. The streets were otherwise deserted and shops were closed.
"The area near the (Imam Ali Shrine) is being subjected to a war," said Ahmed al-Shaibany, an official with al-Sadr's office in Najaf. "Najaf is being subjected to ... total destruction.
"We call on the Islamic world and the civilized world to save the city."
The U.S. military has accused the militants of hiding in the shrine compound to avoid retaliation by U.S. forces. It had no comment on Friday's clashes.
Smoke billowed over parts of Najaf as roadside stalls burned. Many shops were closed, the streets were nearly deserted and a woman's body lay abandoned on an empty sidewalk, according to Associated Press Television News footage.
"We estimate we've killed 300 anti-Iraqi forces in the past two days of fighting," said Capt. Carrie Batson, a Marine spokeswoman.
Battles in Najaf have killed at least 13 civilians and wounded 58 others over two days, according to Najaf General Hospital officials.
The U.S. military said two Marines, one soldier and seven militants were killed Thursday in and around Najaf. At least 921 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq in March 2003, according to the Defense Department.
In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, guerrillas attacked a convoy of 10 U.S. Humvees at dawn, witnesses said. U.S. helicopters fired rockets at insurgent positions, and the U.S. convoy pulled out.
In the southern city of Nasiriyah, assailants attacked Italian troops with automatic weapons, an Italian military spokesman said on condition of anonymity. They also attacked a police station, prompting the local governor to call for Italian military assistance, he said. There were no coalition casualties, the spokesman said.
The fighting, which lasted until dawn Friday, killed eight Iraqis, including five militants, and wounded 13 others, according to AbdelKhuder al-Tahir, a senior Interior Ministry official.
"Today, the city is more stable. Policemen and National Guard are in control of government buildings on one side of the city, while Italian forces are in control of the other side. Some of al-Sadr's followers are moving in the center of the city, but the rest of the city is under our control," he said.
A coalition base near Najaf, Camp Golf, was hit by mortar fire early Friday, while rounds fired at a base housing Ukrainian troops missed their target, a Polish military spokesman said. No one was hurt.
Tensions also ran high in the southern city of Basra, where British troops clashed Thursday with the Mahdi Army. Violence there killed five al-Sadr fighters, said As'ad al-Basri, an al-Sadr official in the city.
Meanwhile, Lebanese officials said four citizens working as truck drivers are missing in Iraq, bringing to five the number of Lebanese citizens either unaccounted for or held captive by insurgents. A Foreign Ministry official said the government was trying to learn if the four were kidnapped.
Kill them all and let their allah sort them out. I am sure the demo-commies are extremely upset losing so many terrorist(P>C> insurgents)ie, supporters. God Bless Our Troops and President. Bush/Cheney 2004
just think of "ohhhh, dude...!!!"
Yes, I read it.
Where on the webpage does it say anything to the effect of "Leave the leadership of the terrorists intact?"
What did lesson 1 say? Something about being "your own worst enemy" out of "cultural ignorance?" Something about not making uninterested civilians into "active fighters?"
The solution is easy, do a Kerry
And that's what killing Sadr would do?
Using that logic (which, by the way, is the logic leftists use) we shouldn't kill any terrorist leaders, as that would make them "martyrs."
By the way, ever hear of Jeff Davis? Wonde why we didn't hang him? There are practical reasons for not doing dumb tings like this.
Well, back to one of my original points...the policy makers are not always right.
Those 300 aren't going to be released. I'll bet it is very difficult for an armed insurgent attacking US forces to make known his desire to be taken prisoner rather than killed. I don't recall reading how many were captured during the events which resulted in the 300 dead.
The Grozny "lessons learned" were spread through the USMC and the Army to find out how to win and how to win more effectively and in a less costly manner. It is not, I repeat, NOT a "political document" out of the Pentagon or George W.'s office. You can't seem to grasp that it is the MARINES and the ARMY that have adopted these tactics.
I'm not too sure about that.
If the Marine's had their way, they'd have killed Sadr by now.
Why, then, do they use Grozny "lessons learned" as a training tool? It's the basis of a USMC Master's Thesis, too, by the way.
The AFP thread said 1200 surrendered after 300 got wasted. People didn't believe it. I think if -AFP- is saying 300 dead and 1200 surrendered, and AP vouches for 300 dead...it was a slaughter.
As I posted in one of these replies, though (an article from NY Times???) surrenders aren't all that great. We check 'em in, process them, then if we don't have clear evidence they are baddies, we let 'em loose. Better they "die in battle."
Guess you have trouble reading between the lines in #1. Bye.
Oh, Dude.
For old time's sake, the Fallujah street mob strike video
http://www.jswaim.com/files/CAS.wmv
I think that maybe the catch and release is a good thing.... what if every time they caught a "frequent flier", he spilled his guts on info that is important..... Names, contacts, supply, communication, transport routes, rally points, engagement/ambush plans, IED locations and methods of detonation.... etc..
Now I know it seems like a stretch, but how many freepers have some law enforcement background that can verify that a snitch in a gang is worthy of picking up, pretend you're roughing up a bit, isolating, then getting info, finally kicking him in the ass shaking your head as he walks out the door and cursing..."I'll get you next time you dirty little b@stard...". meanwhile a "payment" or "favor" has been given and received.
Don't listen to the New York Slimes when trying to analyze motives and operational procedures of in country troops.... the pr@cks at the New York Times wouldn't know what to write about unless they had disinformation and propaganda to hurt the USA.
We can only hope that the next truck bomb or airliner takes out their whole building during an employee meeting or board of directors confab.
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