Posted on 08/11/2004 5:26:32 PM PDT by blam
US marines poised to crush Najaf revolt
By Adrian Blomfield in Baghdad
(Filed: 12/08/2004)
US marines were poised last night to launch a final assault on militants loyal to the rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as they sought to recapture Najaf, the centre of a bloody Shia insurgency engulfing southern Iraq.
As British troops fought fierce battles with militants in Amara and Basra, American commanders warned the rebel forces they were ready to crush the revolt in Najaf after a week of fierce fighting.
Mahdi militiamen on the offensive in Najaf
"Iraqi and US forces are making final preparations as we get ready to finish this fight that the Moqtada militia started," said Col Anthony Haslam, commanding officer of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
As marines pushed further into the city's vast cemetery - the main battleground of the clashes - Sadr ordered his men to keep fighting even if he was killed.
Leading Sadr aides later vowed to intensify their rebellion if their leader was killed.
"We will set fire to the whole of Iraq if he dies," said Hassan Naji al-Mousawi. "We will fight until we are all dead too, but we will take a lot of Americans with us."
In Basra, Sheikh Asaad al-Basri, the local leader of the Mahdi army, threatened to blow up oil pipelines if US forces attacked in Najaf.
At least 380 militants have been killed in the fighting in Najaf over the last few days, American military officials say, while more than 100 others are believed to have died in other cities.
Iyad Allawi, the interim prime minister, has laid his credibility on the line by promising total destruction of the Mahdi army. But he also risks alienating more moderate members of Iraq's majority Shia community.
One particular concern for the US marines is the number of Mahdi militiamen who have taken up positions in Najaf's Imam Ali shrine, widely revered by Shia Muslims who would view an attack on it as the ultimate act of desecration. Senior US officers say they have been given permission to attack it, but have not yet decided whether to do so.
British troops launched an offensive overnight on Tuesday against Shia fighters in the southern town of Amara, killing 10 of them, the militiamen said. Hospital officials in the town said four civilians had also died. British officers said there was no indication of any civilian casualties.
Two British soldiers were wounded during the operation, launched to stop insurgents firing mortars at them.
The British also clashed with Mahdi militiamen in Basra, though no details of casualties could be confirmed.
In Nassiriya and other cities, thousands of furious Shias marched in a display of anger against Mr Allawi and his American backers.
"The Americans can never win us back now," said Mehdi Nouri, a shopkeeper in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City slums, where several people were killed yesterday in battles with United States forces.
"The Americans are frightened of ordinary Iraqi people, that is why they hate us. We are frightened of them, that is why we hate them. In such a situation we can only see deaths and more deaths. We are begging the Americans to leave."
Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi politician who has fallen out of favour with his former American mentors, has returned to Baghdad to face an arrest warrant on alleged counterfeiting charges, his aides said yesterday.
An Iraqi judge said on Monday that Mr Chalabi, who has visiting Iran, would be arrested as soon as he set foot in Iraq after fake Iraqi dinars were found in his home during a police raid last May. Mr Chalabi says he is the victim of a political smear.
Sadr needs to be liquidated yesterday.
Enough of this negotiation and hope the fat thug will "do the right thing."
They use cease fires to re-group, re-train, and re-arm.
Mmmmm... I love the way that headline sounds :D
Here's hoping they do.
I hope I'm wrong but how can we get these thugs out of that "precious mosque" without destroying it?
We can't, that's the problem, at least not without hugh repercussions.
Should read: "We will fight until we are all dead, and maybe we'll force a Marine to break a nail in the process. We couldn't fight our way out of a paper bag."
This might sound kind of carping, but why can't the ING take em down? The Mahdi army isn't exactly an effective fighting force, if anything, they look like a route for someone to find out if the whole 72 "raisins or virgins?" thing is true or not.
"They use cease fires to re-group, re-train, and re-arm."
Just like the Palestinian terrorists.
I thought that I understood from Alawi (sp?) that Iraqis would be doing the inside the mosque stuff and we would be backing their play outdoors...that is they would wipe out the in-surgents and we would wipe out the out-surgents...so to speak...
Hey, I could have understood wrong, but the I.N.G. are in on this with us as well.
...and we use ceasefires to watch them do it. You have to have an aweful lot of predetermined targets in order to conduct a mission of this magnitude. Everybody has to have an objective. Secrity needs to be tightened in some areas to prevent a counterpuch....so many little details.
If he and his cadre aren't taken out pronto we can expect this war to escalate.
The way I'm hearing it Alawi can't get away with attacking that place any more than we could.
The Iraqi govt is still pretty new, it would probably bring them down. There's already one of his VP's calling for the U.S. to get out of Najaf.
I wish Sistani would say something.
Been there, didn't do that.
Someone ping me when we REALLY get serious about dealing with Sadr.
You gotta love those great pictures from ALONGSIDE the enemy. Time to eradicate the enemy SPIES with the "press" tags. If they do not want to die, they had best move far far away.
ABC NEWS: It appears that Sadr is using the [Imam Ali Shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam] to keep weapons. Are you prepared to let coalition forces enter the holy shrine?ALLAWI: No, we don't need the coalition forces to go into the holy shrine. Iraqi forces should go to the holy shrine, and they should do that. They have our instructions to do that if he persists in abusing the holy shrine. The holy shrines are holy shrines and they are there for people to visit them. They are supposed to go there, and unfortunately this has been denied because of the activities and criminal activities that have been going on.
We intend to restore order, and we will restore order. We see this has been part and parcel of the overall attack against Iraq to undermine the political process in Iraq.
ABC NEWS: So that I understand it exactly right, the U.S. Marines should not go into the holy shrine?
ALLAWI: No, and they don't want to go themselves.
ABC NEWS: Do you know if the Iraqi forces would be willing to go into the holy shrine?
ALLAWI: Well, one of the points in Najaf, which was very clear to me, is that the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army can proceed. And they were begging that the order should be issued for them so they can go to the shrines and arrest and bring the people in the shrines into the law. But I said let us give the people a chance to take advantage of the amnesty.
ABC NEWS: The deputy president of Iraq has called for U.S. forces and Marines in Najaf to leave Najaf completely. Is that what your government wants now?
ALLAWI: No, I haven't seen this. But the Marines and others from the multinational force are really outside the city. But I want to ask him about his statement.
This must be frustrating for the Marines.
Crush them from 10,000 feet. Marines are near and dear to my heart.
JediForce,I am praying for our troops.
Dude, that last possibility is terrifying.
Just... ewww.
Just blow up the mosque the terrorists occupy, and them with it. No mosque is sacred anyway. They are just buildings that can be blown up if the Islamic terrorists are hanging out there.
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