Posted on 08/30/2006 11:19:17 AM PDT by blam
Analysis: Taking on al-Sadr Carries Risk
Wednesday August 30, 2006 6:46 PM
By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - This week's intense clashes between the Iraqi army and a Shiite militia are part of a strategy to whittle away the power of a radical cleric. But the high-risk gambit could trigger more fighting across the Shiite south - at a time when the cleric's stronghold in the capital is virtually off-limits.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has promised to disband militias, including the Mahdi Army of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, as a way to curb the sectarian violence propelling Iraq to the brink of civil war. The United States has made clear it views that effort as crucial.
But a full-scale assault by either American or Iraqi forces on al-Sadr's stronghold of Sadr City is highly risky. Al-Maliki, a fellow Shiite with political ties to the cleric, has publicly criticized a U.S.-Iraqi raid this month on the teeming district in Baghdad, where al-Sadr's followers maintain control and mete out Islamic justice in religious courts.
With Sadr City thus out of play for the time being, the U.S. military and its partners have been going after al-Sadr's forces outside the capital, arresting a Mahdi commander in Basra and raiding militia offices in other cities to cut into the cleric's power base.
The fighting Sunday and Monday in Diwaniyah, a ramshackle Shiite market town about 100 miles south of Baghdad, was the latest and one of the most intense examples.
The trouble started when Iraqi soldiers arrested one of the cleric's supporters before dawn Sunday, said an al-Sadr aide. Later in the day, Iraqi soldiers launched more raids and fighting broke out.
Al-Maliki's office said 73 people, including 23 Iraqi soldiers, were killed before a truce was. .
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Perfect MOAB application.
I don't care what kind of risk it takes...to leave that guy alive is more of a risk to everything we are trying to accomplish...not the least of which is to bring the troops home eventually.
Kill the sumbitch.
Oh my. That wasn't exactly PC, was it?
We screwed up the first time in '03 by not whacking him in the first place when we had the chance.
The only way to win this thing is to win it. We need General Sherman.
Blah, blah, blah...before allied forces took on Al Sadr's forces the media was saying it was a mistake to leave him alone. These asshats are never pleased. War comes with risks. Duhhhh. And I prefer this risk then leaving Hezbollah-lite and Iranian puppets in peace in Southern Iraq so they can build up for an explosion of violence directed by President Rat Face of Iran on their own terms and timing. Best to hit them now on our terms.
That's only a Presidential signature away from reality
The best way to liquidate him is for an Iraqi army unit to kill him as his broader influence dwindles. It would have been more problematic for US troops to kill him when he was a popular figure.
Stupid liberals. It's a risk to do anything in the Middle East. You might re-enrage the Arab street. They might burn more American flags, or chant "death to America." There is risk to getting out of bed in the morning. There is risk in getting in a car, getting on a plane, even walking in San Francisco. The stupid liberals think it is better to do nothing, and take the risk that he might not accept the appeasement they offer.
"The best way to liquidate him is for an Iraqi army unit to kill him as his broader influence dwindles."
Agreed.
Infact, now would be a good time for this liquidation.
it baffles me that the US allowed this and other militias to survive. I assume no rational plan out of the pentagon would have included such militias, so it indicates a major failure-to-adapt once reality on the ground began to change from expectations.
"Al-Maliki's office said 73 people, including 23 Iraqi soldiers, were killed before a truce was. ."
Truce?
Which might be more effective in killing his movement than actually killing him would, although it would be much less satisfying.
EXACTLY!!!!!
Is this a war on terror? Shouldn't we be taking out command and control centers? Does this clown have his own Militia? He's answered the 'either with us or against' test- next dumb move on his part - WIPE HIM OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
If UK paper oppose it, do it.
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