Posted on 10/27/2006 9:36:06 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces ventured into the Baghdad stronghold of a powerful Shi'ite militia on Friday hunting for a kidnapped U.S. soldier, two days after another raid in the area stoked tensions with the Iraqi government.
U.S. troops rarely enter the sprawling slum district of Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr that Washington wants the government to disarm amid accusations it operates sectarian death squads.
Under pressure over Iraq before mid-term elections, President Bush said this week his support for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki depended on him taking "tough decisions", including curbing militias such as the Mehdi Army.
Witnesses and two officials of the Mehdi Army said there was a strong U.S. troop presence backed by air support in the northeast part of Sadr City. They reported clashes in the area but it was not immediately clear who was involved.
"It's ongoing operations specifically related to the search for the missing soldier," said U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver.
Maliki on Thursday said Iraq's most notorious death squad leader had escaped a major U.S.-led raid in Sadr City which the Americans said killed 10 "enemy fighters".
A Sadr aide on Friday threatened Mehdi Army rogue elements with death. Sadr has publicly disavowed some killings blamed on his militia.
"The revolting and disobedience to the leadership has divided us and brought us many enemies," Sheikh Jaber al-Khafaji told worshippers during Friday prayers in the city of Kufa.
Wednesday's ground and air assault targeted Abu Deraa, a feared warlord who is said by U.S. officials to be a renegade Mehdi Army member at odds with Sadr and who is held responsible for brutal sectarian killings and kidnappings of Iraqi Sunnis.
The Wednesday raid also targeted a mosque in connection with the hunt for the missing U.S. soldier, who left the safety of the fortified "Green Zone" on Monday to visit a relative.
The raid caused tensions with Maliki, whose government relies on Sadr's support. Maliki said he was not informed in advance of the full scope of the mission.
RISING CASUALTIES
Rising U.S. military casualties, sectarian violence and attacks on the Iraqi police and army have raised the pressure on Bush ahead of November 7 elections that polls suggest may cost Bush's Republicans control of Congress. October is already the deadliest month for the U.S. military in a year, with 96 dead.
Iraqi security forces are suffering many more casualties.
U.S. forces have been out in force across Baghdad, conducting house-to-house searches and setting up checkpoints.
They have been on the outskirts of Sadr City for several days, though a senior U.S. officer has declined to say which group was thought responsible for the kidnapping of the soldier, a linguist of Iraqi descent.
Authorities imposed a vehicle ban in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday after the bodies of 12 people, including four police officers, were found in the past 24 hours, police said.
Insurgents had distributed leaflets in Mosul on Thursday threatening attacks on the police if they did not release several people detained during the past month.
In further evidence of the obstacles to building a police force capable of taking over from U.S. forces, 28 policemen were killed in an ambush north of Baghdad on Thursday, police said.
Maliki told Reuters on Thursday his Shi'ite-led government could get violence under control in six months if U.S. forces gave them more weapons and responsibility.
He said police were having to share rifles but, with better American help, could bring respite from dozens of daily killings in half the 12-18 months the U.S. commander in Iraq says is needed before Iraqis can take full control.
Maliki also said his priority was to suppress the insurgency and root out al Qaeda, rather than to disarm the militias.
(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny, Paul Holmes, Ibon Villelabeitia and Alastair Macdonald)
They are back into Sadr city because Bush gave al maliki a stern phone call, I'm thinking.
If he's in the hands of the shiites there's at least a chance of survival. I don't think even Mookie is quite that stupid.
A Sadr aide on Friday threatened Mehdi Army rogue elements with death. Sadr has publicly disavowed some killings blamed on his militia.
BBC report:
US forces enter Shia stronghold ~ Sadr City area of Baghdad on Friday hunting for soldier
Gracias
Why is that sadr city still standing?
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military on Thursday identified the American soldier captured in Baghdad as Spc. Ahmed Qusai Altaie.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the soldier, a U.S. Army reservist on active duty, left the Green Zone on October 23 to visit his Iraqi wife.
Altaie, a 41-year-old Iraqi-American translator, was handcuffed and taken away by gunmen, according to a relative.
Caldwell said that along with significant military activity there is a "tremendous amount of political activity" and "ongoing dialogue" to find Altaie.
At his weekly news briefing, Caldwell said the military has intelligence on who might have taken the soldier and that the people who kidnapped Altaie probably still have him.
He did not name the suspects but said there has been "a particular focus east of the Tigris River."
Caldwell would not identify the people with whom authorities are talking.
Asked if the U.S. military was in contact with the kidnappers, directly or indirectly, Caldwell said, "There is ongoing dialogue that is being done at different levels at this time, but it would be inappropriate for me to state with whom or at what level."
"Iraqi security forces and coalition troops are working around the clock to return him [Altaie] to safety, get him back to his family and to catch the perpetrators of this crime," he said.
There have been more than 240 tips, prompting "37 specific missions to find our soldier," Caldwell said.
There are more than 2,000 coalition forces troops and more than 1,000 Iraq security forces troops involved in the search, Caldwell said.
He said 32 people have been detained. One coalition soldier has been killed and eight U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi security forces have been wounded in the effort to find the missing soldier and his kidnappers.
Earlier reports had raised the question of whether the soldier's marriage to an Iraqi violated military regulations, which forbid troops from marrying citizens of a country where U.S. forces are engaged in combat.
Caldwell said Altaie had not violated any rules because he married his Iraqi wife before he deployed to Iraq.
Altaie moved to the United States when he was a teenager and joined the Army Reserves two years ago. He was deployed to Iraq last November.
***********
TANKS,Dita,,,Hope they find him soon,,,,Prayers Up...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.