Posted on 03/30/2008 8:56:51 AM PDT by HD1200
Six days after the Iraqi government launched Operation Knights’ Charge in Basrah against the Mahdi Army and other Iranian-backed Shia terror groups, Muqtada al Sadr, the Leader of the Mahdi Army, has called for his fighters to lay down their weapons and cooperate with Iraqi security forces. Sadr’s call for an end to the fighting comes as his Mahdi Army has taken serious losses since the operation began. "Sadr has sent a message to his loyalists urging them to end all armed activities," the Al Iraqiya television channel reported. Sadr "disowned anyone attacking the state institutions or parties' offices and headquarters."
(Excerpt) Read more at longwarjournal.org ...
Six days after the Iraqi government launched Operation Knights’ Charge in Basrah against the Mahdi Army and other Iranian-backed Shia terror groups, Muqtada al Sadr, the Leader of the Mahdi Army, has called for his fighters to lay down their weapons and cooperate with Iraqi security forces. Sadr’s call for an end to the fighting comes as his Mahdi Army has taken serious losses since the operation began.
"Sadr has sent a message to his loyalists urging them to end all armed activities," the Al Iraqiya television channel reported. Sadr "disowned anyone attacking the state institutions or parties' offices and headquarters."
"Based on responsibility towards Iraq and to stem Iraqi bloodshed and to preserve the country's unity and integrity as a prelude to its independence, I call on the people to be up to their responsibility and awareness in order to maintain Iraq's stability," according to a statement issued by Sadr and sent to Voices of Iraq. Sadr has called for the government to free members of the Mahdi Army and the Sadrist Movement captured during recent operations.
The Iraqi government has welcomed Sadr’s call for his followers to cease fighting. "The order to pull off gunmen off Basra along with all Iraqi provinces and to disavow those who has taken up arms against government offices and security forces is responsive and patriotic", Ali Al-Dabagh, the spokesman for the Iraqi government, told Voices of Iraq. The Iraqi government has not called for a halt in military operations.
Sadr’s call for an end to fighting by his followers comes as his Mahdi Army has taken high casualties over the past six days. Since the fighting began on Tuesday 358 Mahdi Army fighters were killed, 531 were wounded, 343 were captured, and 30 surrendered. The US and Iraqi security forces have killed 125 Mahdi Army fighters in Baghdad alone, while Iraqi security forces have killed 140 Mahdi fighters in Basra.
From March 25-29 the Mahdi Army had an average of 71 of its fighters killed per day. Sixty-nine fighters have been captured per day, and another 160 have been reported wounded per day during the fighting. The US and Iraqi military never came close to inflicting casualties during the height of major combat operations against al Qaeda in Iraq during the summer and fall of 2007.
US and Iraqi forces are maintaining the high pace of operations against the Mahdi Army and the Special Groups. While the daily reporting from Iraq is far from over, initial reports indicate at least 18 Mahdi Army fighters have been killed and another 30 captured.
US soldiers killed 14 Mahdi fighters in Baghdad during a series of separate engagements. Iraqi security forces killed four Mahdi Army fighters and captured another 30 in Babil province, where a major offensive led by the police has been underway.
Chicken-shi(a)t.
YEAH!!!!!
Is 'success' of U.S. surge in Iraq about to unravel?
The enemedia will stop at nothing to make sure the perception is that the war has been lost.
Sadr-the-treasonous-punk ping.
Temporarily out of bullets ?
Judging by the body count, I think he is running out of live fighters...
Does this guy have multiple personalities? One day he’s leading the militia, the next he’s telling them to lay down their arms. This on-again, off-again horse-$hit has to stop. Frankly I don’t understand why he’s allowed to call the shots on when this fighting stops and starts. Every so often he decides to fire up the militia, then call a cease-fire and hide out for a while. How many times has this happened now? He and his ilk need to be wiped out permanently. Each day he’s allowed to live, only gives him the opportunity to do this all over again.
“In order to stop the bloodshed of Iraqis and protect the safety and stability and independency of Iraq, we have decided the following:
1- To forbid all armed appearances in Basrah province and all of the rest of the provinces.
2- To stop all random armed raids and the random illegal arrests.
3- We ask the government of Iraq to implement the general amnesty law and release the innocent detainees, particularly, the Sadrists detainees. Yeah, dream on, Mookie.
4- We will disown anyone who is armed and is targeting the security agencies, the government agencies, public service agencies, or political headquarters. You'd better back off the International Zone and central Baghdad in general, as well, you fat little piece of filth.
5- To cooperate with the government agencies in order to achieve security and prosecute those who commit crimes according to the law.
6- We confirm that the Sadr Trend does not possess any heavy arms. Oh, well then who's launching those rockets, a$$hole???
7- To work on returning the displaced families to their homes, those who fled for security reasons.
8- We ask the Government of Iraq to apply the human rights law in all different security issues.
9- To work on the rebuilding projects and public services projects throughout all the provinces."
Signed,
Muqtada al-Sadr
22, Rabe’e al-Awal, 1429
why is that man still breathing?
It would be better to finish this thing once and for all right now.
Fear of complete defeat, I believe. Also, he may see that the Iraqi are fed up with this mindless chaos.
That's because the militia was getting its ASS KICKED.
I guess the media keeps forgetting to mention that part...
Good. The ceasefire was in danger.
Senator Urges Sadr to ‘Not Give Up Hope’
March 22, 2008
Moqtada al-Sadr — the lunatic Islamic fanatic that Newsweek called “The Most Dangerous Man in Iraq” in 2006 — has unilaterally extended the ceasefire he decreed for his Mahdi Army in the summer of 2007. “To be frank, we were getting our heads handed to us by the infidel occupiers,” Sadr lamented. “I see no alternative if we are to avoid being wiped out.”
Sadr’s attempt to intimidate Iraqis into accepting his vision for an Islamic theocratic state under his leadership was not faring well. Even his fellow Shi’a Muslims rejected his message. When the U.S “surge” provided an alternate source of protection from al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents, the Shi’ites no longer needed the Mahdis for protection.
This turn of events has caused consternation for U.S. Democrats. In a bid to rescue the situation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wrote to Sadr urging him to “not give up hope.” “We are doing our best to end the Bush Administration’s reign of terror in your country,” Reid’s letter said. “We have high hopes of replacing him with a person having greater sympathy for your plight. If you can only hang on until 2009, things should be looking up.”
read more...
http://www.azconservative.org/Column_Archives.htm
He should be taken out, too.
Yep, and expect that tactic to work once again. We will see a repeat of these events later this year and some will wonder why it is happening. Bush has been neutered, so McCain's our only hope? Scary indeed.
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