All I can say is I hope Nagin isn’t put in charge of taking care of them there....
Iraq Applies More Pressure On Sadr To Disband Militia
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Yep, things are definitely coming to a between Sadr’s Iranian (i.e., Persian) backed Mahdi Militia and the Iraqi (i.e., Arab) Shiite led government of Iraq. Before the latest news on the pressure being brought to bear on Moqtada al-Sadr to end the stand-off peacefully, I want to reference coverage of a recent news show from Iraq to set the local context, which is sorely lacking from the Western Media’s reporting:
Al-Ramahi begins by saying that although “intermittent clashes” continue between the Iraqi security forces assisted by US forces and the supporters of Shi’i leader Muqtada al-Sadr, both sides criticize Iran and “hold it responsible for the incidents in Iraq.” She adds that the current Iraqi Government’s position has changed towards Iran, and that it has begun “to directly accuse Iran of fanning violence in Iraq.” She notes that a huge amount of Iranian weapons has been revealed in addition to documents that indict Iran in this regard. Al-Ramahi says that observers were surprised to hear Salih al-Ubaydi, spokesman for the Al-Sadr Trend, strongly criticize Iran. She notes that the recent criticism coincides with former Iranian President Khatami’s criticism of the Iranian regime, in which he stressed that exporting violence to other countries, which he did not name, is “treason against Islam and the Iranian Revolution.”
…
The programme then presents a three-minute report by Najah Muhammad Ali. Ali says that when the United States accused Iran of interfering in Iraq to undermine its stability, Iran’s supporters in the Iraqi Government, including the president and the prime minister, did not hesitate to defend Iran. However, he says that the situation changed following Operation Charge of the Knights in Basra and the international conference that was held recently in Kuwait.
I see a Katrina flashback.
It's not the Astrodome, but it's hard and secure. It hasn't been used much lately, but they've kept it up. And it's in a rather interesting location...
I suspect a more accurate account of the story is here:
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/05/08/big-push-coming-in-sadr-city/