Posted on 05/11/2008 4:11:50 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Map of the disposition of Iraqi and US forces in and around Sadr City, and the progress on the barrier. The red portion has yet to be completed. Map courtesy of Multinational Forces Iraq.
US and Iraqi forces continue to strike at the Mahdi Army in Baghdad despite the agreement reached between the Iraqi government and the Mahdi Army late Friday. Seventeen Mahdi Army fighters were killed in northeastern Baghdad over the past 24 hours.
Nine of the Mahdi Army fighters killed were killed in Sadr City: four Mahdi fighters were killed by an air weapons team as they planted an explosively formed penetrator roadside bomb; three were killed as they attacked the barrier emplacement teams along Qods Street; and two were killed as they fired rockets. Five more Mahdi Army fighters were killed by air weapons teams in New Baghdad as they grouped for an attack, and three more were killed as they conducted attacks in Adhamiyah.
The cease-fire signed yesterday between the Sadrist movement, which runs the Mahdi Army, and the government of Iraq will not hinder the building of the concrete barrier or operations against the Mahdi Army, US military officials have stated.
Multinational Forces Iraq indicated
(Excerpt) Read more at longwarjournal.org ...
Sadrcity news ping...
Larger and readable map is at the Website....
Time lies all the time
I do believe STOMPING THE “Mahdi Army” into dust would be a good idea. But alas, too afraid too bomb a mosque (with insurgents / terrorists) inside it. What a mess.
We Will Soon Find Out Who Controls The Rogue Mahdi Army Fighters
*********************************EXCERPT*************************
It was good news that greeted the world yesterday (and for Iraq and America) that Sadrs militant forces sued for surrender across Iraq. They are working a cease fire which basically calls for the disarming of the Mahdi Army (no medium or heavy weapons allowed in the hands of civilians). On a side note I find it ironic that the liberal, anti-gun SurrenderMedia in the west seems to think this enforcing this common sense rule of law in Iraq is somehow out of bounds, and is in same way the fault of the US? Geez, if your against assault weapons here in the US how can you not be against rocket launchers in Iraq?
No matter what wild speculation and wrong conclusions emanating from the news media, the facts on the ground will be what they are going to be. This fight is has and will take its own course. So now we have the surprising news that the Mahdi Army has decided to follow the rule of law, and the initial signs from Sadr City is quite promising:
Disarm in Islamic terms = “Hudnah” / fake peace in order to rearm.
“Disarm in Islamic terms = Hudnah / fake peace in order to rearm.”
I’m wondering if “Hudnah” can work both ways like tracers. If the Iraqi army is getting stronger, better trained and better armed, the going just gets worse for Al-Sadr’s boys in the future.
Last post from me. I’m proud ONE of my family members stormed the beaches of Normandy and wiped the enemy out. I’m sick of this politically correct crap. It’s getting our children killed. What fool in his right mind would even begin to take the word of a muslims terrorist as fact ? How in the hades can we believe these 7th century throwbacks ?
Off course Sadr has no reason to piss and moan. After all his boys where the ones starting the aggressive actions. Weed em out. Perhaps Sadr City will be tamed in a few weeks, then again it may take months.
I love seeing videos like that!
If you look at the graphic, all exits are controlled by Iraqi Army check points. It is my understanding that the Army manning the checkpoints is not the police force of which you speak.
The graphic indicates that the bad guys have been squeezed into a containment area. The resulting seige will make it very hard on them.
Seventeen Mahdi Army fighters were killed in northeastern Baghdad over the past 24 hours. Nine of the Mahdi Army fighters killed were killed in Sadr City... Five more Mahdi Army fighters were killed by air weapons teams in New Baghdad as they grouped for an attack, and three more were killed as they conducted attacks in Adhamiyah.
It’s not a siege, though. There is way too much traffic coming and going through Sadr City. If Sadr City were to be completely contained, the resulting economic problems would be terrible, especially for the neighboring Shaab and Ur neighborhoods. A lot of folks commute from Sadr City to Shaab and Ur for work. IA checkpoints are just for random searches of vehicles. Containment doesn’t exactly come into play unless a major operation goes down (i.e. Fallujah). Even when my Battalion locked down Dora, we still allowed traffic in and out.
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