Posted on 05/20/2008 3:38:11 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
Some 10,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by tanks, pushed deep into Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Baghdad bastion on Tuesday, stamping the government's authority on an area until now outside its control.
The army said they met no resistance as they moved into Sadr City in the early hours, securing three quarters of the sprawling slum where hundreds have been killed in weeks of fighting between U.S. and Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militants loyal to Sadr.
A truce 10 days ago between Shi'ite factions largely ended the fighting in one of Baghdad's poorest districts and paved the way for Tuesday's operation.
The truce agreement called on gunmen loyal to Sadr to lay down their arms and on the government to restore control over Sadr City.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Oh, my God! Finally!!!
Kicking ass and taking names!!! Wohooooo!!!! (Hopefully the media can find 50 that took a lunch break to make them all look bad)
But Harry Reid said that Bush is a loser and the war is lost
QUAGMIER! *snicker*
MSNBC proclaims another victory for Mookie! Headline: “US Fails to Support Iraqi Troops Push into Sadr City”
But of course the goon who wrote the story had to add: “Peter Harling, a Damascus-based analyst at the International Crisis Group thinktank, doubted Tuesday’s operation would succeed in removing the Mehdi Army from Sadr City. ‘They’ll lie low but they could retake control of the city any time...’”.
Peter Harling, a Damascus-based analyst at the International Crisis Group thinktank, doubted Tuesday's operation would succeed in removing the Mehdi Army from Sadr City.
"They'll lie low but they could retake control of the city any time," he told Reuters. "The Sadrists feel weakened, feel threatened and this increases the potential for violence."
Sadr was acquiescing because he did not want an out-and-out confrontation, he said. "The cost to him would be huge."
And why would he not want an out-and-out confrontation, any guesses?
Besides the obvious, please enlighten me.
Great job by all. The Iraqi’s are standing up. Peace be with them as they restore their country after decades of totalitarian rule.
Did they find any toothbrushes or dental floss on the premises?
Why Sadr is allowed to continue breathing is an amazement to me.
Now’s the time to start cleaning up and modernizing that ‘sprawling slum’, and maybe folks won’t be so enamored of Mookie in the future, because he obviously did nothing for them except bring grief and violence down on their heads.
Just the obvious, noting subtle. He was getting creamed, and to save face he “arranged a truce”, or so it seems.
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