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Headlines : IraqIraqi regime launches assault on Basra
This is a well planned and serious attempt by the Iraqi government to extend its sovereignty into the southern part of the country, and it is also a brutal assault on the people of Basra. With the British now all but vanished, Basra has been controlled by various Shiite groups, the most influential being linked to Moqtada al-Sadr – an unreliable guardian of the center of Iraq’s oil industry.
Now the U.S. has pushed Baghdad into sending 15,000 grunts to take the city back. Predictably, the Mahdi army has fought back effectively and if the other Shiite groups work together with them, the Iraqi army does not stand a chance.
Unfortunately for al-Sadr, as the WSWS notes here, “according to the German news agency DPA, the Iranian regime “wants to liquidate” the Sadr movement “and is pressing its allies within the Iraqi government to move against” the latter and the Mahdi Army in Basra.”
Whatever the fate of the Mahdi army (which is also under attack in other parts of Iraq) this campaign will result in widespread civilian casualties.
[Posted By Szamko]Republished from World Socialist Website
Fighting between Iraqi government forces and militias loyal to Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr erupted Tuesday in the southern port city of Basra, as well as other towns and certain districts of Baghdad. Dozens were killed in the conflicts, according to the media and hospital officials.
The new round of fighting threatens to unravel the fragile truce between Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia and the US and its puppet regime in Baghdad, declared by Sadr in August 2007 and reaffirmed in February, a factor in the relative decline of deadly violence in Iraq over the past six months. The Bush administration’s claims of “success” in its military surge are likewise at risk.
One Mahdi Army militiaman, reached by telephone in Baghdad’s Sadr City, told the Christian Science Monitor, “The cease-fire is over; we have been told to fight the Americans.” One official in Sadr’s Basra office, speaking on condition of anonymity, informed a Los Angeles Times reporter, “The Sadr current is threatening to set fire to the oil wells in Basra if the Iraqi military continues its security plan….
Posted by Szamko
Just tries to tell the truth.
Bombers attack Basra oil pipeline One of southern Iraq’s two main oil export pipelines has been severely damaged in a bomb attack, officials said today…The bombing of the pipeline, seven miles south of Basra, came as clashes between Iraqi security forces and Shia fighters in the port city entered a third day. (The Guardian, 27/3)
Muqtada cuts free The escalation of fighting between Mahdi Army militiamen and their Shi’ite rivals, which could mark the end of Muqtada al-Sadr’s self-imposed ceasefire, also exposes General David Petraeus’ strategy for controlling Muqtada’s forces as a failure. (Gareth Porter, Asia Times Online 27/3)
Violence erupts in Basra as Iraqi forces battle Mehdi Army The Iraqi army is fighting the Mehdi Army Shia militia in the streets of Basra after the government launched its most serious offensive to gain control of the southern oil city…Clouds of dark smoke rose over Basra 340 miles south of Baghdad as Iraqi soldiers tried to take control of the main roads while black-clad militiamen fought back from the alleyways. (Patrick Cockburn, the Independent, 27/3)
105 killed in battles in Shiite areas of Iraq Fighting rocked two Iraq cities on Thursday as security forces battled Shiite militiamen for a third day in clashes that left 105 people dead, while saboteurs blew up a key oil export pipeline. (AFP 27/3)
good thing we can now all attack the Iraq Army over this. I for one am glad the U.S. had absolutely nothing to do with it. Phew. I was getting tired of blaming the U.S. for the whole mess.
I’m boycotting the Iraqi army from now on. Not gonna buy a thing from them. That’ll show ‘em! Who’s with me on this? speak now or forever hold yer peace
This is just tooo FN cute. Awww shucks:
Afghan National Police Hand Out Toys in Kohe Safi