Shia-dominated Iraqi Army whacking Shia militias

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Sadr City — the Baghdad nerve center for the powerful Mahdi Army — is suddenly back on edge as the militia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, and Iraq's government lock in a dangerous confrontation over clout and control among the nation's majority Shiites.

The epicenter of the showdown has been the southern oil hub of Basra, where clashes have claimed dozens of lives this week and al-Sadr's forces face a Friday deadline to surrender.

But a more finely tuned measure of the tensions may be found among the one- and two-story homes and shabby storefronts of Sadr City. As the crisis deepened, The Associated Press toured Sadr City on Wednesday to observe its rapid swing from relative quiet to a return of the Mahdi Army swagger before the U.S. military troop buildup in Baghdad last year

Here we have the press doing their usual spin trying to take what is actually a positive development and a necessary step toward lasting peace. Mookie and his organization are beaten and all this talk about their resurgence would be better described as the last gasp efforts of a dying power.

One of the complaints from the usual suspects is that the government and it's security forces have done nothing to stop the Shia militias. Now that they do, the narrative becomes the resurgence of the soon to be dead tangos Mahdi Army.

Mahdi Army commanders have told the AP that the militia has recently taken delivery of new weapons supplied by backers in Iran. The arsenal, they said, included roadside bombs, anti-aircraft guns and Soviet-designed Grad rockets.

They also said an infusion of cash, also from Iran, helped the militia set up new command centers equipped with Internet-linked computers, fax machines and satellite mobile phones. They have also received global positioning system devices, they said.

The United States has long accused Iran of providing Shiite militias in Iraq with arms and training. Iran denies it.

The only positive aspect of this silly enemy talking points memo is that they quote the Mahdi clowns crowing about their Iranian handlers. Anyone who believes that Iran is not the major cause of violence in Iraq, surpassing the defeated al Qaeda, is a naive fool. Now the Iranians have given the mostly leaderless and absolutely clueless Shia militias new toys and they somehow think that will help them against US and Iraqi forces who have spent the past 9 months kicking the living dogshit out of anyone dumb enough to raise a rifle. Terrorists and insurgents died in bunches and these weasels laid up sorry waiting to see what happened.

Well chumps, the good guys won and they are more than ready to finish off one last bunch of untrained jackasses running around in track suits firing unaimed rounds at no one in particular. I direct you punks to your new publicist and film distributor for your demise Uncle J and the Dead Tangos Theatre.

Comments

[vet66]

How dumb can Mookie be? Iran is sending the west a message at the expense of poor shiites who can't think for themselves.

Tangos in track suits with weapons give new meaning to the Nike "swoosh". Now you seem them, now you don't.

[jordan]

NBC had footage of the fighting this morning, including closeup shots of insurgents shooting and firing rockets. So...an NBC camerman somewhere is embedded with the Shiite militias, covering their antics for the western press. That's special.

[Deltabravo]

Did anyone ever determine what ailed Mookie and landed him in the hospital writing his boo-hoo letters to his followers?

[JihadGene]

Meanwhile back in Norf Korea we find Great Reader KIM Jong IL contempt-plating cromments of most honorable
Vet Sixty's-Six...

"Iran is sending the west a message at the expense of poor shiites who can't think for themselves."

KIM- One of two prosibilities here...
NUMBA 1- The abrove statement sounds as though VetSlickty-6 is either really HILL-ree Clinton or Oblama guy...or...
NUMBA 2- The shiites are a part of the Reverend Jerrymyass Wright's Chicago congregration.

Ruv Yoo Looong Time Uncle JimBlow & Vet66!!!
Great Reader,
KIM Jong IL

[ST333]

Hey Deltabravo, I was over at the Long War Journal reading about the Basra battles. Here is one of the comments left at the end of the article. It may be an explanation for Mookie's "illness"

"This falls a little into the gossip category, but there was a very interesting comment by 'eggplant' over at The Belmont Club post that linked to this post.

I asked him why Sadr hadn't been eliminated. He replied that the US had been told very early in the process that killing off high ranking Shiite clerics was not an option. He also said that secretly eliminating Shiite clerics through use of a hired assassin, etc. would not work because people would eventually find out and there would be severe consequences. The USMC major expressed this information very emphatically, like its truth was beyond doubt or refutation. My impression is that someone very high up is protecting Sadr. The major also mentioned that Sadr has a serious drug addiction."

[ST333]

Mookie may have been in Iran "chasing the dragon" sucking on the glass di......well you get the idea.

[susan]

Here in Chicago, we had numerous deaths last year or the year before attributed to bad heroin. Some thought it was a conspiracy.

I wonder if someone can give Sadr's dealer a good price on the same sort of heroin.

[Kat-Missouri/USA]

Suggest reading Abu Muqawama for the Basra sitrep. Good stuff.

http://abumuqawama.blogspot.com/2008/03/town-called-malice.html

http://abumuqawama.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-on-basra.html

[douglas]

bold off

Let's hope Mook gets himself a little too high, and his followers get a nice dose of the new IA's confidence.

[Gryph]

I hate to interrupt the rah-rah-rahing with anything approaching reason, but this article makes a pretty sound case that its more likely Iran is playing boths sides and that the conflict is a little more complex than good guys vs bad guys.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/03/expert_current_iraq_fighting_n.html

[Cincinnati_Bob]

Yea, That's what I'm talkin about. (the main story)

And dang, how abouts we start up with Iran, say September. Better yet, Tomorrow!.

[Cincinnati_Bob]

PS Bold Off Sasame

[Cincinnati_Bob]

Seriously, what is the deal with Iran? Anyone?

[Deltabravo]

Where do you start, C-Bob? Iran doesn't want Iraq to succeed. They'll arm anyone and everyone to keep the chaos flowing. (And I think McCain was right about that whole al-Qaeda thing and he shouldn't have backed down.) If Iran arms everyone, no matter who loses, Iran wins.

They want Iraq's oil. They don't want their people getting any ideas about real democracy from the folks to their right and left. And they're bitter about that whole war deal with Saddam.

A recipe for making sure both Sunni and Shi'a blood flows down Main Street Iraq from now till the 12th Imam comes out of his cave.

Iran is willing to fight to the last Iraqi to stay dominant in that region. They love to stir the pot all around them... Lebanon, Gaza...

And their leader is a kook. That too.

[john Ryan]

People here have been forecasting the end of Sadr for quite a long time.
He is probably the single most important politico/religous leader in Iraq.
As for the "last death throes" well they may take a long time

[Cincinnati_Bob]

DB - How about we lose a bunch of MOABS around military bases in Iran.. Then put the B52 fleet on the Iraq border like we had them flying just outside Russia for 10 years 365/24. :)

[Cincinnati_Bob]

DB, Well that last one was just for fun really. Personally, I see the preferred solution as one that involves the world evolving into one that doesn't need massive amounts of their oil. Which means most of the world wouldn't need any of their oil. The vast majority of us have enough within our own boundaries to sustain if oil is no longer the thing that enables 100 million people to travel to work and back every day. There would be plenty for everything else you need it for, mainly product production and some distribution, hopefully restricted to rail and semis, and jet fuel.

This intentionally is meant to give them some advance notice that thier one and only income source is fading away and they better dream up another one. Even if China and India are left as major customers, they wouldn't be able to price the stuff to keep their income anywhere near current levels which afford them these major weapons programs.

It seems to me that in order for them to do that, they'd have to make some compromises with the civilized world, starting with the ceasation of mass murder around the globe and dreams of the Caliphate. Why we're not doing that is beyond me. If you took the money we know you'll need to fight these robots endlessly into the future and put it into Massive programs to replace oil civilian travel it would be money well spent. Maybe the technology simply isn't available and all the current talk is nothing more than lip service like it was in the 70's. But that's my idea on where to apply the screws.