Areas of Baghdad fall to militias as Iraqi Army falters in Basra

Source: Times Online

Iraq’s Prime Minister was staring into the abyss today after his operation to crush militia strongholds in Basra stalled, members of his own security forces defected and district after district of his own capital fell to Shia militia gunmen.

With the threat of a civil war looming in the south, Nouri al-Maliki’s police chief in Basra narrowly escaped assassination in the crucial port city, while in Baghdad, the spokesman for the Iraqi side of the US military surge was kidnapped by gunmen and his house burnt to the ground.

Saboteurs also blew up one of Iraq's two main oil pipelines from Basra, cutting at least a third of the exports from the city which provides 80 per cent of government revenue, a clear sign that the militias — who siphon significant sums off the oil smuggling trade — would not stop at mere insurrection.

In Baghdad, thick black smoke hung over the city centre tonight and gunfire echoed across the city. The most secure area of the capital, Karrada, was placed under curfew amid fears the Mahdi Army of Hojetoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr could launch an assault on the residence of Abdelaziz al-Hakim, the head of a powerful rival Shia governing party.


Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article3631718.ece

this picture tells it all...........not much more than this..

How many pads in the Green Zone?

He gave them a generous deadline of Saturday I believe.

Yeah right, Maliki. Who is going to make them? You?

......If not...I guess Mr. Maliki needs a helicopter.......see post above with picture of copter.........(post 3 above.)

Right?

of us helping to destroy or empower a certain group. Hopefully, all hell breaks loose so we will get the hell out, they don't want us there, what have we done for their country besides destroy it and kill way too many people? We cant even give them electricity or water and how many contracts have the tax payers given out to contractors for this shit? This is one of the biggest thefts in history and we do it by saying we are spreading democracy. I wish I weren't atheist because all of the politicians that are a part of this should burn in hell.

So what's this "fall to" crap?

Nothing like writing a check with your mouth that your ass can't cash.

Jay

"In Baghdad, the Mahdi Army took over neighbourhood after neighbourhood, some amid heavy fighting, others without firing a shot. In New Baghdad, militiamen simply ordered the police to leave their checkpoints: the officers complied en masse and the guerrillas stepped out of the shadows to take over their checkpoints. In Jihad, a mixed Sunni and Shia area of west Baghdad that had been one of the worst battlefields of Iraq’s dirty sectarian war in 2006, Mahdi units moved in and residents started moving out to avoid the lethal crossfire that erupted. One witness saw Iraqi Shia policemen rip off their uniform shirts and run for shelter with local Sunni neighbourhood patrols, most of them made up of ex-insurgents wooed by the US military into fighting al-Qaeda."

excerpt via Laura Rozen.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/27/basra.analysis/?iref=mpstoryview

"It could all break down because of Basra, it could break down because al-Sadr basically ends the truce and fighting starts all over the country in the Shia areas.

"This is very, very serious and it could all go wrong for the United States as we try to extricate ourselves. It could go wrong in many, many ways and cause everything to come apart there."

But Holmes suggested there's a chance al-Maliki and Iraq will survive this crisis.

"This could be a good test of Nuri al-Maliki and the security forces. They're going to have to stand up at some point; maybe this is a time to see how they do."

Ware doubts the security forces can prevent a meltdown.

"This is a window into the future of Iraq after the American withdrawal," Ware said.


"What many people suggest is that we're looking at a situation that will be akin to Lebanon in the 1980s, with vicious, well-armed militia proxy wars where all the factions are supported by one foreign sponsor or another.

"But this will be Lebanon on steroids."

Stop-loss - he had been out of the Army for 3 years, got a degree, had started a career. Had to drop it all to get sent back to that shitpile, and now it's getting hot again. Jesus.

"members of his own (al-Maliki's) security forces defected".

Source: The Independent

A new civil war is threatening to explode in Iraq as American-backed Iraqi government forces fight Shia militiamen for control of Basra and parts of Baghdad.


Heavy fighting engulfed Iraq's two largest cities and spread to other towns yesterday as the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, gave fighters of the Mehdi Army, led by the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, 72 hours to surrender their weapons.

The gun battles between soldiers and militiamen, who are all Shia Muslims, show that Iraq's majority Shia community – which replaced Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime – is splitting apart for the first time.

Mr Sadr's followers believe the government is trying to eliminate them before elections in southern Iraq later this year, which they are expected to win.



Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-implodes-as-shia-fights-shia-801214.html

Vote Democrat!

The Iraqi army's offensive against the Shia militia of the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Basra is failing to make significant headway despite a pledge by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to fight "to the end".

Instead of being a show of strength, the government's stalled assault is demonstrating its shaky authority over much of Baghdad and southern Iraq. As the situation spins out of Mr Maliki's control, saboteurs blew up one of the two main oil export pipelines near Basra, cutting by a third crude exports from the oilfields around the city. The international price of oil jumped immediately by $1 a barrel before falling back.

In Baghdad, tens of thousands of supporters of Mr Sadr, whose base of support is the Shia poor, marched through the streets shouting slogans demanding that Mr Maliki's government be overthrown. "We demand the downfall of the Maliki government," said one of the marchers, Hussein Abu Ali. "It does not represent the people. It represents Bush and Cheney."

The main bastion of the Sadrist movement is impoverished Sadr City, which has a population of two million and is almost a twin city to Baghdad. The densely packed slum has been sealed off by US troops. "We are trapped in our homes with no water or electricity since yesterday," said a resident called Mohammed. "We can't bathe our children or wash our clothes."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/stalled-assault-on-basra-exposes-the-iraqi-governments-shaky-authority-801776.html

And whatever the hell happened to all those "elite Republican guards"?

country tomorrow.

That poisonous little toad inherited all his power and authority from his father and older brother, who were both killed. He should have been taken out long ago. The Marines nearly nailed him once in Fallujah--and they had serious scores to settle, since the Mahdi Army killed quite a few Marines. But al-Sadr "mysteriously" escaped. I've read that the Marines were absolutely furious about that, and I really have to wonder who arranged that particular miracle.

But if you want to see the future of Iraq, just watch this fat arrogant turd waddling around playing holy man and issuing orders from his non-existent god. That's the future of Iraq. Not neo-con theorizers sitting in the Green Zone eating their bacon cheeseburgers.