Analysis: Iraqis' Basra Fight Not Going Well

Story Highlights

-U.S. military intelligence analysis says forces control less than quarter of Basra
-Officials say militia's forces control many cities in Iraq's southeast
-Bush called the operation "a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq"
-"This is going to go on for a while," one U.S. military official said

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Iraqi military push into the southern city of Basra is not going as well as American officials had hoped, despite President Bush's high praise for the operation, several U.S. officials said Friday.

A closely held U.S. military intelligence analysis of the fighting in Basra shows that Iraqi security forces control less than a quarter of the city, according to officials in both the United States and Iraq, and Basra's police units are deeply infiltrated by members of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army.

"This is going to go on for a while," one U.S. military official said.

--
But since the beginning of the government offensive four days ago, violence also has picked up in a wide area of southern Iraq, including in Baghdad's International Zone -- also known as the Green Zone -- which has been targeted by rocket and mortar attacks.

Coalition bombers have joined in the fight, hitting targets in Basra and Baghdad.

The Basra analysis also shows that militia forces control a wide swath of cities in Iraq's southeast, including areas near the airport, where British forces are located, the officials said.

---EOE---

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/28/bush.basra/