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"...even the wicked get worse than they deserve." - Willa Cather, One of Ours

Friday, May 28, 2004

Clashes Continue Around Najaf

Washington Post
Gunmen opened fire on a U.S. Army vehicle Friday in Najaf's twin city, wounding two American soldiers and raising fears over the agreement struck the day before to end the bloody standoff around this Shiite holy city. Mortars fell on the main U.S. garrison but caused no injuries.

Five Iraqis were killed and 14 wounded in clashes between U.S. troops and Shi'ite militiamen in the holy city of Najaf and in nearby Kufa Friday, hospital sources said.

Three people died in gunfire and mortar shelling in the town of Kufa, while eight were wounded, said an official at the hospital there. In Najaf, three miles southwest of Kufa, two people were killed and six hurt...

Armed members of Muqtada al-Sadr's militia -- some of them masked and brandishing rocket-propelled grenade launchers and Kalashnikov rifles -- roamed the streets of Kufa on Friday. Most of the shops were closed and the streets were largely deserted. Three people were killed and eight injured in armed clashes...

[...]

Despite the agreement, nine mortar shells hit the main U.S. camp in the Najaf area on Friday morning, according to CNN, which has a correspondent embedded there. U.S. soldiers detained four suspected militia members who said they were unaware of the truce...

[...]

During the seven-week standoff with the coalition, al-Sadr had appeared every Friday in a mosque in Kufa to deliver the traditional sermon. He did not show up Friday, however, and it was unclear why.

[...]

The deal also allows for discussions of al-Sadr's future, talks that will certainly stretch past the June 30 handover. The arrest warrant for al-Sadr, however, has not officially been suspended...
This leaves two possibilities. The first is that Muqtada is lying and the negotiations where just an attempt to buy time. The second possibility, and I think the more likely one, is that the Al-Mahdi militia, or factions thereof, are no longer under his control.

Since the agreement with Muqtada won't actually stop fighting, there is no reason for the negotiated resolution to stand. Muqtada should remain under threat of arrest until hi regains control of his troops.
Posted by: Zayphar / 5/28/2004 11:38:00 AM
Comments:
The fighting will never end until we withdraw. That will not happen for years. The man that we have selected to be the intertim Prime Minister assures that the US will not be asked to leave any time soon as he is a CIA operative.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 4:32 AM
 
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One of the most important reasons we won't withdraw is because the Europeans and the UN won't let us.

See my posting here Europeans say the U.S. cannot leave Iraq.

While roadside bombings and assasinations will continue for years, if not decades, the fighting will end fairly soon. Muqtada and his Al-Mahdi thugs are about done, and things are calm in Fallujah right now.

If you would watch news other than CBS or CNN you would know that things are significantly improving in Iraq over the last 3 weeks, even with the fighting.

Ask the privates in the field how the situation in Iraq is evolving. That is the real test. When the privates start emailing home saying how screwed up the war has become, that is when I will believe that we are in a difficulty.
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# posted by Blogger Zayphar : 5:18 AM
 
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