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| Iraq-Jordan |
| US Tanks Roll Over Sadr Demo’s (I Wish) |
| 2004-04-03 |
| EFL US tanks deployed in the Iraqi capital to stop hundreds of angry protestors marching on the coalition’s city-centre headquarters as Shiite Muslim radicals took to the streets across central and southern Iraq. The protest in the capital turned violent as some supporters of radical leader Moqtada Sadr threw themselves at the US tanks and a police officer said at least two of the demonstrators had been crushed. We can only hope...an immobile Tank is a vulnerable Tank, they get in the way, they get chrushed. There should be no games or hesitation over this.... Huge protests were also held in the central pilgrimage city of Najaf and as far south as Amara, while unarmed militiamen from Sadr’s Mehdi Army paraded in Sadr City, a sprawling mainly Shiite neighbourhood of the capital regarded as a radical stronghold. Sadr’s followers have held almost daily demonstrations to protest the decision by the coalition last Sunday to close his weekly newspaper for 60 days on charges of inciting violence. Which it was....inciting violence that is. This newspaper should of been shut down long ago...and should I say it again? Likewise Sadr and his like should be 6ft down and pushing up pretty daisy’s...doing something useful for Iraq, like being fertilizer...lol Early Saturday, Sadr supporters took to the streets of Najaf, reacting to unfounded rumours that Spanish coalition soldiers had detained Mustafa Yaacubi, the head of his office in the city. Spanish commanders "categorically" denied the charge in a statement that was distributed to the crowd that formed outside the headquarters of the Spanish-led Plus Ultra Brigade in Najaf until mid-evening. The protestors dismissed the denial, demanding the release of Yaacubi and calling for another sit-in to take place Sunday morning. The poor Spanish...they can’t win for losing. New bombs are going off in Madrid, and here the Islamists won’t even believe their denial Rumours of Yaacubi’s arrest also spread to the southern city of Amara where thousands of protestors took to the streets to vent their anger, an AFP correspondent said. Sheikh Qais al-Khazaali, the head of Sadr’s office in Baghdad, warned that his movement would react if Yaacubi was not quickly released. "This is a new provocation by the coalition forces," Sheikh Khazaali told AFP. "If he is not quickly released, our movement, our leadership and our supporters will react with the means at our disposal." Another rumour that coalition forces were surrounding Sadr’s office in Najaf spread in the afternoon, prompting hundreds of his followers to head to the coalition’s Baghdad headquarters in buses and cars, correspondents said. A Taget rich enviorment is a nice thing, as I always say Their advance was stopped by police units and at least half a dozen US tanks which cordoned off streets leading to the heavily fortified administrative compound. An AFP correspondent saw one young man lunging at a tank which stopped abruptly without harming him. The crowd cheered the young man and then protestors upturned carts to block the road. "There were two or three dead among the protestors who threw themselves under American tanks which could not avoid them," said Sergeant Abbas Mohamad. Only two or three dead? Heck, our Lads must not be trying In similar clashes Friday evening, three Salvadoran soldiers were shot and wounded as they tried to disarm what the San Salvador press described as pro-Sadr militiamen in Kufa, just outside Najaf. Major Carlos Herradon, spokesman for the Plus Ultra Brigade, said the shooting erupted when the troops tried to disarm the militiamen in the shrine city, a Sadr stronghold, and a group of them opened fire. The safest way to disarm an Islamists is...first to have him dead |
| Posted by:Traveller |
| #12 Matt, ROTFLMAO!! As a public service, I post the full quote here: "Update: A previously unknown militant group, the Al Aqsa Rachel Corrie Brigade, claimed responsibility for the attack on the tanks. The new group's spokeman, Abdul Heydrich Al-Panzerschreck, asserted a mighty victory for having placed bone scratches on several tracks and blood on the paintwork. A mob of militant women and children ululated at news of an American casualty: a newly-arrived soldier who was overcome with nausea upon seeing the remains of the run-over militants. The unidentified soldier reportedly required emergency treatment with fresh air and lemon-drops." |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-04-04 12:11:43 AM |
| #11 Dear Super Hose: I know you are the voice of reason in this "Crusade," (Big Smile), of mine to have al-Sadr wacked. I am a reasonable man...but I am coming to feel like Cato the Elder here, shouting all the time, "Carthage must be destroyed!" As eventually, after 3 punic wars, it was. I want to agree with you, but in my heart I don't and I have to be honest about this. The Shah of Iran should of had Kohamini bumped off in Paris in 1978 and, as with as much deniability as possible, we should kill, there's no pretty word for this, al-Sadr as soon as possible. BTW, I don't think that anyone threw themselves under an Abrams tank...the story is from Agencee` France or some similar news service. So there is the requirement of a grain of salt. I should have noted this. |
| Posted by: Traveller 2004-04-03 10:53:24 PM |
| #10 "What sort of an idiot throws themself at a tank?" These were members of the previously unknown al-Aqsa Rachel Corrie Brigade. |
| Posted by: Matt 2004-04-03 10:25:12 PM |
| #9 Traveller, there are few cases that I would agree with using the tool of assassination during nation-building, but the whacking of Al Sadr would be hard to condemn. I can't think of any reasonable argument for him not being an Iranian cat's paw, but I read neither Farsi nor Arabic. I'm sure that his punks would flip their turbans and kick-off a mini jihad, but a large portion of the Iraqis would sigh in relief. The only downside I see would be our action would be the same as inscribing "assassination" in place of "electoral college" in the Iraqi Constitution. I expect that assassination will still function as the Iowa Caucuses for several Iraqi generations, but it would be nice is we can avoid putting the Uncle Sam stamp on the practice. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-03 9:51:04 PM |
| #8 It's impossible, I know, but one plan would be to use the armor to herd these ingrates to Fallujah, pass out weapons at the checkpoints, and let them into town to address the root cause of their complaints, their Sunni ex-overlords. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-04-03 9:48:53 PM |
| #7 Darn right. |
| Posted by: Anonymous3999 2004-04-03 9:26:16 PM |
| #6 "THINK, DARN YOU, THINK!" What is thinking compared to the glories of planar martyrdom, crushed beneath the articulated, Zionist treads of American heavy machinery? Let us drive out the Yankee infidels and return to the glorious reign of Saddam who would not put up with this whiny, childish crap. Saddam, who would crush us like bugs in an instant.... hey, wait a minute! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2004-04-03 9:19:57 PM |
| #5 Only two or three dead? Heck, our Lads must not be trying What sort of an idiot throws themself at a tank? This does not compute. Your body VS a tank body...guess who's gonna win, the 70-ton depleted uranium behemoth or the skinny 125-150lbs guy protesting. THINK, DARN YOU, THINK! |
| Posted by: Anonymous3999 2004-04-03 9:08:04 PM |
| #4 NOTE: Since this thread's author has brought it up, I also would like to thank this board's administrator(s). You alter very little (if any) of my content while capably reformatting my submissions for posting. I really appreciate that and will be working on my style. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-03 8:55:54 PM |
| #3 I've done a few of yours, Traveller, but no worries. I tend to compress the paragraphs to make it easier to get the "whole story" on a single screen (or two, or ...). Problem is, newspapers these days assume a fifth grade reading level, and they assume that one can't read a paragraph longer than one or two sentences. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-04-03 8:53:36 PM |
| #2 The protest in the capital turned violent as some supporters of radical leader Moqtada Sadr threw themselves at the US tanks and a police officer said at least two of the demonstrators had been crushed. Wow! We're snuffing the opposition's biggest fanatics up front and for free. It works for me. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-03 8:48:41 PM |
| #1 Dear Whoever is formating my few posts...First, an apology. I will get better at this. I do see and study the differences between what I post and what finally appears on Rantburg. I do have too many paragraph breaks and unused line spacing. I will be more careful in the future. In any case, thanks for the help. |
| Posted by: Traveller 2004-04-03 8:46:57 PM |