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| Iraq-Jordan |
| US Troops Preparing New Assault in Najaf |
| 2004-08-10 |
| From The New York Times American forces [in Najaf] besieging militiamen of a rebel cleric in a shrine and cemetery sacred to Shiite Muslims tightened their cordon on Monday, United States military officials in Baghdad said, and they warned the rebels that they could not receive any outside support. .... While senior American military officials in Baghdad appeared confident that they had Mr. Sadr's forces in Najaf contained, officers and soldiers on the front line painted a different picture. They said that rebels move freely between the cemetery and Najaf's old city, and that American forces do not fully control the cemetery, which is three miles long and two miles wide. In Baghdad, American military officials announced a curfew of 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. in the capital's Sadr City neighborhood, home to more than a million Shiites and, with Najaf, a center of support for Mr. Sadr. The measure, the most stringent of its kind in the 16 months since the country fell to the American-led invasion, appeared to be aimed at regaining some control over Sadr City from Mr. Sadr's militiamen and preventing the area from being used for rocket and mortar attacks on the American military and civil headquarters. Despite the curfew, rebels resumed their shelling on Monday night. .... Brushing aside the fact that most of the rebels in Najaf, Nasiriya, Basra and Sadr City, the areas worst affected by the fighting, have worn the black trousers and shirts of Mr. Sadr's militia, the Americans have said repeatedly during the five days of renewed fighting that they, too, had doubts that the cleric was the instigator of the violence. But some American military officers have said that this presentation of the situation was a convenient fiction, propagated by the Allawi government and the American command to allow their forces to hunt down as many of Mr. Sadr's fighters as possible while exempting Mr. Sadr from any deliberate attack. During the uprising by Mr. Sadr's forces in April, American commanders said they intended to kill or capture him, but that threat was dropped out of fear that any harm to the cleric could touch off a still wider conflagration among Iraq's majority Shiite population. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #18 Remarkable thing is that Sistani hasn't said jack about Tater. How convenient that he is out of town just now. I have a feeling his "heart condition" (notice the lack of details) was very convenient to get him out of the country at just the right time, and give Tater enough rope to hang himself. Then Sistani comes in and picks up the pieces and gets credit for "calming down" the Tater-tots and other rebels - and turns HARD against the Iranians (Sistani has no love lost on those guys - long animosity against bowing to Iranian mullahs). Sistani is a clever enough guy to pull this off. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2004-08-10 22:40 |
| #17 I'd say the delay on Tater has worked out pretty well for us. His stupidities seem to have managed to discredit the entire idea of Shiite theocracy... And given Iraqis a little taste of how shitty things still could be without free government. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-08-10 20:56 |
| #16 These guys (they big names) will usually say nothing of value, especially in public. They should be taken dead as a general rule. That way the few we do take alive would be more motivated to sing, in private only. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-08-10 17:10 |
| #15 Spokesmen for the United States command say they have explicit authority from Dr. Allawi to enter the cemetery, where they claim to have killed more than 360 rebel fighters, and to advance on the shrine itself, if that proves necessary to dislodge the rebels. EMPHASIS ADDED I posted a similar article the other day, and this is the best news of all. One is obliged to think that Allawi is sending a warning shot Iran's way with this move. Shi'ite Iran has the most to lose if the Imam Ali shrine is hosed. The blame will fall squarely on Sadr's (and thusly) Iran's own shoulders should harm come to the shrine while dislodging Iran's paid thugs. I'd still like to see them hit the shrine with sleep gas or an inert unbreathable atmosphere and just suffocate the f&%kers where they stand. One tanker truck of CO2 would probably be enough to displace the entire building's air supply. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-10 17:02 |
| #14 I saw trhe same interview,Dot.It would be nice to capture him alive and hear him spill the beans on International news. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-08-10 16:09 |
| #13 yup, ship, im not saying it AINT a killzone, all im saying is that ragging on Burns for not saying it IS a kill zone is a bit much. dot com boom - good points. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-08-10 15:35 |
| #12 It may well be that the USMC is using the cemetary as a kill zone, but since no one at the USMC seems to have said so, thats just speculation The greenies rarely describe their kill zones while they are in use and sometimes never. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-08-10 15:02 |
| #11 I'd like to see Tater taken alive so he can spill the beans on his Iranian puppetmasters. I don't believe him when he says that he's willing to "spill his last drop of blood." |
| Posted by: danking70 2004-08-10 13:45 |
| #10 FoxNews just interviewed one of those retired Generals who confirmed that the word is out that Iran has been providing funding for 35,000 insurgents in Iraq for several months - and given the $70M number we've heard in the past, I'd say that the numbers jibe. He also said that the Coalition Mil Cmd, or the US component anyway, has figured out that the nice-guy approach in Fallujah was a huge mistake - and it will not be repeated. Additionally, Allawi / Gawar have accepted the fact that Tater & The Tots have to go. They cannot ever have peace with him, since he's an Iranian agent provocateur. He's been offered the olive branch, but he's chosen to listen to his Teheran masters - and the Iraqi Gov't realizes it can't have this shithead popping up every 2 or 3 months - it has to be solved. So the gloves are off. No more negotiating. Sadr will be toasted in this campaign. Not a big surprise, but good to hear, nonetheless. I predicate everything above on this Ret. General's words - so it may not happen exactly that way - but the evidence seems to clearly support him. 1 - The intensity of the prosecution of Sadr 2 - The "permission" of the Govt to include the Ali Moskkk 3 - Sistani's "medical" leave These all seem to add up to the doom of Tater & The Tots. Good riddance - to Tater -- and to the sniping know-nothing pussy shitwipes who second-guess everything and snidely presume to critique every action they deem questionable - and complain regards every non-action they deem essential. FOAD. But I have no strong opinions about them, of course. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-10 12:33 |
| #9 Find 'em, fix 'em, f**k 'em. Classic combat tactics. |
| Posted by: Doc8404 2004-08-10 11:50 |
| #8 Not looking good for The Tater And His Tots no matter how they spin it. Any more news on the possibility that he's been captured? |
| Posted by: B 2004-08-10 11:44 |
| #7 IIRC, it was al-Sadr's "Army" who chose to hide out in the cemetery. The Marines are there because they took the fight to the enemy. |
| Posted by: GreatestJeneration 2004-08-10 11:28 |
| #6 this story is cowritten by John Burns, whos generally been pretty insightful, and willing to defy NYT editorial views. It may well be that the USMC is using the cemetary as a kill zone, but since no one at the USMC seems to have said so, thats just speculation. Very good for a Rantburg commentary, but not necessarily something the NYT should be filing in a news story. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-08-10 11:25 |
| #5 moose: Spot on regarding how the military is using the cemetary. Perfect spot for a kill zone! The Times is pathetic - so much so that I'm not sure if they simply missed it or willingly spun the situation in order to get a cheap shot in. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2004-08-10 11:19 |
| #4 Just like the NYT to miss the obvious. The Marines and Allawi have been playing Sadr and his goons like a trumpet. They are using the cemetery like they used the "industrial area" in Fallujah, as a non-residential area kill zone. You don't occupy it, you keep luring hard boyz in so you can whack them away from human shields--and shrines. And by slapping fat boy with one hand while offering him a place at the elections is also a good tactic, expecting that dumbsh*t will respond the way he does, with arrogant, alienating and ridiculous demands that other Iraqis will look at and wince. Tater will end up as the last of Tater's followers, the rest either captured or pushing up daisies, as an Iraqi copper steps through the door and slaps on the cuffs. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-08-10 09:29 |
| #3 Would love to have an Iraqi capture Tater and haul him off in chains. Put him in the same cell as Sammy. I think they might have some interesting conversations.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-08-10 09:21 |
| #2 Army and Marine planners said they were examining ways of using Iraqi forces to clear the rebels from the shrine. ... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-08-10 09:16 |
| #1 Somone really needs to put a bullet into Tater. An Iraqi someone. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2004-08-10 09:08 |