Shia militiamen opposed to Saddam Hussein have begun deploying around strategic towns in the south of Iraq and are disrupting communications and military supply routes, it was claimed yesterday. Ayatollah Hakim al-Baqir, of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said on a fund-raising mission in Kuwait: "It is high time military preparations on the ground began. War is inevitable. Now it is up to America to stop delaying."
OK by me.
The Ayatollah, who heads the main Iraqi Shia opposition group based in Iran, says he has an estimated 10,000 troops ready to help a military campaign against Iraq, and a large following among the hundreds of thousands of Shias who have fled Saddam.
Until now the Ayatollah has been cautious of advocating military support after brutal reprisals by Iraqi forces following an unsuccessful uprising in the aftermath of the first Gulf war. His words reveal the new-found confidence among Shia groups inside and outside Iraq that action to remove Saddam is imminent.
He's taking Bush at his word. Anytime now, please. |