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| Iraq | |
| US Sweeps Conclude With 1200 Arrests | |
| 2003-07-20 | |
| In this situational summary, rather than a story just about the US "sweep", The Sydney Morning Herald spins it their own way... EFL A US soldier was shot and killed guarding a bank in Baghdad yesterday, while the US military concluded two separate sweeps in and around the capital — arresting more than 1,200 people and seizing weapons, explosives and ammunition. Also yesterday, the military announced it had wrapped up two sweeps - dubbed Operation Ivy Serpent and Operation Soda Mountain earlier in the week. Some 1,210 people were detained in the two operations, including 112 people suspected of close ties to the former Saddam Hussein regime. The operations, both of which ended on Thursday, also netted some 6,000 mortar rounds, more than 1,400 rocket propelled grenades, explosives, AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons. Good. That’s a lot of people and ordinance - that won’t be fired at the coalition forces. Violence against US troops has been concentrated in Iraq’s "Sunni Triangle", stretching north and west from Baghdad. The obvious result of no Northern front. Fuck Turkey. Iraq’s minority Sunni Muslims have long ruled the country, and many of them fear Saddam’s ouster will swing the balance of power to the majority Shiites. The new 25-member ruling council, appointed by the Americans, has a slim Shiite majority. Yep. You Sunnis don’t run dick, anymore. Yeah, it hurts, huh? At a major Sunni mosque in Baghdad, formerly known as the Mother of all Battles Mosque, preacher Khalid al-Dari called yesterday for the Americans to leave Iraq and said the new US-appointed government "will enshrine Iraq’s sectarian differences." No - you guys do that bit of stupidity all by yourselves. Also on Friday, Moqtada al-Sadr, addressing thousands of Shiites at a mosque in the central holy city of Kufa, vowed to establish a council "of the righteous" that would rival the new government. Al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric who spoke to a crowd that overflowed onto the streets around the mosque in Kufa, said the government is comprised of "non-believers" who don’t represent the people. "We will not cooperate with the council," he told the crowd. "We will form our own council. Iraq will then have two councils: one of the wrongdoers and one of the righteous."
Zionists? What a load. These people have elevated "non-believer" to a badge of honor. In an interview later with The Associated Press, al-Sadr said he would launch a parallel government and draft a constitution in consultation with all the country’s Islamic movements. "Eventually, we’ll have a referendum separate from the Americans and, God willing, elections separate from the Americans," he said. News Flash for the religiously-blind and democracy-challenged: this is called sedition. It is punishable by death. And this time it will be you and yours on the receiving end. In the northern city of Tikrit, American soldiers used plastic explosives to topple a nine-metre-tall bronze statue of Saddam brandishing a sword atop a rearing horse. The toppling of Saddam’s statue didn’t play well for some in Tikrit. "He was the symbol of Iraq, and this action was like a challenge to us," said 32-year-old Hayam Latif. "We are ready to sacrifice ourselves for Saddam." Puhleeeze do. The swords are set up over there. Please, please, line up in a proper queue and take your proper turn falling on it. There’s a good boy. | |
| Posted by:PD |
| #3 I always said we shoulda bombed Tikrit into a parking lot when we had the chance and they were all bunched up so nicely. Sigh. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-7-20 8:33:50 PM |
| #2 "Zionists!" the crowd chanted. "Zionist council!" And true to form, they resort to a tired old ploy... |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-7-20 4:22:42 AM |
| #1 Grin, some of them mouth the words and yet don't get it. You bet your backside that it is a challenge to you and Saddam. Bring it on. |
| Posted by: Be 2003-7-20 3:37:11 AM |