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Iraq-Jordan
U.S. Expands Offensive Against Rebel Iraqi Cleric
2004-05-23
EFL

BAGHDAD, May 23 -- The battle for the holy Shiite cities of southern Iraq that has occupied U.S. soldiers for weeks appears to have moved from a broad engagement across several fronts to a sustained battle for a single elusive objective -- the rebellious cleric at the heart of the insurrection.

For seven weeks, U.S. forces have killed off scores of militants loyal to Moqtada Sadr, the Shiite cleric wanted by U.S. officials on murder charges who has fomented an anti-American insurrection across a region once receptive to the occupation. But they have left Sadr largely alone, fearing a deadly strike against him could make him a martyr in a religious culture that worships them.

But the U.S. military’s first push into the town of Kufa, where Sadr preaches each Friday, and a strike on a convoy carrying his top aide over the weekend suggests U.S. commanders have set aside those fears. U.S. military officers involved in the operations say the Kufa assault, which began before dawn Sunday and continued into the night, is the latest phase of a campaign that has squeezed Sadr’s forces out of Kut, Diwaniya, and, over the weekend, the holy city of Karbala.

"We’re closing in," said Maj. David Gercken, a spokesman for the 1st Armored Division, who declined to characterize the operation as a hunt for Sadr. "We’re keeping the pressure on. But it’s gradual."

U.S. military officials have five weeks to tame a broad anti-occupation insurgency before an interim Iraqi government assumes limited political authority. The Sadr rebellion has become among the most pressing security concerns for U.S. officials, and corralling its spread at a time of high anti-occupation feelings is now a top priority.

The resistance rose first in the Sunni Triangle, a region north and west of Baghdad once devoted to Saddam Hussein. Earlier this month, Marine commanders withdrew from Fallujah, a hotbed of anti-American feeling, after a month-long siege against the insurgents inside. They turned over security responsibilities to a group of former Baathist military officers, who once served in Hussein’s army.

The move angered Iraq’s majority Shiite population Awwwwww , which suffered under Hussein’s Sunni-led government, while failing to end attacks against U.S. troops. Two Marines were killed Sunday when their convoy was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades.

U.S. officials have ruled out such a deal to win Sadr’s withdrawal from Najaf and the demobilization of his thousands-strong militia known as the Mahdi Army. Sadr, the 31-year-old son of a revered Shiite cleric assassinated by Hussein’s government, is wanted in connection with the April 2003 murder of a moderate rival Shiite cleric, Abdel-Majid Khoei. Khoei had just returned to Iraq from exile in Great Britain when he was stabbed to death in Najaf, allegedly by Sadr’s followers.

Instead, U.S. officials have counted on a group of mainstream Shiite leaders to talk down the young firebrand with little support outside his own militia. But those negotiations have produced only division in Iraq’s majority Shiite population, and U.S. officials have expressed little hope in recent days for their eventual success.

The sudden withdrawal over the weekend of Sadr’s forces after weeks of street fighting -- and scores of casualties -- has both encouraged and mystified military officers after weeks of deadly street-to-street fighting. But the long-term results are difficult to judge.

"The bad guys may have left, they may have gone to ground, we don’t know," said a U.S. officer whose troops were returning to Baghdad after reinforcing units stationed on the outskirts of Karbala.

The pullback of troops from Task Force 1-36, a unit of the 1st Armored Division, followed the cancellation of a U.S. push into Karbala set for last Friday. Instead of entering Karbala, as planned, U.S. troops that had taken up positions in a strategic mosque in the center of town withdrew.

"There was no cease-fire, no deal made in Karbala. We do not and will not make deals with militias or criminals," Gercken said.

Despite the calls for Shiites to rise up, Karbala residents seem less concerned about damage to religious sites than eager for Sadr to give up now that U.S. troops have left the city center. Like Najaf, the town depends on religious pilgrims, mostly from Shiite Iran, as a major source of income.

At the same time, Sadr forces in Najaf, farther south, and neighboring Kufa where Sadr delivers his regular Friday sermon, showed increasing audacity in attacks over the weekend. But there are signs in the developing U.S. offensive that Sadr, as much as his armed followers, may be the troops’ intended target regardless of the fallout.

Since announcing the arrest warrant against him, U.S. military officials have continued to allowed Sadr to travel between Najaf and Kufa to deliver his regular Friday sermon. But last Friday, U.S. troops fired on a convoy of cars that resembled Sadr’s hours after he had called on Iraqis to rise up against the occupation during his sermon.

Then overnight Saturday U.S. troops, for the first time, drove deep into Kufa in tanks backed by attack helicopters. U.S. soldiers remained there Sunday, raiding a mosque and killing more than a dozen insurgents.
Posted by:Mr. Davis

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