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Iraq-Jordan
Iraq interim DM vows to ''teach al Sadr men unforgettable lesson''
2004-08-18
Iraqi interim Defense Minister Hazem al-Shaalan said Shiite fighters must surrender within hours, as he visited the holy city of Najaf. "The coming hours will be decisive and we will teach them a lesson they will never forget," he told a news conference in Najaf, according to AFP. "In the coming hours they must surrender," Shaalan said Wednesday, stressing that Iraqi troops were making the "final military preparations" should they not lay down their weapons.
Lock and load.
In a related development, Iraq's National Conference refused Wednesday to dispatch a second mission to Najaf to negotiate an end to the standoff between American forces and loyalists of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a day after the latter rebuffed their demand for a meeting. According to AP, conference envoys suggested they were fed up with al-Sadr, believed holed up in the Imam Ali shrine. "If there were anyone sympathizing with him in the past, there will be none from now on because of this stand," delegate Abdul-Halim al-Ruhaimi said Wednesday.
Posted by:Steve

#19  .com in re #17 --- That only works IF the ordinance is loaded with "unclean" Pepperoni!
Posted by: BigEd   2004-08-18 5:24:00 PM  

#18  well..I suppose if he surrenders it is good. He can achieve the status of Louis Farrakan (sp? who cares) Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton. Some might say Pat Buchannan or David Duke.. is there a difference?

Frankly, no. But there is a huge difference between Sadr surrendering or abandoning the mosque and actually being taken into custody. The end result must involve Sadr catching a slug wearing matching bracelets or all of this is 31 Flavors of USDA Inspected Prime Cut Dry Aged Grade AAA Jumbo Size 14 Carat Ranch Style Heinz 57 Varieties of pure-dee horseshit!
Posted by: Zenster   2004-08-18 3:42:24 PM  

#17  ok...I want to change something...it's not the best that we could have obtained or hoped for...we could have..and maybe should have...wiped this sorry **&&& from the planet.

But it's not the worst that could have happened for us either. But Hey! Isn't that what a negotiation is all a bout -a plea bargain is little more than both sides realize that they could do better, they could do worse.

PS....love the images. Got any Col Sanders with some mashed taters?
Posted by: B   2004-08-18 12:03:51 PM  

#16  

Frank, you're right - that's alot of mouths...

Mebbe we could call Dominos and have them deliver...

Posted by: .com   2004-08-18 11:56:27 AM  

#15  well..I suppose if he surrenders it is good. He can achieve the status of Louis Farrakan (sp? who cares) Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton. Some might say Pat Buchannan or David Duke.. is there a difference?

Iran won't get the money from the Shrine anymore, the Iraqi's will.

It's not as good as if he was dead. But it's the best that all sides ...Iranian/Iraqi/American could hope for.

If everyone is ok with it, but not happy, it must be a good compromise.

Posted by: B   2004-08-18 11:56:05 AM  

#14  This is a ploy if anything at all
keep the water OFF! Stop all water trucks! Keep the cordon up! (whoever let the last ones in should be shot)
wait his ass out and kill em as the emerge....1000 hard boyz is a lotta thirst
Posted by: Frank G   2004-08-18 11:52:50 AM  

#13  First - one member of the Iraqi convention going on in Baghdad SAYS she has a letter from Sadrs BAGHDAD office (ie NOT from him and his close aides in Najaf) that hes willing to accept the conditions delivered by the convention delegation - which were that we was to leave the shrine and disarm, in return for not being attacked. I wouldnt get to worked up about this, just yet.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2004-08-18 11:48:09 AM  

#12  Fox (7:45AM PST) sez Tater's accepted a ceasefire with unnamed conditions....

This is bullshit. Sadr is NOT in any position to set conditions, and that needs to be made crystal clear. Acceptance of any of his "conditions" only serves to boost the turd's stock among potential recruits.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-08-18 10:56:24 AM  

#11  Kill him already.

This is another "victory" for him.

And another attack might not happen. Today's NY Times is spinning the whole operation, saying Marines went ahead without OK from the Pentagon on anybody other than the local Iraqi police. Of course now word will come down that no operation can begin without orders from the top.
Posted by: growler   2004-08-18 10:51:47 AM  

#10  Lux - Yep - I heard it on FoxNews, too - and haven't found anything online to confirm.

Since it appears today was the day, he cut it close.

Of course, I am hoping that either the report is false or they reject his bullshit and go ahead and storm the place anyway.

Posted by: .com   2004-08-18 10:50:04 AM  

#9  CRAP! Fox (7:45AM PST) sez Tater's accepted a ceasefire with unnamed conditions....
Posted by: Frank G   2004-08-18 10:46:04 AM  

#8  Latest news is that Al-Sadr has backed down and agreed to leave the mosque ... should be a link in the next hour if its confirmed true.
Posted by: Lux   2004-08-18 10:45:16 AM  

#7  I have advice for those incharge over there...
"Less Talk, More Rock"
Posted by: Yosemite Sam   2004-08-18 10:30:11 AM  

#6  Has a good sound to it, but I'll celebrate when he delivers.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-08-18 10:19:12 AM  

#5  I don't want them to "teach him a lesson", it implies he will be around to apply it. I want them to make a lesson out of him.
Posted by: BH   2004-08-18 10:17:20 AM  

#4  Tick, tick, tick....

American marines and soldiers have been doing most of the fighting in Najaf, but Shaalan said Iraqi forces had been training to storm the shrine complex and could complete such an operation within hours. "It will be Iraqis who enter the shrine ... there will be no American role in this, except giving air protection and protecting some roads leading to the shrine. But the entry (of the shrine) will be 100 percent Iraqi," Shaalan told Al Arabiya, a pan-Arab television channel, in Najaf.

Just like we thought, that's why all the delay. We may have built a mockup of the shrine somewhere and have been drilling the Iraqi troops till they were ready. I figure a night assault, fast with suppressed weapons, kill them before they can respond.
Posted by: Steve   2004-08-18 10:09:38 AM  

#3  I doubt that psycho dickhead Tater now understands that he has overplayed his hand. Maybe he will when he starts cavorting with his 72 raisins.
Can't happen soon enough.
Posted by: JerseyMike   2004-08-18 10:02:05 AM  

#2  Well, it's not as if they can hold Friday prayers in the Imam Ali Mosque if it's in the middle of a war. Also, it's not as if Sadr can issue a Friday sermon when he's holed up in an unusable mosque, isolated from the media.
Posted by: Mitch H.   2004-08-18 9:41:51 AM  

#1  I can't believe they'd start this on a Thursday, before the Holiest of days. Saturday, if they're serious.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-08-18 9:12:16 AM  

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