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Iraq-Jordan
50 DIE IN US RAID
2004-08-19
The US military killed more than 50 militia loyal to Moqtada Al Sadr in a significant advance early this morning into a Baghdad suburb that is one of his powerbases. The radical Iraqi cleric leading a Shi'ite uprising earlier agreed to disarm his militia and leave one of the country's holiest Islamic shrines after the interim government threatened to storm the Imam Ali Mosque to teach his Mehdi Army militia "a lesson they will never forget". Tensions, however, remained high after dark in the holy city where fighting has raged for two weeks and killed hundreds.
"Killed 50 people"... "Tensions remain high"... I'd say those two statements go together.
Sadr, who only a few days ago had vowed to fight to the death, said his forces would disarm and leave only after Marines encircling the city had agreed to a truce. An armed group 'Martyrs Squad', meanwhile, threatened to kill a kidnapped American journalist Micah Garen unless US forces withdraw from Najaf within 48 hours, Al Jazeera TV reported last night. Explosions and gun fire still echoed around the mosque hours after the announcement that Sadr had agreed to end a rebellion that has posed the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi since he took over from US-led occupiers on June 28.
Posted by:Fred

#13  Good plan, Shipman.
In fact, my spies in the Holy City of Parris Island tell me that the newly appointed Grand Ayatollah, Iman Michael W. "Mustafa" Hagee, is, at this very moment, welcoming a whole brigade of new converts to the Ummah.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2004-08-19 5:14:43 PM  

#12  I wouldn't use gas. It would rile the international WMD crowd and the Iranians would claim desecration of the holy site. Low Frequency attask them until they beg for mercy.
Posted by: Super Hose   2004-08-19 5:05:06 PM  

#11  I believe the Commandant of the Corps is allowed to convert and bless whole battalions as necessary to insure efficient combat operations.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-08-19 4:25:27 PM  

#10  The above is just speculation.
I want to emphasize that Reuters, BBC, the LA Times and the rest of the Streicherist hypocrites and terrorist sycophants in the media will claim victory for their clients in any case, so any concession to their propaganda is a waste of time and an abject surrender.
I would lob some of Saddam's "non-existent" or "irrelevant" sarin shells into the place and claim total innocence. (A pinch of mustard will do if the sarin supply is limited)

The holy bunker and sniper's nest remains intact, but the tater tots perish from weapons whose existence is denied by their own propagandists and fellow-travellers.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2004-08-19 3:12:24 PM  

#9  Delta could take down the holy arsenal with no trouble, but Dubya and others are afraid that this would allow the fifth column media to incite a global uprising by death cultist hypocrites.

Even the Indian government, which has lost 10 times as many people to Islamofascist terrorism, rolls over for similar reasons.

So, American infidels cannot enter the mosque. But what if the Americans who enter the mosque are not infidels? There has been more than enough time to form a special all-Muslim forced entry team for situations like this. I have no idea whether this has been done, but it could have been.

There has not been enough time to train an Iraqi force to the required standard, even ignoring the other difficulties, but it is conceivable that highly trained Muslim special forces could be brought in from a third country for this operation.
Such an operation would require some fancy negotiation, and extreme secrecy, but it is not impossible.
Where they might come from is open to question as well, but it might be better at this point not to speculate in public.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2004-08-19 3:04:48 PM  

#8  Wonder if the US Forces have anything like the siege gas used by the Russians a couple of years ago to free a theater full of hostages. I don't think the Moscow ever admitted what the gas was, but some reports were that it was morphine based or Fentanyl. The most effective antidote was Narcan,IIRC .
Posted by: GK   2004-08-19 3:04:26 PM  

#7  PSA: I hope this isn't considered crass and commercial, but I'd like to offer a service to the fallen Tater Tots...



If there really are a couple thousand in Najaf, a few thou more in Tater City, and mebbe another thou in Kut, Basrah, etc. I could really clean up when I clean up, heh.
Posted by: .com   2004-08-19 1:54:12 PM  

#6  I wonder, if we kill all the tater tots, and mash the grand tater and then withdraw, all within 48 hours will they let Micah Garen go? What if we withdraw from Najaf and then nuke it, will that meet their demands?
Posted by: AllahHateMe   2004-08-19 1:48:19 PM  

#5  If it were me I would tear/sleep gas the bunch, drag them out into the streets, and then quickly dispatch each with a bullet to the noggin. Cruel but necessary.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge   2004-08-19 1:17:56 PM  

#4  When this asswipe's own life starts to be threatened, watch him squirm out of it and make "peace."
Posted by: PlanetDan   2004-08-19 1:14:08 PM  

#3  It will be very interesting to learn about the way the mosque will be taken. Gas the perps? Or blow shit out of it. But I hope it's not GI's fighting a sensitive door to door fight to protect a piece of fake holy property so muslims can declare how the infidel trembles at the feet of islamic rage.
Posted by: Lucky   2004-08-19 12:37:00 PM  

#2  72 x 50 = 3600 virgins required.
How many peeled grapes to feed 50 newcomers?
Posted by: BigEd   2004-08-19 12:31:45 PM  

#1  A good start. More, plz.
Posted by: .com   2004-08-19 12:31:35 PM  

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