lily
04-01-2008, 02:17 PM
Mlaki learned one thing.....don't say mission accomplished. It's a fragile truce. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23898460/)
Iraqi PM: Basra operation was 'success'
Al-Maliki stops short of declaring an end to the offensive against militants
updated 1 hour, 7 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi prime minister said Tuesday that a weeklong crackdown
against militia violence in the southern city of Basra had been a "success,"
despite the violent backlash among followers of radical Shiite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr.
The statement by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, however, stopped short of
declaring an end to the offensive as the Shiite leader faced criticism that
the government had been unprepared for the ferocious resistance mounted by
al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
The British Defense Ministry also announced plans to put on hold a scheduled
withdrawal of around 1,500 British troops from the area after the recent
surge in violence.
Sporadic fighting, meanwhile, continued in Baghdad and Basra despite a tense
calm that followed a peace agreement by al-Sadr.
A U.S. helicopter fired a Hellfire missile at gunmen attacking ground forces
early Tuesday, killing six militants in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr
City, the military said, although Iraqi police and witnesses said three
civilians were killed in the strike.
Ground forces called for the airstrike after gunmen fired at a tank and
rolled a burning tire in their direction, said Maj. Mark Cheadle, a military
spokesman in Baghdad.
Iraqi police also said three unarmed men were killed and six people wounded,
including two children, when U.S. troops fired at them hours later in Sadr
City. Cheadle denied U.S. forces were involved in such an incident.
Deadly month
The fighting in the capital and cities to the south has helped make March
the deadliest month for Iraqis since last summer, according to figures
compiled by The Associated Press.
At least 1,247 Iraqis, including civilians and security personnel, had been
killed as of Monday, according to figures compiled from police and U.S.
military reports. The figure was nearly double the tally for February and
the biggest monthly toll since August, when 1,956 people died violently.
Iraqi government figures showed a similar trend, with at least 1,079 people
were killed in March — 923 civilians, 156 security forces.
That was an increase from 718 the month before, including 633 civilians and
85 security forces, according to figures compiled from data provided by
officials at the health, interior and defense ministries.
Underscoring the fragility of the peace agreement, Harith al-Edhari, the
director of al-Sadr's office in Basra, demanded the government stop
continuing random raids and detentions.
Al-Edhari's complaint followed a raid by Iraqi commandos on the house of a
wanted Mahdi Army battalion leader that prompted clashes in a northern
section of the city, although the suspect was not home at the time.
In ordering his militia to stop fighting on Sunday, al-Sadr also demanded
concessions from the Iraqi government, including an end to the "illegal
raids and arrests" of his followers and the release of all detainees who
have not been convicted of any offenses.
U.S. and Iraqi officials insisted the operation was directed at criminals
and rogue militiamen — some allegedly linked to Iran — but not against the
Sadrist movement, which controls 30 of the 275 seats in the national
parliament.
But the fighting mainly involved Mahdi Army fighters, provoking intense
anger among al-Sadr's followers.
The agreement — said to have been brokered in Iran — stopped short of
disarming the militia and left Iraq's U.S.-backed prime minister politically
battered and humbled within his own Shiite power base.
Recruiting police
However, al-Maliki insisted in a statement issued by his office that the
operation launched a week ago Tuesday had achieved "security, stability and
success" in Basra.
He also announced a seven-point plan to stabilize the area, including
recruiting 10,000 more police and army forces from local tribes and moving
to enhance public services for the embattled population of some 2 million.
Al-Maliki had promised to crush the militias that have effectively ruled
Basra for nearly three years. The U.S. military launched air strikes in the
city to back the Iraqi effort.
But the ferocious response by the Mahdi Army, including rocket fire on the
U.S.-controlled Green Zone and attacks throughout the Shiite south, caught
the government by surprise and sent officials scrambling for a way out of
the crisis.
The confrontation enabled al-Sadr to show that he remains a powerful force
capable of challenging the Iraqi government, the Americans and mainstream
Shiite parties that have sought for years to marginalize him. And the
outcome cast doubt on President Bush's assessment that the Basra battle was
"a defining moment" in the history "of a free Iraq."
With gunmen again off the streets, a round-the-clock curfew imposed in
Baghdad last week was lifted at 6 a.m. Monday, except in Sadr City and two
other Shiite neighborhoods. Streets of the capital buzzed with traffic and
commerce.
Iraqis also cautiously emerged on the streets of Basra, Iraq's
second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, with peddlers selling
fruit from stalls and men cleaning up huge piles of trash from the
roadsides.
Women shrouded in black and children also lined up to collect water and food
from aid workers after days of curfew.
Iraqi PM: Basra operation was 'success'
Al-Maliki stops short of declaring an end to the offensive against militants
updated 1 hour, 7 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi prime minister said Tuesday that a weeklong crackdown
against militia violence in the southern city of Basra had been a "success,"
despite the violent backlash among followers of radical Shiite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr.
The statement by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, however, stopped short of
declaring an end to the offensive as the Shiite leader faced criticism that
the government had been unprepared for the ferocious resistance mounted by
al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
The British Defense Ministry also announced plans to put on hold a scheduled
withdrawal of around 1,500 British troops from the area after the recent
surge in violence.
Sporadic fighting, meanwhile, continued in Baghdad and Basra despite a tense
calm that followed a peace agreement by al-Sadr.
A U.S. helicopter fired a Hellfire missile at gunmen attacking ground forces
early Tuesday, killing six militants in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr
City, the military said, although Iraqi police and witnesses said three
civilians were killed in the strike.
Ground forces called for the airstrike after gunmen fired at a tank and
rolled a burning tire in their direction, said Maj. Mark Cheadle, a military
spokesman in Baghdad.
Iraqi police also said three unarmed men were killed and six people wounded,
including two children, when U.S. troops fired at them hours later in Sadr
City. Cheadle denied U.S. forces were involved in such an incident.
Deadly month
The fighting in the capital and cities to the south has helped make March
the deadliest month for Iraqis since last summer, according to figures
compiled by The Associated Press.
At least 1,247 Iraqis, including civilians and security personnel, had been
killed as of Monday, according to figures compiled from police and U.S.
military reports. The figure was nearly double the tally for February and
the biggest monthly toll since August, when 1,956 people died violently.
Iraqi government figures showed a similar trend, with at least 1,079 people
were killed in March — 923 civilians, 156 security forces.
That was an increase from 718 the month before, including 633 civilians and
85 security forces, according to figures compiled from data provided by
officials at the health, interior and defense ministries.
Underscoring the fragility of the peace agreement, Harith al-Edhari, the
director of al-Sadr's office in Basra, demanded the government stop
continuing random raids and detentions.
Al-Edhari's complaint followed a raid by Iraqi commandos on the house of a
wanted Mahdi Army battalion leader that prompted clashes in a northern
section of the city, although the suspect was not home at the time.
In ordering his militia to stop fighting on Sunday, al-Sadr also demanded
concessions from the Iraqi government, including an end to the "illegal
raids and arrests" of his followers and the release of all detainees who
have not been convicted of any offenses.
U.S. and Iraqi officials insisted the operation was directed at criminals
and rogue militiamen — some allegedly linked to Iran — but not against the
Sadrist movement, which controls 30 of the 275 seats in the national
parliament.
But the fighting mainly involved Mahdi Army fighters, provoking intense
anger among al-Sadr's followers.
The agreement — said to have been brokered in Iran — stopped short of
disarming the militia and left Iraq's U.S.-backed prime minister politically
battered and humbled within his own Shiite power base.
Recruiting police
However, al-Maliki insisted in a statement issued by his office that the
operation launched a week ago Tuesday had achieved "security, stability and
success" in Basra.
He also announced a seven-point plan to stabilize the area, including
recruiting 10,000 more police and army forces from local tribes and moving
to enhance public services for the embattled population of some 2 million.
Al-Maliki had promised to crush the militias that have effectively ruled
Basra for nearly three years. The U.S. military launched air strikes in the
city to back the Iraqi effort.
But the ferocious response by the Mahdi Army, including rocket fire on the
U.S.-controlled Green Zone and attacks throughout the Shiite south, caught
the government by surprise and sent officials scrambling for a way out of
the crisis.
The confrontation enabled al-Sadr to show that he remains a powerful force
capable of challenging the Iraqi government, the Americans and mainstream
Shiite parties that have sought for years to marginalize him. And the
outcome cast doubt on President Bush's assessment that the Basra battle was
"a defining moment" in the history "of a free Iraq."
With gunmen again off the streets, a round-the-clock curfew imposed in
Baghdad last week was lifted at 6 a.m. Monday, except in Sadr City and two
other Shiite neighborhoods. Streets of the capital buzzed with traffic and
commerce.
Iraqis also cautiously emerged on the streets of Basra, Iraq's
second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, with peddlers selling
fruit from stalls and men cleaning up huge piles of trash from the
roadsides.
Women shrouded in black and children also lined up to collect water and food
from aid workers after days of curfew.