Sadr Threatens to Rescind Order

Yeah, it kinda sucks to be the only one not fighting. Like al-Sadr thought the US would do the honorable thing and quit attacking? Such a silly rabbit.

A day after the Al-Sadr political movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr said he was taking his Mahdi Army out of action for up to six months, he threatened to rescind the order unless the government stops detaining his followers within the next 48 hours, an official said.

“The warning was a response to US raids in the Karbala area on al-Sadr offices, in which six people were killed and 30 detained,” Karbala Deputy Gov. Jawad al-Hasnawi said.

Before daybreak, US occupation forces carried out raids in Sadr City, targeting Mahdi Army members.

Several cars were demolished during the operation by US occupation tanks, according to a police officer speaking on condition of anonymity.

Its almost impossible to stem Bush and Cheney's blood lust.

Where's Buffy when we really need her?


Oops! Never mind.

Via True Blue Liberal.

Where's Waldo?

Oops sorry. I meant where's Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr?

Radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is still in Iraq and has not left for Iran, several of his aides said on Wednesday, after American officials suggested he may have departed to avoid an offensive against militants.

The conflicting reports over the anti-American cleric's whereabouts came after Iraq said on Tuesday it would close its borders with Iran and Syria and lengthen a night curfew in Baghdad to try to curb unrelenting violence in the capital.

Four Sadr aides said he was still in Iraq, with some saying he was in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf but had reduced public appearances for "security reasons". They did not elaborate.

"He is now in Iraq," Nassar al-Rubaei, head of the Sadrist bloc in Iraq's parliament, said without giving further details.

Two U.S. officials in Washington spoke to Reuters about Sadr after the ABC News network reported he had fled to Iran because of fears he might be targeted by U.S. bombing raids and worries over his safety because of fracturing within his movement.

Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, they said the U.S. military believed Sadr had left Iraq and was now in Iran.

It was a silly mistake really. Al-Sadr is not as thin as Waldo and always wears dark colors, usually black. Oh yeah, he has a beard too.


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Iraq, US Advised To Avoid Offensive Against Militias

Two guesses what Bush will do. If you guessed attack the militias you win. No prizes, but don't you feel good about being right?

raqi and U.S. forces should not launch a military offensive against the militias - most of them Shiite - that are a major source of turmoil in Iraq, but should instead rely on nonviolent steps to bring militiamen into the political fold, according to an Iraqi report that draws largely on the views of prominent Shiite politicians.

"In the short-term at least, there can be no military offensive against the militias. Military confrontation, in the current climate, will only strengthen their appeal and swell their ranks," the Baghdad Institute for Public Policy Research concludes.

The institute said the 18-page report, "Dismantling Iraq's Militias," was based on a round-table discussion by six Shiite politicians, two Kurds and a Sunni Arab. Government officials said Thursday it would be considered in setting policy, but some here saw it as reflecting the private thinking of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as more U.S. troops arrive to try to end the violence.

Maliki has publicly declared that the joint effort will target all lawbreakers equally, regardless of sectarian affiliation but, late last year, his advisers said the prime minister was urging the Americans to combat Sunni groups while Iraqi forces focused on Shiite militias.

"The tense situation between the Mahdi Army militia and the U.S. military means that it would be unwise for multinational forces to go into Shia strongholds at this stage," says the report. The Mahdi Army is led by anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a key Maliki supporter.

Many Iraqi officials say previous Baghdad security plans failed because Maliki did not take a tough stance against that militia.

How could there be a non-anti-American cleric or sectarian in Iraq at this point, excepting Maliki and he ain't very pro-American either.

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