"US joins Iraqi offensive in Basra"
"by Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times | March 29, 2008
BAGHDAD - US forces plunged deeper into the bloody showdown between Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite militiamen yesterday, launching air strikes in the southern city of Basra, and firing a missile into the main Shi'ite stronghold in Baghdad.
The US military said a Navy jet had strafed a mortar-launching position in Basra with 20-mm cannon fire late Thursday night, killing three "criminal militia members," and the US air strikes continued yesterday.
It was the first time American forces had been directly involved in the combat in Basra since the Iraqi government launched an offensive against militias there Tuesday. US ground troops also were deployed in small numbers there yesterday, for the first time in years.
The developments do not bode well for the Iraqi government or US military leaders....
But, but, but, Bush says it IS A GOOD THING!!
Sigh!
And at this point I realize we have another reedited, rewritten article.
Yaaaaaayy!
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday extended a deadline for militia fighters to disarm after nobody responded to his first one.
The US involvement, along with the 10-day extension of the disarmament deadline, were signs that the operation was meeting fiercer resistance than expected even as his government insisted things were going well.
No wonder Bush likes him!
Late yesterday, one militia barrage slammed into the headquarters of the Basra police command, triggering a huge fire and explosions, police officials said.
Earlier, US jets bombed a building housing militia fighters and blasted a mortar team that was firing on Iraqi forces.
Before dawn yesterday, a US aircraft fired a Hellfire missile in the Sadr City district - the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army - after gunmen there opened fire on an American patrol. The US military said the missile strike killed four militants, but Iraqi officials said nine civilians were killed and nine others wounded.
Expect a lot more of this, although the lying AmeriKan MSM won't cover much of it.
Can't wait until I get to the blogs!
Loyalists of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who say he is being unjustly targeted in the offensive, said the situation had exposed Maliki's weakness as a leader. "That's an indication of his defeat, to call outside forces to strike his own people," said Falah Shanshai, one of 30 national lawmakers from Sadr's bloc in Parliament. "Force won't do any good. The people are suffering from lack of services, and Maliki brings in the planes."
I don't need to comment on that!
On a warm and dusty day yesterday, Baghdad was under a virtual lockdown, its normally chaotic streets quiet except for occasional blasts from rockets and mortar shells.
You know, normalcy, according to George W.
"We are scared, sitting home and not knowing what will happen in any minute," said Mithaq Majeed, a Baghdad resident in an area under the sway of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. Overnight, he said militiamen had used bulldozers to build sand hills to seal off the neighborhood....
If the situation spins out of control, the United States could face pressure to send some of its own forces south. That would thin their presence elsewhere and could affect US withdrawal plans.
What withdrawal plans?
President Bush, during a White House news conference yesterday, said of the Iraqi forces: "Of course, we'll provide them help if they need it and ask for it, but they are in the lead." He made no mention of the US air strikes.
In Baghdad, US forces also clashed with suspected militiamen in Sadr City, and skirmishes were reported elsewhere. A US military statement said American soldiers had killed 13 "terrorists" in operations across the capital yesterday, most of them in mainly Shi'ite eastern Baghdad.
Baghdad and most southern cities were under curfews, which appeared to reduce the violence....
Police and hospital officials in Basra have put the death toll there since Tuesday at anywhere from 60 to 80, with hundreds wounded. Nationwide, the number of dead, including many civilians, has topped 150, according to reports from different cities....
Oh, really? I heard the death toll was at 225 yesterday alone!!!!
Fucking stink Zionist press can't tell the truth about nothing, can they?
US Embassy employees were under orders to wear body armor and helmets when going outside and to remain inside fortified structures....
You know, like returning to normalcy!
Supporters of Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia... repeated their demands for Maliki to negotiate with Sadr's people....
What, the crazed Muslim fanatics don't want to just kill, kill, kill?!
This is a perfect example of how disgusted I am with the shit Jew press, readers, sorry!!!
Shanshai said he did not believe the reward offer would change things. "There is no trust between the people and the government, so the people won't turn [their weapons] in. They want to defend themselves against this aggressive assault."
That sounds SO FAMILIAR here in AmeriKa!!!!
For Iraqis not involved in the violence, the situation was grim considering it followed four months of relative quiet. Prices of food in the few markets operating quadrupled, and people spent their time holed up inside.
I can relate to the food costs, as Iraq returns to normalcy.
Iraqi television showed footage of a battered-looking Basra, empty of people except for military vehicles and masked militiamen toting machine guns. A police official estimated that 70 percent of the city was in militia hands.
One scene run repeatedly on TV yesterday showed gunmen driving a military Humvee, apparently seized from Iraq forces, painted white with "Mahdi Army" written on its side."
What, our NEW "Al-CIA-Duh" in Iraq?
The Mahdi Army?
This operation sounds like a DISASTER, readers!
Just like the ENTIRE U.S. OCCUPATION of IRAQ!!!!
