Any reason to stay in-country and fan the flames of war with Iran.
That's what I see...
"Iraqi and U.S. Forces Battle Shiite Militia"
"Heavy fighting broke out Tuesday in Basra and Baghdad, after Iraqi ground forces and helicopters mounted a major operation in Basra against Shiite militias, including the Mahdi Army, whose months-long cease-fire is credited with reducing the level of violence during the troop surge. There were also serious clashes in the southern cities of Kut and Hilla.
In Basra, Iraq’s most important oil-exporting center, thousands of Iraqi government soldiers and police moved into the city around 5 a.m. and engaged in pitched battles with Shiite militia members that have taken over big swathes of that city.
What appeared to be American or British jets also soared through the skies, witnesses said, providing air support....
The scale and intensity of the clashes in Baghdad kept many residents home. Schools and shops were closed in many neighborhoods and hundreds of checkpoints appeared, government-controlled in some neighborhoods and militia-run in others. Barrages of mortars and rockets pounded the fortified Green Zone area for the second time in three days.
Sadr City, the Baghdad neighborhood that is the center of the Mahdi Army’s power, was sealed off by a double-cordon of troops, some Iraqi, and others said to be American. A photographer who was able to get through the cordon found more layers of checkpoints, each one manned by about two dozen heavily armed Mahdi Army fighters clad in tracksuits and T-shirts. Tires burned in the city center, gunfire echoed against the shuttered stores and teams of fighters in pick-up trucks moved about brandishing machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket propelled grenades.
“We are doing this in reaction to the unprovoked military operations against the Mahdi Army,” said a Mahdi commander who identified himself as Abu Mortada. “The U.S., the Iraqi government and SCIRI are against us,” he said, referring to a rival Shia group. “They are trying to finish us. They want power for the Iraqi government and SCIRI.” But Basra has been riven by violent power struggles among the Mahdi Army and local Shiite rivals, such as one controlled by the Fadhila political party. In the weeks leading up to the operation, Iraqi officials indicated that part of the operation would be aimed at the Fadhila groups, who are widely believed to be in control of Basra’s lucrative port operations and other parts of the city.
Tuesday’s violence raised fears across Iraq that the cease-fire declared by Mr. Sadr was in danger of collapsing, erasing the security gains of the past six months. Officials from Mr. Sadr’s party said that while the cease-fire was still in effect, the crackdown on Shiite militias had made it more and more difficult to keep Mahdi commanders from fighting. Some of those commanders appealed to an edict by Mr. Sadr saying that if they were attacked, their militias had the right of self-defense....
Witnesses in Basra said that throughout the day, jets flew overhead as armored vehicles raced through the city and machine gun and canon fire reverberated through the streets. Civilians took refuge in their homes. Iraqi television showed images of civilian gunmen with rocket propelled grenade launchers taking up positions and ambulances ferrying the wounded to hospitals.
In Baghdad, the mood was tense and some areas were deserted as clashes broke out across the city. In downtown Baghdad, checkpoints blocked sparse traffic every 100 yards....
Despite the armed actions by many Sadr followers, members of his party said that the cease-fire was still in effect and said called for peaceful civil disobedience. In Najaf, hundreds of followers carrying Qurans and olive branches mounted a sit-in, chanting, “No to occupation, no to terrorism.”
Sadr officials said they were angry at the government’s offensive.
“We tried our best to open dialogue with the government and the security forces but they did not cooperate with us because they believe the dialogue language is over with the Mahdi Army,” said Hassan al-Rubaie, a member of parliament from Sadr’s block. “We’ll keep trying to solve everything by negotiations and political agreements to stop targeting Sadrists. But if they are going to keep targeting us like this, we’ll know how to respond.”
Sahar Gani, a teacher, was taking schoolchildren home along a nearly deserted Baghdad sidewalk. “The security situation is getting worse day by day,” she said. “The city is getting very bad now. We’ve been through this before, so we find it natural. But we don’t know what to do.”
But, but, but... I was told the SURGE WORKED?
And did she really say that, or is that lying Zio-prop inserted in?
For the record, readers (and I get sick of relinking and reposting, believe me, but for the record):
Occupation Iraq: Israeli-Trained Death Squads
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh and the OSI
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh's Greatest Hits
Prop 101: The "Terrorism" Business
Prop 102: Iraq and Government Lies
"Al-CIA-Duhs" Catch-and-Release Program
Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group
Also:
The number of Iraqis killed by the surge has been around 300 per day, 10,000 per month -- with 1.2 million Iraqis dead since the invasion.
Also see: Story Iraq: MSM Lied About Death Tolls
Memory Hole: 600,000 DEAD!
Occupation Iraq: One Million Dead Iraqis
You clear now, readers?
