U.S. military says it has new mandate to pursue Shiite militias

[Joanne98]

U.S. military says it has new mandate to pursue Shiite militias
Officials say new approach includes strikes against leaders
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/14/news/iraq.php

By Farah Stockman and Bryan Bender The Boston GlobePublished: January 14, 2007

WASHINGTON: U.S. military officials say the Bush administration has given them new authority to target leaders of political and religious militias in Iraq who are implicated in sectarian violence, including the powerful Shiite Muslim cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

Such a showdown, integral to President George W. Bush's plan to increase the number of U.S. troops in Baghdad, could spark a deadly confrontation with Shiite militias, which enjoy widespread popularity in Shiite neighborhoods.

It could also erode support for the fragile government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who has agreed to the plan.

Senior U.S. and Iraqi officials said last week that Maliki had pledged to confront the militias with the help of additional American troops.

But many analysts doubt that Maliki has the will or the firepower to take on Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia is blamed for much of the tit-for-tat violence in the capital.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/14/news/iraq.php

[Roland99]

1. Uh, shouldn't that be under the jurisdiction of, oh, SOVEREIGN Iraq????

[Botany]

2. Good thinking .... let's make the matter worse

Piss off the Kurds by our operations against Iranians in their territory

Piss off the Shi ites by going after Sadr

and the Sunnis are already pissed about being thrown from power

Somebody has to stop this drive to crazy town.

[IndianaGreen]

3. Shia militias protect the Shia from the Sunnis

just as the Sunni militias protect the Sunnis from the Shia.

I guess the American military wasn't happy just fighting the Sunnis and now wants to fight the Shia as well. Good luck, cowboys!

[Robbien]

4. Does this mean up to now we just helped Sadr kill off Sunnis?

And now both sides are fair game so we are going to kill every single armed Iraqi we see?

No wonder the military estiamted our deaths will double in just one year.

[MadMaddie]

5. Wow another brilliant move kill off the relious leaders of an extremely

religious population. That's going to work out real well.:sarcasm:

[hobbit709]

6. Let's see now

We can't even control the 11 mi. of road between the Baghdad airport and the Green Zone, so we are going to piss off the people who effectively own the territory through which two 400 mi. of supply roads run from Kuwait? And we want to make a two-way civil war into a three-way by involving the Kurds in trying to pacify the Arabs in Baghdad? It's become obvious that the "Decider" and his cohorts have absolutely no concept of elementary military tactics.

[jody]

7. Interesting because Muqtada Al-Sadir is descended directly from the prophet Mohammad.

His name is formally given as Hojatoleslam Sayyid Muqtada Al-Sadir. The prefixed title Hojatoleslam literally means Authority on, or Scholar of, Islam and is an academic title indicating a middle-ranking Shi‘a cleric. (The equivalent of a Ph.D. candidate if Ayatollah is taken as the equivalent of Professor. This rank does not convey the authority of ijtihad or interpretation of the Quran nor does it convey the authority to issue religious edicts or Fatwas. Sayyid is generally used among the Shi‘a to denote persons descending directly from the prophet Mohammad.) The al-Sadr family have a clear and distinct lineage that can be traced directly to the Prophet Muhammad. The lineage is traced through Imam Jafar al-Sadiq and his son Imam Musa al-Kahdim the sixth and seventh Shi‘a Imams respectively. This direct and meticulously documented lineage is unprecedented even among the illustrious families in the Islamic world who claim such lineage. The Sayyid Muslims consider themselves the followers of Prophet Muhammad's bloodline (through his daughter Fatima's lineage), thus a great deal of respect and reverence is paid by the Shi'a's to the Sayyids throughout Shi'a society.

I wonder if his lineage gives him a special status in the Shia community?

[acmavm]

8. I'm pretty sure it does. A cleric as radical and as young as he is wouldn't

get to be so powerful if he wasn't seen as 'special' and deserving of being obeyed.

edit: you would also think it would entitle him to better dental care as well.

[Joanne98]

9. He's like a Royal a King, if they kill him all Hell will break loose.

[Kagemusha]

11. Prince is more accurate.

It's still not good stuff.

[PATRICK]

10. Pre-emption of Shiite uprising

after actions against Iran. Another possible twofer which makes more sense than any screwy belief they are doing any good in Iraq. The same reason Israel hit Lebanon, also in preparation for border problems after Iranian actions.

And we'll have much less "success" than Israel.

[frylock]

12. the phoenix program..

The Phoenix Program (Vietnamese: Kế Hoạch Phụng Hoàng, a word related to fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) or Operation Phoenix was a covert intelligence operation and assassination program undertaken by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in close collaboration with South Vietnamese intelligence during the Vietnam War. The program was designed to identify and "neutralize"—capture; induce to surrender; kill; or otherwise disrupt—the noncombatant infrastructure of Viet Cong (VCI) cadres who were engaged both in recruiting and training insurgents within South Vietnamese villages, as well as providing support to the North Vietnamese war effort. The operation was directed by the CIA's Evan J. Parker, then by Ted Shackley and his deputies, including Thomas Clines, Donald Gregg, and Richard Secord.

While the Phoenix operations were originated by the CIA, they were eventually turned over to the US Army and Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) military, and later as part of the "Vietnamization" program they were transitioned to a Republic of Vietnam military program with just a handful of US military advisors assisting. The Phung Hoang operations were officially established by Republic of Vietnam Presidential decree on July 1, 1968, although the program existed unofficially prior to that date.

Gary Leroy and Karl Sherrick were two of the most effective advisors having 23 kills in the month of March. President Thieu would later declassify the program, and announce its existence publicly on October 1, 1969, in order to gain wider acceptance and cooperation from South Vietnam citizens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Program

[sarcasmo]

13. This is truly Vietnam. How will they know who are Shiite., no uniforms.

Sounds a whole lot like Vietnam to me.