U.S. aircraft pound Shi'ite rebels in Najaf

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LAD968693.htm

NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Suspected U.S. AC-130 gunships pounded positions held by Sh'ite militiamen in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf on Thursday and large orange multiple flashes lit the night sky.

A large cloud of smoke was rising from an ancient cemetery where rebels loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have fought U.S. troops for two weeks.

The explosions from the bombing, that went on for more than 30 minutes, were loudly heard several km (miles) away.

more...I thought the Iraqi army was handling this?

[madrchsod]

1. Iraqi army=South Vietnamese army

same war- just changed the name and location

[Aidoneus]

2. There are some problems with that

there have been legal edicts from respected scholars, forbidding Iraqi Muslims from following orders of the puppet regime to harm other Muslims. Sometimes hundreds at a time, others individually or small groups, the "Iraqi" police and army have either refused their posts or, as in al-`Amarah most notably and on other occasions in the other central/southern cities, gone over to Sadr(HA)'s Jaysh al-Mahdi. Therefore, the Marines and other foreign mercenaries have to do the dirty work; they are assisted zealously by the Baathists placed in high-level positions in the puppet "Iraqi government".

[bemildred]

3. "U.S. aircraft further pulverize cemetary rubble in Najaf"

Or should the be "rubbles", as in "Shiite Rubbles" or
"radical, firebrand, militant, anti-iraqi shiite rubbles".

[tedzbear]

4. I read everything around the mosque has been bombed to rubble...

...but I have seen no pix to prove it.

[htuttle]

5. Given that they kicked all the journalists out of Najaf...

..under penalty of death (threatened to shoot them), I'm not surprised you haven't seen any pictures yet.

Keep an eye on the overseas media. Something will show up soon, I'm sure.

[REVOLT823]

6. What are

"Suspected U.S. AC130 Gunships"? Are we now pontificating that the Iraqis have an Air Force again? Don't editors bother to read these things before they go out on the wire?

[htuttle]

7. Language bends to the Party Line

The official party line is that the 'Iraqis' are doing the fighting in Najaf. The sighting of a C-130 is an uncomfortable fact that seems to contradict this story.

So they say 'suspected C-130', because the Party Faithful don't even trust their own eyes if they contradict the official party line.

And no, it doesn't make sense to non-Party members. I'm not sure it's even supposed to.

[skip fox]

8. al-Sadr backing down again???

http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2004/08/18/55465.html

Is this the latest?

[Aidoneus]

9. No, that was from a short while earlier (in terms of order of events)

Sayyid Muqtada as-Sadr(HA) had tenatively agreed to some sort of truce arrangement as proposed by a "peace delegation" and with their own requirements added. It was predicated on there being an actual cessation of hostilities on the part of the aggressors, but it was progress none the less. The occupyers responded by bombing the fuck out of everything. Sadr(HA) should talk to a native of this continent (if he can find one, that is) before agreeing to any deals with the American occupyers.