http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/08/13/najaf/index.htmlOne U.S. news story said the patrol that went by Sadr's house had become lost in the city, ending up there by mistake. Since a new unit was patrolling Najaf, this was a possibility. But I believed, as other observers did, that the U.S. provoked the Mahdi army into all-out war.
....
We didn't know what would happen next, but small groups of fighters were leaving their sector to attack the Americans a few blocks away. We followed their car for a few blocks and then parked. A young fighter with a bandaged hand and a sniper rifle got out, ran to a corner, knelt, then fired four shots at some American vehicles. Andy filmed the sniper taking aim and pulling the trigger. After he fired, the sniper said, "It's OK, it's OK," running back to his car. We followed. Back at the intersection the sniper was waving his gun out the window in triumph and the men who saw him cheered.
......
While I was trying to contact Andy, I was swarmed by kids who wanted to know where I lived. They told me their names in between approaches of the U.S. helicopters. They showed me how they made Molotov cocktails for their older brothers and fathers to throw at American vehicles. One young boy, more outgoing than the others, asked me to name the great Shiite imams in chronological order. After I gave him the first four, we were friends.
......
As I write this evening, news that U.S. Marines are fighting in the center of Najaf is just coming over the wires. Muqtada's block has been bombed, and a great torrent of smoke is boiling out of the old city. In Sadr City,
where the Mahdi army has almost universal support among the 2 million people who live there, the fighting is not coming to an end.
It is just beginning.
----------SNIP-------------
Get the day pass. Fascinating article. Meanwhile, back in the Green Zone, the mainstream press writes about the fabulous Baghdad nightlife and the lack of Grey Goose vodka at the Palestine Hotel. A universal disgrace for the profession of journalism tout court. American mainstream journalists are cowards of the worst sort, and liars to boot.
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