Iraq Cleric Vows Fight to Death Vs. U.S.

[Gotnolegs]

I wish you were right but I truly fear you aren't.

There are enough fanatics out there for him to become a martyr whatever damage he does. Even those who don't like his approach will say that somehting else should have been tried first. After all this man is a very junior cleric but holds a lot of sway over a lot of people. Killing him will simply prove to many Iraqis that the US is not there to help them at all regardless of what they say.

 

[freako104]

The problem Bish is that while I would like the idea that he is not martyred there are those who will follow him and say he died believing in something and dying for it.

 

[Gonz]

Killing him will simply prove to many Iraqis that the US is not there to help them at all regardless of what they say.

Why? We could have eliminated him & his a long time ago. Instead, there are strict orders to avoid damaging the mosque. We are going out of our way to avoid collateral damage. Outside the fringe groups, the Iraqis see this.

 

[Gonz]

Today we may find out if al Sadr is a man of his convictions.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi forces are giving loyalists of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (search) hours to lay down their arms before they storm the holy shrine where about 3,000 of al-Sadr's men are holed up.

The impending battle comes as Iraq's National Conference refused Wednesday to send a second delegation to Najaf to try to end the clashes between al-Sadr loyalists and U.S. troops after al-Sadr rebuffed the group.

Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said Iraqi forces were fully trained for a potential mission to oust the militants.

"Today is a day to set this compound free from its imprisonment and its vile occupation," Shaalan told the Arab-language television station Al-Arabiya.

Since peace talks have failed, "we have to turn to what's stronger and greater in order to teach them a lesson that they won't forget, and to teach others a lesson as well," Shaalan said. "In the next few hours, they have to surrender themselves and their weapons."

FoxNews

 

[Gonz]

Are we having fun yet?

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Shiite militants bombarded a Najaf police station with mortars Thursday, killing seven policemen and wounding 31 people after a Cabinet minister issued an ultimatum to the militants to disarm immediately or face a massive offensive by Iraqi forces. Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, however, rejected the government's demands, according to an aide.

Haidar al-Tourfi, an official at al-Sadr office's office in Najaf, said he received a text message from al-Sadr rejecting the demands.

"Either martyrdom or victory," the message said, according to al-Tourfi.

 

[Gonz]

Just another pussy crawling home in the dark.

NAJAF, Iraq — Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (search) and his militia had mostly vacated and removed weapons from the shrine in Najaf Friday where they had been holed up during a 2-week-long standoff with U.S. and Iraqi troops.

Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (search), agreed to take control of the Imam Ali Shrine (search). One al-Sadr aide said the keys to the mosque could be handed over later Friday, though details were still being worked out.

Fighters from al-Sadr's Mahdi Army were inside the shrine but left their guns outside. Armed militiamen continued to circulate around the walled shrine compound in Najaf's Old City.

But al-Sadr himself wasn't there; it's thought he slipped out of the shrine overnight.

 

[Gonz]

 

[Inkara1]

For some reason, that shot reminds me of one I once saw of a German buzzbomb over London.

 

[Gato_Solo]

Looks like the coalition is going to let the newly-trained Iraqi forces take care of this. The city has been surrounded by US troops (Army and Marine Corps), and the Iraqi forces are surrounding the mosque. Looks like a blood-bath is about to start...

 

[chcr]

Looks like the coalition is going to let the newly-trained Iraqi forces take care of this. The city has been surrounded by US troops (Army and Marine Corps), and the Iraqi forces are surrounding the mosque. Looks like a blood-bath is about to start...

Yeah but can you think of another way?

 

[Gato_Solo]

Yeah but can you think of another way?

Cut off his water and power. A seige of a few days should do the trick. Just make sure nobody get's in or out...and that means nobody. Set up some 55 gal drums of unadulterated water and tell them that, if they surrender, they can have some. Not a fast course, but much less risky.

 

[chcr]

Cut off his water and power. A seige of a few days should do the trick. Just make sure nobody get's in or out...and that means nobody. Set up some 55 gal drums of unadulterated water and tell them that, if they surrender, they can have some. Not a fast course, but much less risky.

You're probably right, but you forgot about the media circus and the instant gratification.

 

[catocom]

Cut off his water and power. A seige of a few days should do the trick. Just make sure nobody get's in or out...and that means nobody. Set up some 55 gal drums of unadulterated water and tell them that, if they surrender, they can have some. Not a fast course, but much less risky.

Why have people been coming and going this long?

 

[chcr]

Why have people been coming and going this long?

Because the people in charge of this business aren't as smart as Gato.

 

[Gonz]

Maybe the Americans put the fear of God into him after all.

KIM HOUSEGO Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to end their uprising against U.S. and Iraqi forces while he considers forming a political movement, senior al-Sadr officials said Monday.

Al-Sadr has backed off other commitments in the past, but a truce would be a major victory for interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi by removing a serious insurgency and potentially bringing many of the Shiite cleric's followers into the effort to build a peaceful democracy.

Source