Shiite Militia Takes Over Iraqi City, page 1

posted on Oct, 20 2006 @ 08:06 AM

link

About 800 black clad militiamen controlled by anti-American cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr seized total control of the Southern Iraqi city of Amarah Friday ousting police and imposing a curfew. This invasion took place after the head of Police from a rival militia was killed and his family responded by kidnapping the teenage brother of the local head of the A-Madhi army.

hosted.ap.org

Shiite Militia Takes Over Iraqi City

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The Shiite militia run by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seized total control of the southern Iraqi city of Amarah on Friday in one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by one of the country's powerful, unofficial armies, witnesses and police said.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dispatched an emergency security delegation that included the Minister of State for Security Affairs and top officials from the Interior and Defense ministries, Yassin Majid, the prime minister's media adviser, told The Associated Press.

The Mahdi Army fighters stormed three main police stations Friday morning, planting explosives that flattened the buildings, residents said.

About 800 black-clad militiamen with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers were patrolling city streets in commandeered police vehicles, eyewitnesses said. Other fighters had set up roadblocks on routes into the city and sound trucks circulated telling residents to stay indoors.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

And this is not civil war?

All that is lacking are large scale military operations by the opposing sides. There is no way we can really do anything much less win in an environment like this. The next thing you will see are all the Sunni evicted from this city....then the Sunni will respond by capturing a city and evicting its Shiite population and the so-called Iraqi government (which would immediately fall apart if we left) will be powerless do do anything about it.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it probably is a duck...replace duck with civil war and you got the reality in Iraq in a nutshell. There is nothing we can do about it either. Our presence simply makes matters worse.

Related News Links:

[edit on 20-10-2006 by UM_Gazz]

Silcone Synapse

posted on Oct, 20 2006 @ 08:52 AM

link

Looks like the Brits may have to return to Amara according to the BBC:

news.bbc.co.uk...

external source
"The Army could return there just two months after it pulled out if the Amara authorities ask for help, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed."

Bad for the morale of the soliders concerned.

[edit on 20-10-2006 by Silcone Synapse]

doctorfungi

posted on Oct, 20 2006 @ 09:20 AM

link

Regardless of who is going in there...

It'd be a fair guess to say that someone will be taking it back.

Icarus Rising

posted on Oct, 20 2006 @ 11:24 AM

link

According to Faux News, there is now a cease fire in place between Iraqi forces and the Mahdi Army. The Mahdis still control the police station and significant portions of the city of Amarah.

Complicating things even more, Amarah is on Iraq's southern border with Iran, with Basra to the south. The strategic location of the city makes it imperative that the situation there be resolved quickly. The worst case scenario has Iran responding to a threat on its border.

[edit on 20-10-2006 by Icarus Rising]

St Udio

posted on Oct, 20 2006 @ 11:48 AM

link

this sounds more like the Warlords-in-Afghanistan actions, rather than 'civil war'

let's watch, & give materials support if needed, to the Iraq Armed Forces
to settle this clash between these warlord factions...
If the Iraq (can you say Puppet) Government can't quell this- -
then the whole Experiment in Iraq is doomed to fail.

But, this incident could become the springboard into Iran, that the neocons hoped for

xpert11

posted on Oct, 21 2006 @ 02:14 AM

link

Well is anybody surprised ?
Well I cant say that Im surprised that the local security forces were unable to cope. The lack of screening and training is coming home roost. Unless Iraq is partitioned along tribal lines this is a preview of whats going to happen across Iraq. Partioning Iraq would ensure that the tribal groups rule themselvs.

[edit on 21-10-2006 by xpert11]