WAR: U.S. Toughens Stance In Iraq. Insurgents Take Heavy Losses

After holding back their fighting forces for days in Najaf, the United States appears to be changing its stance on fighting in the area. Yesterday U.S. forces killed about 64 militiamen and took out an anti aircraft gun in the area with a C-130 gunship. Washington also issued an ultimatum for the radical cleric Sadar to clear his men out of mosques in the city of Najaf. The deadline has also expired in the town of Falluja for heavy weapons to be handed in.

Reuters
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces have killed dozens of Iraqi fighters near Najaf overnight, hours after Washington issued an ultimatum to a radical cleric to clear his militia from mosques in the holy city.

The clashes were the deadliest since Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia launched a brief revolt against the U.S.-led occupation three weeks ago. They may mark a new phase in American efforts to dislodge him from Najaf, where he has taken refuge among some of the holiest shrines of Shi'ite Islam.

The United States has been careful in dealing with the two towns of Najaf and Falluja. These two towns represent two of the three main ethnic groups in Iraq. Najaf is the holiest city for the Shi'ite Muslims, and Falluja is a town composed mainly of Sunni Muslims. These towns are a sort of litmus test for the United States to see the attitude and conditions of the two groups of Muslims in Iraq.

The other major group in Iraq, the Kurds, was the least loyal to Sadaam due to his oppression of this group, and appears to be the most loyal group in working with the American occupiers. The U.S. is still on track to hand over the formal authority of Iraq on June 30 of this year, but Colin Powell has stated that U.S. forces would have to stay in the country for a considerable amount of time to keep stability.



[Edited on 27-4-2004 by dbates]

The kurds are the most loyal because they think that the northern part of the country will be autonomus from iraq they keep the area that they think is theirs heavily patrol and truly they are their own country. They had a documentary about them no long time ago andwas compared with the other major cities and their are the ones that are having the best time now.

Unfortunately, I think any "win" is just for tthe battle at hand. The troubles in the mideast run far deeper than what we choose to understand and, for that matter, than the Arabs are willing to admit. There is such a deep seated hatred between the various social classes within the Arab cultures. It's something that will probably result in civil war in the not too distant future. The scariest thing is if the radical Islam fundamentalist win. They're not religious but they certainly stir up the feelings of the lower classes which have been taken advantage of throughout history.