Shiite Leaders Prepare for Insurgency Crackdown

[ECH1969]

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Shiite Muslim leadership, alarmed by a surge in attacks as the new government prepares to take office, plans to crack down on Sunni-led insurgents and purge suspected infiltrators and corrupt officers from the nation's security forces, officials and lawmakers say.

A likely tactic, authorities say, is unleashing well-trained Iraqi commandos in Baghdad and other trouble spots. The special forces units have a reputation for effectiveness and brutality.

The prospect of stepped-up counterinsurgency efforts is greatly unsettling to a Sunni Arab minority that already considers itself besieged and disenfranchised in the new Iraq. Most Sunnis boycotted the Jan. 30 elections, and their political representation is scant.

Although Allawi did sign off on the U.S.-led attack on the former Sunni rebel bastion of Fallujah last November, the Shiite Islamists about to assume power here are clearly signaling a much harder line.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-iraq1may01,0,3866897.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[neverforget]

1. reputation for effectiveness and brutality- Freedom is on the march!

:eyes:

[Barrett808]

8. So these would be Negroponte's death squads then? n/t

[atreides1]

2. New Boss

Same as the old boss!!!!!

[ECH1969]

6. Allawi at least knew where the line was drawn

He knew how much violence he could do without enraging the Sunnis into an all out civil war. These guys have no damn clue. They want to bring in their ethnic militias into cities like Ramadi.

[Purveyor]

3. Behold the pending and much predicted "Civil War".... n/t

[okieinpain]

5. and now I will have to agree with you. bush has been lucky so

far, but once this starts his little plan will go straight to hell.

[bpilgrim]

4. take out another city

it's bound to work sooner or later :nuke:

peace

[expatriot]

7. no matter how obvious it becomes that this is nothing other than civil war

the administration will bend over backwards before admitting it is such. Their denial will become so ridiculous to everyone. This will be one hellish summer on the people of Iraq and our troops over there... but we can only hope it will be only a harsher hell for Bush and Company.

[ECH1969]

9. It isn't a civil war yet

there is only a small part of the Sunni community doing this. However, this could very well turn it into a civil war.

[Frederik]

20. I think you're right

most Sunnis aren't active insurgents, but a "crackdown" is going to target more or less every Sunni I fear, they can't possibly have any reliable intelligence of who the insurgents are and where they're hiding, or any good method of differentiating between insurgents and "ordinary" Sunnis. Hell, the US isn't able to, they seem to arrest people at random.

So it's reasonable to think that this will only fuel recruitment to the insurgencey, and then we'll have an escalation which can easily lead to a civil war.

[Theduckno2]

10. The special forces units have a reputation for effectiveness and brutality

So did the elite Republican Guard under Saddam! Sounds like the same game with different faces. The Sunni insurgents are a threat to the State of Iraq, as were the Kurds, then Shiites, in the mind of Saddam Hussein. If Iraq descends into the chaos of full civil war, it is comforting to know that Chalabi is Petroleum Minister. :sarcasm: Just remember as Iraq was being looted we were there protecting the Petroleum Ministry (omitting the ammo dump with high explosives!).

[seriousstan]

11. What were the % of Shiites under Saddam?

[Theduckno2]

I don't know what % and please explain your question.

I'm a bit confused.

[bemildred]

12. With what? nt

[Theduckno2]

14. Was your question meant for me?

[bemildred]

17. No. Just wondering what they are going to "crack down" with?

You don't need to respond to a rhetorical question like that.
:hi:

[Roy]

13. Oh Shudder................

an insurgency not afraid to take on the 150,000 strong American military with the most modern and lethal weaponry in the world, will surely cower at the thought of having to deal with 'well trained Iraqi commandos'.

Oh my..... these insurgents are in for it now!! /sarcasm

[rigel99]

15. Another Day, another blood soaked american dollar

earned...

same shit different day...

what else is new... dictators replacing dictators, in a country far more democratically minded than lazy americans who won't even fight for election fraud...

[rigel99]

16. Oh Wait.. Rumsfeld Says the Insurgency Must be Going Down

we're not hearing about it as much..

right rumsfeld.. when you control the media like puppets that's the only way you can keep the americans in the dark of the true madness happening in Iraq...

ask any Iraqi.. they'd happily trade Saddam for this endless struggle and insurgency bloodshed....

[Demeter]

18. That Will Go Over Like A Lead Balloon

There won't be peace until the Iraqis kick out the US and their(our) puppets, jail the brigands, and intermarry. Then they can concentrate on rebuilding.

[Frederik]

19. Insurgency crackdown

Euphemism for civil war.