30 Die as U.S.-Led Troops Battle Shi'ites in Iraq

[pinto]

By Andrew Marshall

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Open warfare between U.S.-led forces and radical Shi'ite militiamen left at least nine coalition troops and 21 Iraqis dead, officials said on Monday, raising the specter of a new front in the Iraq (news - web sites) conflict.

Ferocious gun battles killed seven American soldiers in Baghdad and more than 20 people near the city of Najaf, posing an unprecedented challenge to occupation forces ignited by their attempts to crack down on a radical Shi'ite faction.

Most previous attacks on coalition troops since they occupied Iraq a year ago have been by fighters drawn from Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority rather than majority Shi'ites.



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20040404/ts_nm/iraq_dc

[saigon68]

1. Wow, the Sunnis and the Shites working together

To KILL the Invader

[Strelnikov_]

5. Our Leader, The Great "Uniter"

His Vision, Our Path.

[leftchick]

7. I think they have a Revolutionary war going on...

the civil war will start once they oust the occupiers.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. And that is definitely what most of us feared would happen long...

...before the NeoCon Junta invaded Iraq.

This is a very BAD situation, and it's only going to get worse.

I pray for our troops to stay safe knowing that some will never make it home.

[number6]

2. as the Irag-mire continues ...

:(

[saigon68]

3. A wounded Cleric

Makes the victory sign

[saigon68]

4. More Resistance Fighters

An Iraqi man armed with a Kalashnikov rifle takes cover after clashes broke out with U.S. forces in the impoverished Baghdad suburb of Al Sadr City April 4, 2004. REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz



Al-Sadr's self-styled militiamen from the al-Mahdi Army, speed away from clashes with coalition forces to take a wounded man to the hospital in Kufa, Iraq (news - web sites), Sunday April 4, 2004. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)




Crowds of protesters, including members of the Mehdi Army, a banned Iraqi militia that supports radical anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, march on a Spanish garrison near Kufa April 4, 2004. At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in clashes between Spanish-led forces and Iraqi protesters and militiamen near the city of Najaf Sunday, hospital officials said. REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish

[DemoTex]

6. The Spring offensive.

We are in deep shit, folks. Real deep. Real shit. It ain't quite Tet 68, but it is very, very bad and getting worse.

[leftchick]

8. You know Demo... I was wondering just that.

I was 10 years old in 1968, yet the Tet Offensive looms large in my memory. I was thinking about it this morning again wondering if this Iraqi resistance is a good comparison to that moment in time. Thanks for answering, I think.... :(

[opihimoimoi]

9. That drip drip is turning into a Niagra of shit hitting the giant FAN.

and its blowing right into the Oval Office.

[osaMABUSh]

10. Hey, you f**ked up, you trusted us!"

I think the moment is at hand when the Iraqi's really begin to fight. I recall reading several times over the past year that the clerics were holding back and that our troops hadn't seen anything yet. Now it appears that they are ready to release the hounds. And all these people are willing to die in fighting the infidels. I doubt if many American soldiers are really willing to die for their country over this fiasco.

It is getting really ugly.

Everybody says we can't pull out now but even the sheeple of the USA will reach a point where they'll say enough American deaths. And if we pull out? Iraq descends into a civil war. So why we would care now if there is a civil war half way around the globe? We never gave a rat's ass about those people before except when it was in our political interest to have Iraq defeat Iran.

I think Americans will reach a point where they'll say "you know what? This guy Bush duped us into thinking this war was necessary and we don't think so anymore and not worth thousands of American lives"

Reminds of when Belushi says in Animal House "Hey, you fucked up, you trusted us!"