NYT p.1: At Word of U.S. Foray, a Baghdad Militia Erupts

[DeepModem Mom]

At Word of U.S. Foray, a Baghdad Militia Erupts

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: April 7, 2004


BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 6 — The word went out on Tuesday at noon, with the blast of the call to prayer: American soldiers had raided an office of Moktada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric, and torn up a poster of his father, one of Iraq's most revered martyrs.

The Khadamiya bazaar exploded in a frenzy. Shopkeepers reached beneath stacks of sandals for Kalashnikov rifles. Boys wrapped their faces in black cloth. Men raced through the streets, kicking over crates and setting up barriers. Some handed out grenades. Within minutes this entire Shiite neighborhood in central Baghdad had mobilized for war....

***

American officials estimate the number of people in (Sadr's) private army at 3,000. But as the display of force o Tuesday showed, there were thousands of men and boys in just one Baghdad neighborhood ready to fight for Mr. Sadr. And as battles raged throughout the country, in Sunni bastions like Falluja and Ramadi and in Shiite areas like Sadr City, it was growing increasingly clear that the militias could materialize almost instantaneously. While many people — bakers, teachers, sandwich makers — hold normal jobs, when the call comes, they line up with Mr. Sadr's force, the Mahdi Army....

***

There may also be an ominous synergy developing between Sunni and Shiite insurgents. On Monday, insurgents fought a gun battle against United States troops in a Sunni neighborhood near Khadamiya in which three soldiers were killed. Witnesses said the attackers included a mix of Shiites and Sunnis. "There were Shiites from Sadr City and mujahedeen from Falluja," a hotbed of Sunni resistance, said Ayad Karim, a shopkeeper. "Now the resistance is united."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/international/middleeast/07SADR.html

[Journeyman]

1. "Now the resistance is united."...

Bless his pointed little head: Shrub promised us he'd be a uniter.

[dixielib]

2. They kicked away his lunch

more from that article:

"According to witnesses, the disturbance on Tuesday started when American soldiers raided a Khadamiya office of Mr. Sadr's, looking for weapons. Jaffar Qasim, a 29-year-old guard, said the soldiers kicked away the lunch he was eating and then ripped off the wall a poster of Mr. Sadr's father, who was assassinated in 1999. Hours later, Mr. Qasim was still crying. His hands vibrated with frustration. The American soldiers, he said, also stomped into a prayer room where shoes are forbidden.

"If I could kill them I would," he said, looking at the dusty footprints of combat boots on a worn red carpet. "But I had my orders. And I didn't have a gun."

***

"On Tuesday, Mr. Kadem was part of a crowd massing in the streets of Khadamiya, screaming and staring down American tanks. A few gunshots were exchanged and there were different reports of casualties, but nothing could be confirmed on Tuesday night. Next to him was Mr. Qasim, the guard who saw the poster ripped down.

This time Mr. Qasim was no longer crying. And this time, Mr. Qasim had a Kalashnikov in his hands."

***

This is sad, frightening. I support the troops, but someone needs to give them some hints about the culture they are in.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Thanks for adding these passages, and welcome to DU, dl --

[sniffa]

7. i can never stay mad at you, sandwich

[Cooley Hurd]

8. Despite repeated trips to the hospital...

*snarf!*

Good Simpsons ref, sniffa! :thumbsup:

[sniffa]

9. thank you, thank you

there's a simpsons' quote for everything.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. Kerry would never allow that kind of despicable behavior

Kerry knows that kind of disrespect is what is getting us in trouble.

[izzie]

5. With these two groups united it must be about 70% of pop

The 'United' strikes again.

[dudeness]

3. in one fell swoop..

the most dangerous and incompetent President in US history has managed to unite two warring factions of iraq..somewhere in a cave a tall bearded man is laughing his head off

[chelaque liberal]

10. I Love it

[NeoConsSuck]

4. If there is one city in the world that needs to be "pacified"

it is Washington DC.

[hippiechick]

12. Now it IS a Holy War

How f*cking stupid are the people running this thing, anyway ?




:hippie:

[David__77]

13. You see, it we withdraw, there will be stability in Iraq.

We have now united the Sunnis and Shiites. They will not be fighting each other--they have bigger obstacles and are realizing it.