Breaking point for a hard man on the front line

[hedgetrimmer]

~SNIP~
By Paul McGeough, Chief Herald Correspondent in Baghdad
April 8, 2004

American-led forces in Iraq are mounting operations to crush the heavily armed Mehdi militia loyal to the virulently anti-US Shiite imam Moqtada al-Sadr.

In a virtual declaration of war, General Mark Kimmitt told a Baghdad news conference: "In the central and southern regions of Iraq the coalition and Iraqi security forces are conducting operations to destroy the Mehdi Army."

Fighting between the militia forces and occupying troops has killed at least 130 people in Shiite areas since Sunday.

But despite US claims that the turbulent western city of Falluja is being subdued, the double jeopardy of the three-day-old Shiite uprising and a year-long battle against a Sunni insurgency is inflicting some of the highest losses on American forces since the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

Publicly, US officials are sticking to the planned return of political control of the country to Iraqis on June 30, but there is a growing fear that the violence will prevent the tentative return of UN teams working on the transition.

... more ...

link: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/07/1081326797584.html

[Ripley]

1. The Mehdi Army.

Are they a new thing? Why didn't I ever hear about them before?

I wonder how many of these "Armies" will pop up that we have to destroy (according to Centcom). :eyes: Wasn't there a "new" terrorist group taking credit for killing the mercenaries in response to Israel killing the Palestinian leader?

Kerry's ads are being written for him. All he has to do is use Smirk's own words. He went into Iraq to fight terrorism and in fact, he has accomplished the exact opposite...terrorist groups or armies who hate us or whatever you want to call them are sprouting up like weeds.

[yltlatl]

3. This is Sadr's armed faction

Each of the major clerics has their own private armies numbering in the thousands to tens-of-thousands (but you can bet that American intelligence doesn't really have any idea how many).

[daleo]

2. Like Viet Nam, 35 years ago

"In the central and southern regions of Iraq the coalition and Iraqi security forces are conducting operations to destroy the Mehdi Army."

"In the central (highlands)and southern regions (Mekong Delta) of Iraq (Viet Nam) the coalition and Iraqi security forces (ARVN) are conducting operations to destroy the Mehdi Army (Viet Cong)."

The long run success will be no better, and the political fallout will be worse.