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Edited on Fri Mar-28-08 06:23 PM by ShaneGR
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/28/bush.basra/index.htmlWASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Iraqi military push into the southern city of Basra is not going as well as American officials had hoped, despite President Bush's high praise for the operation, several U.S. officials said Friday.
A closely held U.S. military intelligence analysis of the fighting in Basra shows that Iraqi security forces control less than a quarter of the city, according to officials in both the United States and Iraq, and Basra's police units are deeply infiltrated by members of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army.
"This is going to go on for a while," one U.S. military official said.
Iraqi forces launched their offensive in Basra this week. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was personally overseeing operations in the southern city against what government officials called "rogue" or "outlaw" militia elements, most loyal to al-Sadr.
During a joint news conference Friday with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Bush called the operation "a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq," saying the government is fighting criminals there.Make no mistake about it, the Shia militias in Iraq do receive a great deal of their funding from Iran. That's just a fact. That it occured in Basra Iraq is also not surprising. The population of Basra is almost exclusively Shia. What's particularly troubling is that for years the pro war hawks used Saddam Hussein's actions in Basra as motivation for the war in the first place.
To make it worse, they sent Iraqi military forces in. Anyone who knows maybe 50% about this war would automatically know that the "Iraqi Military" is currently dominated by Shia influence. Another FACT.
So basically send Iraqi, nevermind, Shia Iraqi Military into Basra to attack and kill fellow Shia. This is what happens when you make STUPID military decisions.
I can't even begin to explain how terrible Bush's war has gone. We will be paying for this in blood, treasure, and world opinion for at least a generation.
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