There are heavy attacks on Sadr city by U.S. forces and Badr militia gangs which were hired by Maliki to substitute for unreliable government troops.
Via Guerillia Guides:
There
is very heavy fighting going on in Sadr city. The Americans have it
under siege and are refusing all access to the city. American
helicopters have bombed the city repeatedly. American snipers are being
deployed on the roof tops. Imam Ali spokesmen say they are now
desperately short of medical supplies. The Red Crescent attempts to get
emergency medical supplies to the city which we reported yesterday have
failed because the Americans will not let them through.There are reports that the fires caused by the American bombing of
the Jameela market are spreading and that there is no water being
pumped to the city.
With the city under siege and the wholesale food market ablaze, there will pretty soon be death from lack of food.
This is clearly all out war again and it is not only in Sadr city but spreads from Basra, where British troops redeploy and an air attack last night killed
eight people, up to Mosul.
Some U.S. spokesperson said yesterday that
the current action was just to conquer fire positions used to mortar the Green Zone.
That’s bull – mortars and rockets are mobile.
A
military official said two U.S. troops died and 17 were wounded in the
attack on the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi
government headquarters in central Baghdad.Another American service member was killed and 14 were wounded in
the attack on a base in the southeastern Baghdad area of Rustamiyah,
the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t
authorized to release the information.
The conflicting interests here:
- Maliki wants to eliminate the Sadr movement so he and his friends can win the provincial elections in the south, unite these provinces and attach them to Iran.
- The U.S. wants a puppet government in Iraq that has enough support in the parliament to be able to "invite" the U.S. military to stay as occupier when the UN mandate runs out at the end of 2008.
- Sadr wants to win the election in the south, no close attachment to Iran and the U.S. to leave Iraq.
Badger notes that some Sunni politicians from the Iraqi Accord Front now support Maliki in taking on Sadr. One wonders how much money was exchanged to facilitate this.
Maliki threatens to disfranchise Sadr followers unless the Sadr’s forces are dissolved.
"A decision was taken yesterday that they no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army," al-Maliki said.
Unless the Kurdish peshmerga and the Badr militia also dissolve, Sadr is unlikely to bow to that demand. His militia protects him and his people.
Petraeus will try to implicate an Iranian role in the fighting and some Brits fear that this will be the precursor to widen the war.
Tomorrows hearing with Petraeus and Crocker will be a major propaganda effort. With three presidential candidates attending, it with also be domestic political posturing that will have little relevance to the situation on the ground.
The real decisive things happen in Iraq.
Sadr’s best military option to defend Sadr city in Baghdad is to cut off the attackers supply line from Basra to Baghdad. I assume that this is happening right now.
Politically Sadr called for a huge demonstration to take place in Baghdad on Wednesday. A good option might be to let it march onto the Green Zone.
What are the U.S. and Maliki willing to do to prevent this taking place?