Dead Certainties on Iraq
They just hate the U.S. in Iraq. Shiites and Sunnis are as one against the American occupiers. Muqtada al-Sadr is regarded as a national treasure by his co-religionists. All Iraqis welcomed the deal the U.S. brokered in Falluja, which averted the demolition of the city. Shiites oppose an American entry into the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Any more dead certainties you want to throw our way? If so, you might want to skim this New York Times article by John F. Burns.
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At this point, isn’t urging, “… Mr. Sadr to pull his militiamen out of Najaf and Karbala and to stop storing weapons in mosques.” a lot like urging him to commit suicide?
It doesn’t sound like he’s welcome in Iran, and even if the locals aren’t happy with him in Najaf, If I were Mr. Sadr, I think I’d rather let my militia take its chances with the, “…shadowy death squad calling itself the Thulfiqar Army…” than lose my cover entirely.
The only out I can see for Sadr is if the U.S. went into Najaf, lost a bunch of soldiers, and killed a whole bunch of civilians. Then, maybe, much like when the U.S. abandoned its stated goal of finding the people responsible for the atrocities in Fallujah, the U.S. would get off his case.
“But the strongest murmurings of the meeting came when Taqlif al-Faroun, a tribal leader from Najaf, said Shiites should give the American forces a green light to go after Mr. Sadr in the holy cities. “Najaf is not Mecca,” he said. “The Americans don’t want to go into the shrines. They want to get rid of criminals and thieves. So what if they enter the city?” Across the roof, dozens of men responded approvingly. “Yes, yes!”, they said.”
Great! So why don’t we let them do it?
Fallujah,
Evidently low casualty siege warfare is a forgotten art among the American public.
Fortunately the military is not so forgetting.
For a refresher one might study Grant’s Vicksburg campaign. His Richmond/Petersburg campaign was not as well done but he was facinfg Lee and managed to do what no General had been able to do before him. Pin Lee.
Great article link. Thanks. BTW, I like your Daily Star Column.