Radical Cleric in Iraq Sets Off Day of Fighting

Is this the way to fight a war, by appeasing the enemy?
Is it time to bite the bullet and go after this Cleric in earnest. Every negotiation and it's accompanying inaction seems to strengthens his power. It is he who commands the situation turning it off and on as he see fit. Opinion?
Radical Cleric in Iraq Sets Off Day of Fighting
By ALEX BERENSON

Published: August 6, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 6 — The radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr called Thursday morning for a national uprising against American and coalition forces, but backed off near midnight after a day of fighting between his guerrillas and American and Iraqi forces.

The heaviest fighting occurred mainly in Najaf, a Shiite holy city and Sadr stronghold 100 miles south of Baghdad, where the Health Ministry said 19 people were killed and 111 were wounded during fighting Thursday and early today, The Associated Press reported.

A Marine helicopter was shot down there on Thursday, but the crew members, many severely wounded, were evacuated safely, the United States military reported.

Sporadic clashes were reported in Basra, the largest city in southern Iraq, where British forces killed two militiamen. But Baghdad, even in the Shiite slum neighborhood of Sadr City, appeared to be mostly quiet until 11:15 p.m., when three large explosions, probably from mortars, rocked the city's center. Small-arms fire followed.

One American serviceman and several insurgents were killed in Najaf, where marines fought alongside Iraqi police and National Guard troops. At least a dozen more soldiers and dozens of insurgents were wounded in both Baghdad and Najaf.

Today the U.S. military said two marines from the 11th Expeditionary Unit were killed in Najaf on Thursday. It gave no further details.

Near midnight on Thursday, Mr. Sadr offered a tentative cease-fire, saying that his guerrillas — known as the Mahdi Army — would stop fighting if American soldiers did the same, according to a spokesman for the group. The offer would renew a two-month-old truce between Mr. Sadr and the American military, which had appeared on the verge of crumbling earlier today.

Each side blamed the other for the apparent breakdown of the truce, which came less than two weeks before a national political conference that Mr. Sadr has said he will not attend.

While more confined than the widespread fighting in April and May, Thursday's attacks again showed Mr. Sadr's reach. The clashes began at the central police station in Najaf early this morning and spread to Baghdad after Mr. Sadr called on his followers to revolt. At least a dozen more soldiers and dozens of insurgents were wounded in both Baghdad and Najaf, though exact casualty counts were unavailable late Thursday. Mr. Sadr's call was the most serious challenge yet to the interim Iraqi government, whose head, Ayad Allawi, has struggled to assert his authority since being named prime minister in June. Unlike moderate Shiite political leaders like Mr. Allawi, Mr. Sadr fiercely opposes the continuing American presence here and has tried twice since October to revolt against it.

Mr. Allawi — who has been traveling outside Iraq for most of the last 10 days — is eager to show his independence from the United States and to prove that Iraqi security forces can stop the escalating violence here. But Thursday's clashes showed again that only American troops have the firepower to contain Mr. Sadr's guerrilla fighters, called the Mahdi Army, a well-armed militia that has fighters across the southern half of Iraq.

During the afternoon, American jets swooped over Baghdad and appeared to drop several bombs on Sadr City, a giant Shiite slum in northeast Baghdad. A military spokesman confirmed that an F-15 fighter had dropped at least one bomb.

Mr. Sadr, a 31-year-old cleric whose father, Mohammed, was revered by many poor Shiites, is a deeply polarizing figure here. Some Iraqis view him as a hothead, while others regard him as a courageous leader who has risked his life to defy the United States.

In interviews on Thursday, shopkeepers and residents in the Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiya expressed contempt for what they said was the cleric's quickness to turn to weapons and intemperate speeches.

"He doesn't represent me," said Kasim Mohamed, a 25-year-old dress shop owner. "There isn't a house in Iraq that doesn't have someone dead because of wars, and he talks about carrying weapons."

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/06/international/middleeast/06IRAQ.html?th