Winning in Iraq?

USA Today
Posted : Tuesday Mar 13, 2007 12:24:31 EDT

Coalition forces have detained about 700 members of the Mahdi Army, the largest Shiite militia in Baghdad, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Monday.

The militia, loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, has mostly avoided a direct confrontation with U.S. and Iraqi forces, Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview with USA Today.

Many of the militia's top leaders have left the capital, and Iraqi government officials have been in talks with al-Sadr's political organization in an effort to disband the militia.

"I think, in part, one reason that al-Sadr's militia has been lying low ... is due to some of the discussions being held," Petraeus said in a telephone interview from Baghdad. "It's also in part due to some of the leaders leaving Baghdad" and others being arrested, he said.

Over the weekend, Iran and Syria pledged to support moves to stabilize Iraq, including reconciliation among Iraq's factions, at a meeting with a U.S. envoy in Baghdad.

However, U.S. and Iraqi leaders have questioned Iran's commitment to backing such American-led efforts.

David Satterfield, the U.S. envoy, said he had evidence that Iran was arming Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq, which his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, vehemently denied. He called such accusations a "cover" for U.S. failures in Iraq.

Petraeus said in an interview released Monday that it's "indisputable" that Iran is training and arming militants to fight against U.S.-led troops in Iraq. He also told ABC News that suicide bombers are streaming across Iraq's border from Syria and making their way into the country's volatile western Anbar province.

Petraeus said there are elements of Iran's Revolutionary Guards elite Quds Force that are training fighters and sending them into Iraq to fight U.S.-led forces. He said Iran is also sending "rockets, mortars and other explosives and munitions" into the country.

"That's indisputable and again it's a very, very problematic situation for our soldiers and Iraqi soldiers," he told ABC. "And if it's something that can be brought to a halt through these initiatives of the Iraqi government, we would applaud that vigorously," he said.

Petraeus, who took command last month, is leading an effort to reassert control in Baghdad by moving American forces off large bases and into smaller outposts throughout the capital. The outposts are manned by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Operations in Sadr City are being conducted in close coordination with Iraqi security forces, Petraeus said.

"We're going slowly there," he said. "We just want to keep nudging this forward in the constructive way that it has gone forward."

"Many people have said that our soldiers and the Iraqi army and police forces have been welcomed in those portions of Sadr City," Petraeus said. "Over time, the Mahdi Army, as with all the militias, has to be disarmed, demobilized and reintegrated into society in some fashion."

The militia will not be allowed to join the Iraqi security forces as an organization.

Last year, Shiite militias infiltrated some Iraqi security forces, which eroded public confidence in police and army units.


The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Apparently this prospect has scared the crap out of a lot of folks here as well.

I'll be.

Such wonderful things we have accomplished there. All because of our altruistic nature.

We should hold our heads high and walk through the world and accept gifts for our benevolence.

http://cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8134

Yes, everyone is so impressed with the handling of this war that the Iraqi's are erecting this sculpture of George and his good friend Osama in the center of the Baghdad market. Thank God everything went according to plan, it could have been a bloody mess.

It's killing you guys, isn't it?

I definitely hope that peace is achieved in Iraq. Surge or no surge.






My BS detector, however, flashes when you start crowing about victory after so short a time.

No, it's killing thousands of our soldiers and innocent Iraqis.

Like every war (of any size) in history did, therefore every war in history was immoral, right?

Only if you consider killing people and taking their things to be immoral.

Brandon, So do you think our trillions in tax money and our soldiers lives are being sacrificed for a good cause? Rebuilding Iraq is how you want to continue spending US taxes? Do you think this war is worth destabilized the Middle East and empowering countries like Iran? Will you still be praising this war when groups like the Taliban, or countries like Iran and Syria, take over Iraq and use it as their base to launch their hatred of us? Do you like paying $3 a gallon for gas? If someone other than a Conservative Republican came up with this "Free Iraq" idea would you support it so fully?

What is immoral is the fact that this war was totally unnecessary and built on the lies of the warmongers of the in the White House.

What is immoral is that someone gave you a soapbox to stand on.

Loser lefties are invested in failure in Iraq. Their 401k's depend on it.