Mahdi Army
Posted at 12:47pm on May 12, 2008 The Sadrist/Iraqi Government "Truce" -- A play for peace, or a quick time out to rearm and catch their breath?
Time will tell, but for now the bullets are still flying
By Jeff Emanuel
Note: More background is provided in this Human Events column.
Over the weekend, spokesmen for the Iraqi government and the Sadrist political bloc confirmed what our own lovable fuzzball Moe Lane posted here Friday night: that a cease-fire agreement concerning Sadr City had been reached. A large Shi'a district northeast of Baghdad, Sadr City has been the site of intense fighting between Jaish al Mahdi (JAM, or "Mahdi Army") militants and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and coalition forces for the last six weeks or so. During that time, JAM has lost exponentially more of its fighters than the ISF and coalition forces have.
Sadrist leaders made a series of concessions in their rush to get a peace deal inked -- though whether or not that deal will actually be honored is another question. The deal and the likelihood of its being lived up to are explored below the fold.
Read on.
Posted in Iraq | Mahdi Army | Muqtada al-Sadr | Nouri al-Maliki | Sadr City | War — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 6:00am on May 6, 2008 LWJ: "Iraqis begin to 'despise' the Mahdi Army"
The Surge and Counterinsurgency Got the Ball Rolling. Now it's up to the Iraqis to keep it in motion.
By Jeff Emanuel
The latest in kick-@$$ war reporting comes from Bill Ardolino, currently embedded in Baghdad and reporting for the absolutely indispensable Long War Journal.
(As an aside, I'd like to take a moment to exhort my colleagues at RedState and across the 'sphere to rely on the hands-down best news source of the Global War on Terror, the Long War Journal, instead of linking the NYT, WaPo, etc. when they have their one-in-a-million informed, honest articles. The Long War Journal is the AP/AFP/Reuters/insert-wire-here of the GWOT. Unfortunately, it lacks the recognition and accolades that it deserves, especially since it offers the best, most timely, most accurate, and most comprehensive reportage on the Long War of pretty much any outfit in the known world. Want to know what's going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else that matters in the GWOT? Get your up-to-the-minute and accurate reportage -- including eyewitness reports from key embeds who go where mainstream "journalists" don't dare -- from the Long War Journal...and tell all of your friends about it, as well.)
Anyway, back to Ardolino's latest. He's in Rusafa, a "large district in central Baghdad bordered by the Tigris River to the southwest and Sadr City to the northeast." The district, which is "predominantly Shia, but contains significant Sunni enclaves and a small Christian population, with a surprising number of openly practicing churches," and which has been known in the past to have heavy Jaish al Mahdi (Mahdi Army) activity.
Aside from its bordering on the suddenly-flagrant Sadr City, Rusafa is important because the district "contains Baghdad’s largest and most famous markets, including the Shorja, Saria, and Bab al Sharji, some of which were the scenes of high-profile suicide bombings during the sectarian-fueled carnage of 2006-2007."
Read on.
Posted in embedded reporting | Mahdi Army | Media | War — Comments (23)/ Email this page » / Read More »
