Iraqi Army Troops Flood Sadr City
In what I’m sure is somehow another victory for Moqtada Al-Sadr, The Man Who Cannot Lose, Iraqi security forces have poured into his last stronghold unopposed.
BAGHDAD - Thousands of Iraqi troops moved unchallenged into Baghdad’s Sadr City Tuesday to seize the Shiite militia stronghold, in the largest attempt yet by the government to impose control, an Iraqi military spokesman said.
The large Iraq force backed by tanks entered the sprawling district before dawn, with troops taking up positions on street corners and deploying on rooftops as Iraqi Humvees patrolled the streets, residents said.
Meanwhile, as his last bastion is overrun, The Most Powerful Man In Iraq is rumored to be under house arrest. In Iran.
UPDATE: At HotAir, Ed Morissey has his usual excellent coverage, and calls it the “endgame for Sadr.”
UPDATE: Aha, Sadr is laying low for now, but will win later:
Peter Harling, a Damascus-based analyst at the International Crisis Group thinktank, doubted Tuesday’s operation would succeed in removing the Mehdi Army from Sadr City.
“They’ll lie low but they could retake control of the city any time,” he told Reuters. “The Sadrists feel weakened, feel threatened and this increases the potential for violence.”
At any time! Except, apparently, when Iraqi troops are invading, preparatory to carrying out mass arrests of wanted militia criminals. Also, the “potential for violence” is apparently increased even though actual violence has dissipated.
UPDATE: More detail from the indispensable Bill Roggio, including what Sadrists in Sadr City have to look forward to:
Further south of Baghdad, Iraqi troops continue to round up Mahdi Army suspects. An “armed cell” leader and three cell members were arrested in Karbala on May 19. Iraqi security forces arrested 50 “wanted persons” in Maysan province, a Sadrist stronghold in the South. In Basrah, the Iraqi Army arrested 22 “wanted men” during raids in the Madina and Ali districts.
Presumably this is all just part of their strategy, sort of like when James Bond gets captured by the evil mastermind in order to learn his secret plans.
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6 comments
My God, there’s no stopping him! Is there any limit to Sadr’s powers?
Dave,
excellent news, of course. I don’t see why Harling’s views are coming in for so much criticism here, though. It seems obvious that this single operation is not going to be the deathblow to the Mahdi Army. The potential for violence may well go up due to this.
The thing to keep in mind is that the longer the Sadrists wait, the smaller the potential for violence becomes. And not only that, but the total annihilation of the Mahdi Army should not be the standard of success. 100% extinction is an unreasonable goal. Simply shrinking their numbers and influence enough to where they’re at most a pest rather than a real threat to stability should be the goalpost.
Peter Harling, a Damascus-based analyst at the International Crisis Group thinktank, doubted Tuesday’s operation would succeed in removing the Mehdi Army from Sadr City.
Well, since that was not its purpose, of course not eedjut. It is to take away any weapons heavier than pistols and rifles, possibly excepting also machine pistols and rifles capable of full-auto fire. It was NOT to "remove" the Mahdi "Army" from the area.
Ahh Dave,
Could you please stop disseminating these facts? They are interfering with my attachment to the narrative:0
HB
Sadr’s next victory: the unstoppable juggernaut that is Al Sadr gets fragged by his own troops, achieves martyrdom, and thus inspires Iraqis everywhere to overthrow their legitimately elected democratic government and re-install the Caliphate. We’ve been tricked by his scheme!
[…] the end the contrast between the two became laughable - as Dave Price regularly pointed out the MSM’s often breathless reports of Moqtada al-Sadr’s (aka “Mookie”) […]
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