[Marxism] US offensive against al-Sadr stalls, as Shia officials in govt oppose attacks

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

LATimes.com August 11
U.S. Forces Target Insurgents at Cemetery
Remember that cemetery in Najaf that US forces captured several days
ago.  They are still fighting their way INTO it.  And to prevent future
attacks by the occupation government, officials in southern Iraq are now
talking about autonomy for the Shia region.

It looks like Sadr's determined fighters have held off the offensive
enough to buy time for other political and military developments to come
to their aid, and to discourage Washington from launching an offensive
against Sadr City in Baghdad, which would be a much fiercer and costly
fight for the US forces.  The US forces are now suggesting a longterm
"slow squeeze" on Sadr's forces, rather than the decisive confrontation
they have already claimed to have won several times. Of course, the
Mahdi militia remains on the defensive in Najaf.

And the balloon of Washington's effort to establish Allawi a
pseudo-independent  "strong man" front for the occupation has been
punctured.
Fred Feldman





As the clashes continue in Najaf,
a few Iraqi officials who back Sadr speak out in his behalf.

(Related Story:U.S. Won't Negotiate With Sadr)
August 11, 2004
By Edmund Sanders and David Holley, Times Staff Writers


NAJAF, Iraq - U.S. tanks and helicopter gunships pounded insurgents'
positions in this holy city Tuesday, hitting targets in a cemetery where
fighting has raged and blasting a building near a gold-domed shrine
believed to house followers of radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada
Sadr.

Marines drove through neighborhoods with loudspeakers and warned
militiamen to "leave Najaf in peace or your destiny will be death." The
troops also distributed handbills encouraging residents to cooperate
with U.S. forces and turn in Sadr's fighters.

As clashes continued for a sixth day, U.S. military leaders and
representatives of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi met at a base
north of Najaf to discuss ways to destroy Sadr's militia.

But in an indication of the political sensitivities the fighting has
raised, several Sadr supporters who are high-ranking provincial
officials in southern Iraq spoke out in Sadr's behalf, describing his
forces as patriotic and demanding greater autonomy from the central
government.

Fighting between Sadr's militia and multinational and Iraqi forces has
also erupted in the southern city of Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City
district.

The Health Ministry reported Tuesday that 10 people were killed and 104
wounded in a 24-hour period in Baghdad. Four people were killed and 18
wounded in Basra, the ministry said.

U.S. officials in Najaf estimated that 19 more insurgents had been
killed there.

Amid the violence, some political leaders in predominantly Shiite
southern Iraq agreed that the Americans and interim government officials
had misjudged public sentiment.

Salam Maliki, deputy governor of Basra province and Sadr's
representative there, claimed Tuesday that the governors of Basra, Dhi
Qar and Maysan provinces had decided to break ranks with interim
government policy and demand autonomy. His claim could not be
independently verified.

But Ali Humood Mosawi, a Sadr supporter who is head of the Amarah City
Council and a top figure in Maysan's provincial politics, also said the
three southern provinces were pressing for regional autonomy because of
the clashes.

"Now because a crisis has erupted in Najaf, in Sadr City and in other
areas, the government is oppressing the people," Mosawi said.

"The central government and the occupying forces are provoking millions
of Iraqis. Sadr's movement is an honest and patriotic one."

Mosawi noted that the southern provinces hold much of Iraq's oil and
suggested that the region could use its economic power to press its
demands.

"As Shiites we feel our loyalty is to all Iraq, but that doesn't mean we
shouldn't have our rights," he said.

U.S. officials declined to comment but indicated that they were
monitoring the demands for autonomy, which Iraqi newspapers have
reported.

The southerners' autonomy demands seemed linked to a national conference
of civic and tribal leaders due to open Sunday if arrangements are
completed. The gathering aims to appoint an interim national assembly
and debate issues of Iraq's political future.

In a broadcast on Al Jazeera television today, interim Vice President
Ibrahim Jafari said: "I call for multinational forces to leave Najaf and
for only Iraqi forces to remain there." Jafari, a Shiite who is
considered a moderate, said Iraqis could "end this phenomenon of
violence."

It was the second time in a week that Jafari has expressed opposition to
the U.S. effort in Najaf. Last week, he said there was "no
justification" for the U.S. assault.

Tuesday's combat in Najaf was slightly less intense than that of
previous days, but sporadic gun battles and sweeps by Bradley fighting
vehicles continued in the vast cemetery near the Imam Ali shrine. One
soldier was shot in the leg.

The nearby shrine is one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. In one of
the closest major strikes to the mosque yet, U.S. attack helicopters
destroyed a building 400 yards away.

A cease-fire negotiated after fighting with Sadr's forces in the spring
established an "exclusion zone" for U.S.-led forces around the mosque
and cemetery, but American commanders say Sadr's militia has nullified
that agreement by using the area to store weapons and stage attacks and
kidnapping operations against Iraqi security forces.

Full story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-najaf11aug11,1,28172
08.story?coll=la-home-world



_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism