U.S. raid on Shiite shrine served as a warning (a "little reality jab")

[Barrett808]

U.S. raid on Shiite shrine served as a warning
By Kevin Whitelaw

The U.S. military was trying to send a "little reality jab" to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr when American and Iraqi troops raided a Shiite community center and shrine over the weekend, says a top U.S. military official.

The joint assault killed at least 16 people, most of them believed to be tied to Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army. U.S. officials insist the center was being used as a base for insurgent activities and was not a mosque. But many Iraqis say the complex did indeed include the Shiite equivalent of a mosque, and the raid has drawn harsh condemnation from Shiite politicians and prompted Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, to launch an investigation.

The mayor of Baghdad promptly cut off cooperation with the U.S. Embassy, and Shiite politicians suspended their negotiations to form a new government. The U.S. military has long contemplated taking tougher steps against Sadr and his troublesome militia but has held off in the past because it did not want to antagonize his many fervent supporters. This raid, officials say, was intended as a reminder to Sadr of the U.S. military's reach in Iraq.

U.S. officials had been quietly praising Sadr's group in recent weeks because of its calls for calm in the wake of the bombing of a Sunni mosque in Samarra that sparked a wave of sectarian violence.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060330/30natsec.htm

Oh, so that's what you call it. And here I thought it was a war crime.

[Teaser]

1. How stupid are they?

Does the military realize that if they completely piss off the shiites, we are instantly and utterly done, game over, in Iraq?

[bemildred]

5. They are very stupid. nt

[Teaser]

6. even stupider for leaking this

Khalilzad is desperately trying to atone for this raid (or at least he's pretending to atone) with the political establishment. Did he authorize this leak?

<conspiracy>Perhaps the military is *trying* to get thrown out of Iraq? Maybe that's the only end game they can see?</conspiracy>

nah...too clever.

[bemildred]

7. Agreed, I hadn't thought of that, but leaking it is even dumber. nt

[wtmusic]

9. you may have a point there

senior DOD officials have gradually been applying the "time for the Iraqis to take over" and "it's up to them" memes.

[K-W]

18. Unless of course we start working with the Sunni's. EOM

[wtmusic]

2. Out military leadership is disgusting

"Reality jab", huh? Kinda like a roadside bomb?

[Teaser]

4. They forget who is in charge in Iraq

It ain't us.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. 16 dead is "ittsy bitsy" didn't you know?

[flobee1]

8. A sign of the future

The Coalition military was trying to send a "little reality jab" to radical Christian cleric Pat Robertson when Mexican and Canadian troops raided a Christian community center and shrine over the weekend, says a top Canadian military official.

The joint assault killed at least 16 people, most of them believed to be tied to Robertson's militia, the 700 Club. Coalition officials insist the center was being used as a base for insurgent activities and was not a church.

[grytpype]

10. So this massacre was an attempt to influence Sadr?

We depend on Sadr's and Sistani's cooperation. If they rebelled Iraq would get 10 times worse! Talk about a dose of reality, I think Bush is going to get a big fat one real soon!

[54anickel]

11. Remember back how Bremer treated al-Sadr? First he tried to ignore

him and hoped he go away. Then he provoked the hell out of him. First by closing down his newspaper, which was met with (IIRC) peaceful demonstrations. Then he sent coalition troops to al-Sadr's home and started arresting people from the paper. That was met by larger demonstrations where the troops opened fire on the demonstrators. Al-Sadr told the people to stop protesting as it was what the "occupiers" wanted and instead find other means of defiance. At the time, there were people saying Bremer was setting al-Sadr and the Shiite up and drawing them into the conflict to justify the need for US involvement rather than complete the hand over. Is this some sort of repeat to avoid a future Iraq influenced by Tehran? :shrug: Gotta stay to avoid a civil war and all.

[Dancing_Dave]

12. How stupid!

Doesn't this supposed "news" source have anyone on the ground where the attrocity actually happened?

It's just a hoax. These fake "news" people have NO IDEA WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING.

[sidpleasant]

19. "Supposed 'news' source"?

The source is the magazine U.S. News & World Report which has been publishing since 1933. It's not exactly Newsmax or Drudge.

[IndianaGreen]

13. Is this an admission they killed people in a mosque?

First the denied it happended, then they accused the Shia of staging the scene of the killings, and now they are saying they were actually sending a signal to the Shias.

I find it amazing that we have people that stil believe what our military says.

[karlrschneider]

14. "We didn't DO IT!!!",

and we won't do it again!"

:eyes:

[HuffleClaw]

15. more like a deliberate provocation to push iraq further into civil war

'warning jab' my ass. what a joke.

[Barrett808]

16. But this may have the effect of unifying opposition to the occupation

In any case, US influence is rapidly waning. We're the "lame duck" occupation now.

[Supersedeas]

17. But but but - I thought that they were saying Shiites conspired to drag

their bodies to the community center.

Now, it's a reality jab.

Do they make this mess up as they go???????