U.S., Iraqi Troops Begin Security Sweep in Sadr City

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/04/AR2007030400345.html

U.S., Iraqi Troops Begin Security Sweep in Sadr City

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 4, 2007; 8:08 AM

BAGHDAD, March 4 -- U.S. and Iraqi troops swept into Sadr City Sunday morning, the first large-scale military push into the Shiite militia stronghold and one of the most volatile parts of the capital since the Baghdad security plan got underway.

Soldiers arrived at the sprawling neighborhood early Sunday and went door to door searching for illegal weapons and suspicious activity, U.S. military spokesman Christopher C. Garver said."We've met very little resistance so far," Lt. Col. Garver said. "But it's very early in the operation."

Sadr city, one of the focal support bases for radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army, has until now largely dodged the increased security measures and military operations implemented during the security plan. Some Iraqi and U.S. officials have said Sadr and his top deputies left the capital in order to avoid a security crackdown.

The neighborhood has been relatively stable in recent weeks.

Also Sunday, an Iraqi editor was fatally shot outside his home in western Baghdad, the Reuters news agency reported. Mohan al-Dhaher, an editor at al-Mashriq, was apparently slain after he fought men trying to kidnap him, according to Reuters.

In addition, U.S. forces raided a mosque in Baghdad Sunday and detained three suspected insurgents, according to the U.S. military.

more...

[rodeodance]

1. AP: U.S. forces enter Sadr City in big push

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070304/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=Ai4oX80niSwsIO6tCA75j5ms0NUE

U.S. forces enter Sadr City in big push

By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer 18 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Hundreds of U.S. soldiers entered the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City on Sunday in the first major push into the area since an American-led security sweep began last month around Baghdad.


Soldiers conducted house-to-house searches through the densely populated grid of squat two- and three-story buildings, but met no resistance in a district firmly in the hands of the Mahdi Army militia led by the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said Lt. Col. David Oclander.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman, told Al-Arabiya television U.S. officials spoke daily with community leaders in Sadr City before entering the stronghold.

"If you go to Sadr City today you will see joint Iraqi and American troops cooperating with the head of the Sadr City council," Caldwell said in comments translated into Arabic. "There is no problem between the two sides, and we are trying to set up a small security center there."

Al-Sadr withdrew his militia under intense pressure from the government, but there were worries that a large-scale military push without political clearance could bring a backlash and jeopardize the entire security effort.

[EFerrari]

2. What are they pushing, exactly? Did the BFEE need a headline?

I WANT TO KNOW HOW MANY CASUALTIES RESULT FROM THIS STUPID ACTION SO WE CAN BRING THEM UP AT THE IMPEACH HEARING.

:nuke:

[Botany]

3. May 1970

U.S. Forces enter Cambodia to stop the Communists from
waging war on Americans & South Vietnamese forces.

Sadly one of those poor bastards is one of my best friend's
son.

[rodeodance]

4. oh oh----Looks like someone broke their PROMISE:

......Police said there had been U.S. military activity at the al-Jazair police station in Sadr City since Friday, where troops were thought to be converting the facility into a joint operations center. Bulldozers maneuvered in the station's yard.

U.S. troops, assisted by Iraqi forces, also moved through the Jamila area on the northern edge of Sadr City and sealed off some streets, police said. Last year, U.S. patrols came under frequent attack in Jamila.

A spokesman for Sadr's bloc in parliament, Falah Hassan, said there was "no reason" for such a "provocative act."

"We understood that Iraqi forces only would conduct the search and if that they faced resistance, then U.S. forces could intervene," he said. "But that was not the case with today's operation."

[fbahrami]

5. occupation is the discourse

Occupation vs Resistence

is the real story,

not manufactured stories such as

"civil war"
"sunni vs shia"
"saddam follower vs everyone else"
etc.

The sooner we/you realize this (despite all major media - including NPR - buying the offical language) the sooner the occupation can end (and only at the hands of the US people).

[fbahrami]

6. oh yeah, I forgot about "insurgency"

good word to use instead of "resister"