U.S. should not provoke Iraq militia: report

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. should not provoke Iraq militia: report
Fri Feb 8, 2008 9:27am EST

By Paul Tait

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military should not
provoke the Mehdi Army militia of anti-U.S. Shi'ite
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr into a return to the widespread
violence that took Iraq to the brink of civil war, a
report said on Friday.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank said
the Mehdi Army, once described by Washington as
the biggest single threat to peace in Iraq, was
"unassailable" in strongholds in Baghdad and mainly
Shi'ite southern Iraq.

Sadr, the son of a revered Shi'ite cleric killed under
Saddam Hussein, led two uprisings against U.S. forces
in 2004.

Late on Thursday, U.S. soldiers arrested a senior figure
and three others from a "rogue" Mehdi Army unit linked
to attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces in eastern
Iraq's Wasit province. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers also
clashed with gunmen in a Sadr stronghold in Baghdad
on Thursday.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1880448320080208

[Bigmack]

1. Surge is working!

Just as long as US troops don't stir up the guys with guns, violence is down.

I'll bet there's no paper trail, but orders have gone out to limit patrols and stay out of certain areas and generally not make waves.

[Javaman]

2. Isn't just occupying their country enough of a provocation?

:banghead: