This from an Iraqi newspaper.



"The Mahdi Army militias are heavily armed and wield much power in Baghdad particularly in Shiite-dominated quarters.

Its leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, aware of U.S. determination to curtail the power of his militias, is said to have ordered his men not hide their weapons and refrain from fighting once the Americans launch their campaign in earnest.
His power base is centered in the sprawling Sadr City, a Shiite township of more than two million people.

Mahdi Army commanders were reported to have held a meeting recently to outline their strategy to counter the U.S. military campaign.

The commanders had orders not to resist U.S. troops as part of their own strategy to preserve their weapons and power in preparation for the post-U.S. era in Iraq.

Moqtada, who is Mahdi Army’s chief commander, is reported to have instructed the militias to behave in a manner that will not lead to the loss of “even a single Mahdi Army member.”

Moqtada, analysts say, is keen to remain a force to reckon with following the withdrawal of U.S. troops which he believes cold take place at the end of the year."

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...01-15\kurd.htm

Gee---I wonder where Mogtada is getting the impression we might be leaving? From the libs in our own country?

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Well hopefully(and it looks likely) Sadr and his band of nuts will be targetted and either fight and die..or simply die.


Gee I coudn't imagine where he'd get an idea like that

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"We make war that we may live in peace"
"Peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"Keep that faith,keep your courage,stick together, stay strong,do not yield,do not flinch,stand up,we're Americans,we'll never surrender they will"
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Interesting strategy. Feign defeat, wait for US to withdraw "successfully," and get free reign to terrorize the population.

Do you think we'll fall for it?

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"You have found the secret message. Do you have too much time on your hands? ...Let it go."

This is a war of attrition. How long can the US stay ?! Indefinitely is not an answer. It costs $100billion +++ annually for this little hobby. The US$ has turned to mush already. No matter how long you stay, Al sadr will still be there. HE LIVES THERE !!! So yeah, he will be the voice of the Shiite majority. If fact, don't be surprised to see him run for head office in Iraq in the future. Don't be surprised to see him win. The US has released a genie from a bottle that you simply can't get back in.

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"The key difference between cats and lies is that cats only have 9 lives" - Mark Twain

So you thought that the Shiite would just hang around and fight the Americans in an open battle and get slaughtered on the streets of Baghdad? It took me about 3 minutes after Bush's speech to figure out what the Mahdi Army would do..either move to a different area, or melt into the crowd and become invisible to any American soldier.

The question is whether the US military can come up with a counter to the Mahdi strategy and trap these bad guys while they are resting comfortably. Guerrilla warfare has always been about who can adapt best to changing conditions. The normal "command structured" modern military (like the US) cannot adopt...which is why we are loosing. I wonder if any US general has thought about what will happen when 20,000 new troops are in Baghdad, but none of the enemy is around to fight? One might hope they would thought about it -- I'll bet no one has or will. Individual initiative in the military can ruin careers!

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Hobo
Charter member of 'Republicans Who Hate Bush" Club

Or maybe from the American people who voted for a change, since anybody with any common sense knows a guerilla war is unwinnable.

Bye bye Saddam, hello Mahdi militia. I thought they were supposed to welcome us as liberators JP5????? LOL. You Neocons and your delusions... Truly frightening.

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

That's the problem with guerillas. YOU CAN'T TARGET THEM BECAUSE THEY LOOK LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE POPULATION.

That's why you always end up with things like the My Lai massacre in guerilla wars:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

This would be a good time to get a polling going, where we can place our bets on how long the Democratic (affirmitve action) Iraqi Government will last after we leave.

My guess is 3 months.

Ixtellor

Thats the type of thinking that saw your fellow Jewish comrades massacred in the second world war, non-intervention and cowerdice. Come back to me when you've formed some seious opinions about the world, buts thats the problem is'nt it, liberals don't have morals or values and can't put them into practice in daily politics.

Millions of Jews were murdered because, like Janglo, they thought that fighting a popular embedded insurgency half a world away was a bad idea?

And all this time I thought it was the Nazis

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