Sadr okayed US raid on bastion: Aide

[ECH1969]

Radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr gave the go-ahead to a US-led raid on the bastion of his Mahdi Army militia in Baghdad and plans to purge his movement of violent elements, an aide said yesterday.

Sheikh Abdel Razzaq Al Naddawi, a senior assistant to the firebrand Shi’ite preacher, said Sadr had given the green light to last week’s action by US and Iraqi forces after meeting Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki.

“It was meant to pinpoint the bad elements and hold them accountable before the law,” Naddawi said here. “This movement does not protect those who abuse people and the innocent.”

Last week Iraqi special forces and US advisers raided an address in Sadr City hunting what they described as a death squad leader. A subsequent battle left 10 militants and four civilians dead.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=October2006&file=World_News200610313143.xml

[jimshoes]

1. This walking toothpaste commercial could be

the next Iraq strongman. Didn't we try to take this guy out early on? And is this good news or bad news? It's so hard to tell any more.

[Teaser]

2. Iraqi spokesmen talk to hear themselves say things

There is no legitimate content emanating from any Iraqi official's mouth. The government, asSadr's faction included, is a viper's nest of liars, sycophants, and lying sycophants. Don't we realize this by now?

[ECH1969]

3. You just described the US Congress