Sadr Followers Push "Downfall" of Maliki

[tekisui]

BAGHDAD: Thousands of supporters of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched in Baghdad on Thursday to protest against a three-day-old crackdown against his followers and call for the downfall of the U.S.-backed government.

Mass demonstrations were held in the Sadr City, Kadhimiya and Shula districts. An Interior Ministry source said hundreds of thousands had taken to the streets.

"We demand the downfall of the Maliki government. It does not represent the people. It represents Bush and Cheney," said Sadr City resident Hussein Abu Ali.

"The government wants to root out the Sadr movement ahead of provincial elections. We are demonstrating -- women, children and men -- to demand an end to the military operation. These are our brothers," said a man who gave his name as Abu Ammar.

Authorities imposed curfews across southern Iraq in an effort to halt the spread of violence after the largest military offensive carried out by Iraqi forces independent of major support from U.S. or British combat units.

More than 100 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the government launched its crackdown in the southern city of Basra on Tuesday. Clashes have split Iraq's majority Shi'ite community and shattered a ceasefire declared last year by Sadr.

Saboteurs blew up one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines from Basra, cutting off a third of the exports from the city which provides 80 percent of the government's revenue. U.S. crude oil prices rose more than $1 to around $107 a barrel after the blast.

A massive mortar bombardment struck the main riverside police base at Basra palace before noon on Thursday and heavy shooting broke out in a main commercial street in the city, Iraq's second-largest, where the crackdown began on Tuesday.

"The operation is still ongoing and will continue until Basra is free from criminals and outlaws," Major-General Abdul-Aziz Mohammed, head of operations at the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, told reporters in Baghdad.

Clashes have spread in the past two days to the southern cities of Kut, Hilla, Diwaniya, Amara and Kerbala, as well as several Shi'ite neighbourhoods of Baghdad.

"LIVING IN HELL"

"We have been living for the last hours in hell. We have spent most of the time hiding under the staircase," said Basra resident Faris Hayder, 28. "We haven't seen anything like this since the foreign troops arrived in 2003."

link: http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/03/27/africa/OUKWD-UK-IRAQ.php?page=1

[KharmaTrain]

1. So Much For The Lull..."Tet" Is About To Begin

The "surge" was nothing but a breather for the various factions...stocking up on arms and getting in position. Most of those arms courtesy of our own military to win one "ally" or another...and now our strained military is in the crosshairs of recharged militias who are better armed than in the past and with lots of scores to settle.

The longer our troops remain, the more tenuous the situation becomes. Unfortunately our corporate media still lets the liars and war profiteers spin their lies that result in more American dead and a public that's confused and turned off on this war for profit.

Iraq soon will be a luxuary even the profiteers won't be able to afford.

[SteinbachMB]

2. Sadr

Sadr seems to be the bogeyman that Bush needs to cause a spectacle like this. He's like the new Saddam, or Bin Laden. It's almost as if they planned it this way. Hmmmm?

[tekisui]

3. Seems that way.

Welcome to DU!

He will not go easily, he has obedient(for now) militias.

[Strelnikov_]

4. My take

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3060525&mesg_id=3060525