Reuters: Iraq's Sadr bloc says aide killed by U.S. forces

[Eugene]

Iraq's Sadr bloc says aide killed by U.S. forces
27 Dec 2006 12:02:14 GMT
Source: Reuters

NAJAF, Iraq, Dec 27 (Reuters) - A spokesman for radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr's bloc accused U.S. forces on Wednesday of killing a senior Sadrist
official near the Iraqi city of Najaf and called for a government investigation.

The U.S. military said Iraqi army troops with U.S. advisers raided the home of a
man who was implicated in a bomb attack on a police chief in October. A U.S.
statement said a U.S. soldier shot the man dead after seeing him point his rifle
at an Iraqi soldier during the raid.

Nassar al-Rubaei, head of the Sadrist bloc in parliament, accused "occupation
forces" of storming the home of Saheb al- Amiri at dawn and killing him in front
of this family.

"We call on the government to launch an investigation," Rubaei told a news
conference in Baghdad.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO740101.htm

The U.S. military insists this was an Iraqi operation although American advisors were present.

Alternate version: IA Conducts Operations To Capture IED Facilitator - MNF Iraq

Also: FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 27 - Reuters

[acmavm]

1. And the fun begins. The idiots running the US end of this war

are going to finally try the big move against al Sadr to sideline him.

Too late.

[sabra]

2. Update: Anger in Iraq's Najaf after U.S. kills Sadr aide

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27550271.htm

Anger in Iraq's Najaf after U.S. kills Sadr aide

NAJAF, Iraq, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched through the holy Iraqi city of Najaf in an angry funeral procession after a senior Sadr aide was killed by a U.S. soldier on Wednesday.

Chanting "No to America" and carrying placards decrying U.S. occupation, mourners, including black-robed clerics, carried the coffin of Saheb al-Amiri through the streets.

Members of Sadr's group accused the Americans of provoking a confrontation and demanded a government inquiry.

Najaf, home to Iraq's top Shi'ite clerics, was the site of a 2004 rebellion against U.S. forces by militias loyal to Sadr, who also has power bases in Baghdad.

[maddezmom]

3. So the Najaf handover was a ruse...what a surprise

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2655988

[leftchick]

4. Iraq officials say U.S. behind Sadr aide killing

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28680345.htm

NAJAF, Iraq, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Iraqi officials in the city of Najaf said on Thursday that a raid which killed a top aide of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was a violation of the deal that transferred U.S. control of Najaf to the Iraqi army.

Less than 10 days after the U.S. military handed control of Najaf to Iraqi forces, U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell told reporters that a U.S. soldier killed Saheb al-Amiri in a raid planned and carried out by Iraqi forces.

But officials in Najaf said neither the provincial governor nor security forces in the city were warned about the raid and disputed that the Iraqis had planned the operation.

The raid led to angry protests by thousands of Sadr supporters against U.S. forces during Amiri's funeral.

[acmavm]

5. Well, wait until we try to take out Moqie himself. Then they'll

really be pissed.

(I wonder why they haven't tried it yet.)

[leftchick]

7. I am sure special ops have tried

he will not be easy to assasinate.

[Warren Stupidity]

9. They haven't tried it

because at least nominally Al Sadr's party is part of the supposedly sovereign Iraqi government and the shiite militias are not in general actively fighting our forces. The operation in question signaled a shift in US policy, most likely related to Cheney's visit to the Sauds earlier this month, the Saud's public statement that they will back the sunni militias in the event of a collapse of the US operations in Iraq, and DumbAss's statements that he is going to escalate the war by pouring new troops into Baghdad.

The administration seems to have decided that it is not going to allow a Shiite dominated government to emerge in Iraq, that its main enemy is Iran and not Sunni fundamentalist extremists, or even worse, that it can proceed this next year fighting all factions (except the Kurds,) in some demented effort to end the conflict by widening it.

What seems certain is that the new year will be by far the bloodiest year for all sides in this conflict, and that while we voted for peace, we will be handed more war.

[LynnTheDem]

6. Gee...the USA violating agreements??!

America would never ever do such a thing!

:eyes:

[Kagemusha]

8. Seems to me the truth's irrelevant, the real story's the shifting of blame

the story being that even in Najaf where SCIRI is the power behind the police and army there, well, police for sure, they're not willing to take the fall for this at all out of fear of the consequences for them (PR and otherwise)..