rachel is reporting that fighting has broken up all over the place (LINK)

[nadinbrzezinski]

in Iraq

US\Iraqi security forces on one side, the Sard militias on the other

I can't say I am that shocked, but will be looking for a link

---------------

US, Iraqi troops battle Shiite militia
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
14 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - Iraq's leaders faced their gravest challenge in months Tuesday as Shiite militiamen loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr battled government forces for control of the southern oil capital, fought U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad and unleashed rockets on the Green Zone.

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Armed Mahdi Army militiamen appeared on some Baghdad streets for the first time in more than six months, as al-Sadr's followers announced a nationwide campaign of strikes and demonstrations to protest a government crackdown on their movement. Merchants shuttered their shops in commercial districts in several Baghdad neighborhoods.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=Au_IeIUkXGLAFrimMp1JDVKs0NUE

[maddezmom]

1. here is one

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/iraq/2008/03/25/clashes-in-iraqs-no-2-city-may-trigger-violence-elsewhere.html

[maddezmom]

3. and another

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x348097

[wtmusic]

5. Why does the Mehdi army revolting against American puppets

always get billed as fighting between "rival Shiite factions"?

Nonsense.

[maddezmom]

6. found this on Laura Rozen's blog

The final battle for Basra is near, says Iraqi general

By Kim Sengupta in Basra
Thursday, 20 March 2008

General Mohan al-Furayji, the Iraqi commander in charge of security in the south of Iraq, has warned his troops they must prepare for the final battle to defeat the Shia militias terrorising Basra.

For the British force based at Basra airport, the general's strategy raises the spectre of a return to the city they left last September after a summer of incessant attacks by the gunmen.

General Mohan is determined that the armed Shia groups have to be defeated before the provincial elections in the autumn. Failure to do so, he maintains, will mean the gunmen will take over what is left of the degenerating political process, making it impossible to shift them in the near future. No date has been fixed for the drive against the militias in Basra, he said yesterday. But he also delivered an uncompromising warning to his troops: they must be ready for a decisive military push, and it will come soon.

Two militias, the Mehdi Army, led by the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and the Badr Brigade used to dominate Basra. There are now, however, more than a dozen groups seeking the rich pickings of the region. The Mehdi Army has split into factions, with one group rejecting the current ceasefire called by the cleric.

http://www.warandpiece.com/

[cliss]

2. Ok, keep us posted.

And I believe that's 'Sadr' as in Sadr City, Moqtada al Sadr.

= chaos.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Yeah but it is in and out of Sard city

this will get nasty I think