Iraq’s Prime Minister Gives Militants 3 Days to Disarm
Despite previous negotiations, and a recently renewed truce, violence is escalating again in the Iraqi city of Basra, where Shiite militiamen in the Mahdi Army fought daylong hit-and-run battles with the Iraqi forces. The gunmen are followers of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and have had a long standing fued with the current Iraq government.
Most civilains supported the attack, because the despised Mahdi Army controls most of the city. However, now residents are beginning to get agitated because of the continued violence and the ineffectiveness of the Iraq army. Despite about 16,000 of the 30,000 Iraqi troops being from the Basra police forces, the army was apparently woefully unprepared for the assault. The militia gunmen had an easy time, as the Iraqi tanks couldn’t enter the narrow streets in order to attack. On top of this the militants had better weapons than most of the army.
Although the fighting is mostly centered in Basra it has spread else where, including the fortified Green Zone, which includes the US and British embassies and the Iraqi government headquarters. As swarms of Sadr supporters took the streets to protest, many civilians were killed or wounded. In Kut, a city 105 miles south of Baghdad, 10 people, including a baby girl, were killed and 31 were wounded, mostly from mortar shells.
All of this has forced Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, to call for all militants to turn in their guns within 72 hours. Those who do disarm, and sign a statement renouncing violence, will not be persecuted. But “any gunman who does not do that within these three days will be an outlaw,” Maliki said.
Despite the call for disarmament, or perhaps because of it, the violence actually seems to be escalating. If the call persuades the Mahdi Army to completely disregard the cease-fire from last year, violence may rise to 2004 levels, when the militia fought intense battles with American forces that destabilized the entire country. This would, of course, impede American troops from coming home even further.
The entire situation is a gamble for Iraq and American forces. The American’s want to prove Iraq had gained some military and political autonomy, and Mr. Maliki doesn’t want to embarrasses himself or his new government.
Although it’s nice to see Iraq attempting to take some responsibility for itself, the continued American instance that they have nothing to do with it does tend to make one suspicious. While they may not be supplying troops to the cause, it’s a bit unclear precisely where the idea to attack and call for disarmament came from.
It’s also obvious at this point that this stratedgy is not working. Violence is continuing to worsen and death toll just keeps climbing. They’re not weakening the Sadr followers at all, they’re just provoking them. This is all going on even though Sadr called for negotions with Maliki.
I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that it’s hard to tell where the incompetince is coming from: the American’s or the Iraqi’s.
-Reggie
Guardian Article
New York Times Article
