Well, there goes that movement

Courtesy of Google News

FIREFIGHT
U.S. Destroys Headquarters of Rebel Cleric in Baghdad
By IAN FISHER

Published: May 11, 2004


BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 10 — The American military said Monday that it had killed as many as 18 supporters of the rebel Shiite Muslim cleric Moktada al-Sadr as it demolished his Baghdad headquarters during a heavy nighttime firefight that echoed around the capital.

Read:Our boys and girls took down the people shredder of religious nut and did away with a few henchmen in Baghdad.

In clashes on Sunday, the military said, it killed another 18 of his militiamen, part of a mounting death toll of Mr. Sadr's followers that included some 41 dead in a battle last week in Najaf, south of the capital. The director of a hospital in Sadr City, the poor Shiite neighborhood here where Mr. Sadr's draws most of his support, said it had received nine bodies since Sunday, including that of a woman.


In southern Iraq on Monday, fires continued to rage after a pipeline bombing on Saturday, which has reportedly slowed the flow of Iraqi oil for export by as much as 25 percent. Attacks on the southern pipeline, which accounts for most of Iraq's oil exports, have been rare.

An unidentified body appearing to be that of a Westerner was found in Baghdad, an American military official here said. The official said the body was not that of a soldier and was not believed to be one of the three surviving Italian hostages captured last month. A fourth Italian hostage was killed by militants who had demanded that Italy withdraw its troops from Iraq.

While American troops have battled frequently with Mr. Sadr's supporters since he led an uprising against the occupation last month, clashes are now erupting daily in the southern cities of Najaf, Kufa, Karbala and Basra amid heightened threats to kill and kidnap foreigners in Iraq.

On Monday a top aide to Mr. Sadr, who has retreated to Najaf, called for an intensified push against the American occupation in Iraq.

"We have now entered a second phase of resistance, and our patience is over with the occupation forces," said Qais al-Khazali, Mr. Sadr's main lieutenant, according to Reuters. "Our policy now is to extend the state of resistance and to move it to all of Iraq because of the occupiers' military escalation and crossing of all red lines in the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf."

WHEN THE HELL DID YOU EVER HAVE PATIENCE WITH US? FROM THE TIME WE SENT SADDAM FALLING HEADFIRST AND GAVE YOU BACK YOUR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, YOU WERE WHINING ABOUT BEING "OCCUPIED".

But as fighting with American troops continued, there were increasing signs of growing impatience with Mr. Sadr among moderate Shiites, as well as the possibility of clashes among Shiites themselves.

On Monday evening in Najaf, the most sacred city in Shiite Islam, leaflets were distributed with photographs showing corpses and armed men. The leaflet carried this warning: "To al-Sadr followers: If you continue fighting you will be killed in the end. You must be killed. It is your choice."


On the back it read: "There is a chance for Iraqi people to live in peace. Just put your weapons aside and be happy with what your country has given to you."

Not as long as we have mental patients like that running around and in society

The leaflet was not signed, but in the last few weeks a shadowy death squad calling itself the Thulfiqar Army has reportedly killed at least seven of Mr. Sadr's militiamen in Najaf.

The leaflets were distributed a day after Sadr al-Din al-Kubanchi, a top cleric in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a mainstream Islamic political party and a rival to Mr. Sadr's more militant group, called for the people of Najaf to take power back from Mr. Sadr, who has taken over key Shiite shrines there.

How about that? A sane Shiite cleric. That's a rare occurance.

With almost daily clashes and some 2,500 American troops in and around Najaf, the city's lucrative business as a destination for Shiite pilgrims has all but dried up.

Many more moderate Shiite leaders see Mr. Sadr — who appeals largely to the young and the jobless — as a dangerous threat to an orderly political transition. Shiites represent some 60 percent of the country's population and so stand to gain the most power in any future democratic government.

The Supreme Council is calling for a huge demonstration to demand that Mr. Sadr leave the city. There are fears that the demonstration may lead to violence, and the possibility seemed strong enough that Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief military spokesman for the occupation, responded to a question about it on Monday, saying that the "first response" would be to rely on Iraqi Civil Defense Corps.