Apr 16 2008
Mahdi Army Getting Pounded, SurrenderMedia Exaggerates Minor Set Back
I will start with the Stupid SurrenderMedia trick of the week as they take a minor setback with a small group of Iraqi troops and try and extrapolate it into a representation of the entire Iraq war. The so called debacle is about one small group of Iraqi troops who acted like liberal democrats and ran from the terrorists, who were then replaced with troops less liberal and more stalwart:
A company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions on Tuesday night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers who implored them to hold the line against Shiite militias.
The retreat left a crucial stretch of road on the front lines undefended for hours and led to a tense series of exchanges between American soldiers and about 50 Iraqi troops who were fleeing.
Oh my God! A stretch of road in Sadr City was left undefended for hours! How can we win a war when this kind of thing happens! Quick, run and hide and whimper. Pullease.
“If you turn around and go back up the street those soldiers will follow you,†Captain Veath said. “If you tuck tail and cowardly run away they will follow up that way, too.â€
Captain Veath’s pleas failed, and senior American and Iraqi commanders mounted an urgent effort to regain the lost ground. An elite Iraqi unit was rushed in and with the support of the Americans began to fight its way north.
This episode was a blow to the American effort to push the Iraqis into the lead in the struggle to wrest control of parts of Sadr City from the Mahdi Army militia and what Americans and Iraqis say are Iranian-backed groups.
What a crock of SurrenderMedia garbage. There was no blow to American efforts. And in fact the fight against the Mahdi Army is going quite well (more on that in a moment). Some cowards collapsed in fear, some seasoned fighters took over, and we lost not an inch of ground. The fact this was so well covered with cameras and embeds would make me first wonder if it was another staged act for the clueless and easily duped media. I have no proof – except a string of numerous fake stories planted by the enemy in the news media ever since 9-11. Other than that well known (and well worn) pattern there is nothing to suspect the SurrenderMedia is just producing pro-terrorist propaganda since defeat in Iraq is slipping away from them.
The NY Times, being in the forefront of the SurrenderMedia, had to ignore a lot of other stories and events to create the delusion that we are losing to the Mahdi Army. If you look outside the NY Times and across a range of reporting you find the opposite is true. Take Bill Roggio’s reporting on how the battle for Sadr City and Basra is proceeding as planned (generally) and in measured steps (so as to not get killed or have innocents killed):
Iraqi and Coalition forces are pressing the fight against the Mahdi Army in northeastern Baghdad and the southern port city of Basrah. Iraqi troops have cleared two Mahdi Army strongholds in Basrah and reportedly have surrounded three others as they prepare to press the operation. In Baghdad, the Iraqi Army and US forces continue to clash with the Mahdi Army while forces have moved into southwestern Sadr City and set up a “demonstration area” to distribute aid and provide local security.
Or how about the reporting by AFP from Basra and the sea change in conditions there since the Mahdi were purged:
Three weeks after Iraqi troops swarmed into the southern city of Basra to take on armed militiamen who had overrun the streets, many residents say they feel safer and that their lives have improved.
The fierce fighting which marked the first week of Operation Sawlat al-Fursan (Charge of the Knights) has given way to slower, more focused house-by-house searches by Iraqi troops, which led on Monday to the freeing of an abducted British journalist.
Residents say the streets have been cleared of gunmen, markets have reopened, basic services have been resumed and a measure of normality has returned to the oil-rich city.
The port of Umm Qasr is in the hands of the Iraqi forces who wrested control of the facility from Shiite militiamen, and according to the British military it is operational once again.
However, the city is flooded with troops, innumerable checkpoints constantly snarl the traffic, residents are scared to go out at night despite the curfew being relaxed, and the sound of sporadic gunfire can still be heard.
An AFP correspondent said three northwestern neighbourhoods once under the firm control of the Mahdi Army militia of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr — Al-Hayaniyah, Khamsamile and Garma — are now encircled by Iraqi troops who are carrying out door-to-door searches.
Two other neighbourhoods once dominated by the Mahdi Army, Al-Qiblah in the southwest and Al-Taymiyyah in the centre, have been cleared of weaponry and many people have been arrested, military officials say.
Residents expressed relief at the improved security.
Doesn’t sound like we are back on our heels, it sounds like the Mahdi are contained and being rounded up and the locals are damn glad to be rid of them. There will always be some who don’t get, can’t do it or just don’t agree with what happens. Fact of life. But the media cannot expect to be taken seriously when they try and hoist these rare exceptions as the symbol of the greater populace. It is a joke and those who employ such propaganda are jokes.
Here is a bizarre story which I could exaggerate into something more than it is, if I had to concoct facts to make believe I had a clue what is going on. It is an interesting one, because it is (a) from a severely anti-American, pro-terrorist site and (b) it signals a change in Sadr City towards our success:
After a week of intensive bombing and embargo, Sadr-City accepted the American deal to form an “Awakening Council”, alrafedain reported that Abdallah Jasim al-Ali head of “Sadr-City Tribal Council” announced today of forming a militia in Sadr-City to counter the Mahdi Army.
He gave instructions to hang Mahdi Army members from light-masts if they fight against the government forces or innocents as the MA did with the Sunnis before.
I don’t read Arabic so I cannot validate the linked article. I don’t trust the site to report honestly, it is mostly propaganda. But I would not it as a possible signal of big changes coming. If the people of Sadr City and Basra have their own Awakening and start killing (or more likely turning in intelligence on) the Mahdi Forces amongst them this will end quickly and be another blow to extremism in Islam. The people know who is hiding weapons amongst their families. At some point they will want them gone, no matter what it takes.
Some other interesting reads about the pounding the Mahdi are taken can be found here and here. Never rely on one source of news to get the big picture, they are very informative reads.
Reporters have no sense of history, and thus no way to put these stories in any kind of context. One of our biggest challenges in Iraq is to create a new, functional, modern Iraqi Army where none existed before. I disagree with those who say the previous Saddam-era Army should not have been disbanded; that army was top heavy, corrupt, and had a structure that was completely incompatible with modern military concepts. Keeping it would have been an even greater disaster than disbanding it.
None of these reporters have noted that the last time hte U.S. went through anything like that was the American Civil War (war between the states?) when Lincoln had to create a huge army out of nothing after a large part of the officer corps defected to the other side. The Federal forces lost most of their engagements for the first 2 years because far too many of the fresh troops and fresh officers tended to turn and run anytime things got hot. Now, not all of them; and after sufficient time had passed the officers willing to lead and the troops willing to follow were identified and became the nucleus of the army that would win that war. But it took time, and there were many, many incidents just like this one along the way.
As far as this Iraqi contingent, I don’t blame the soldiers – fresh recruits almost always want to run as soon as things get dicey. That’s what leadership is all about, and strong leadership from this Iraqi unit commander would have made all the difference. Hopefully the Iraqi’s will dismiss him immediately, and break up that unit.
This is the first time the new Iraqi army has committed to a major combat action on their own initiative. So this battle, in a way, can be thought of as Iraq’s First Mannasses (Bull Run) although it looks like it will turn out better for them than for Lincoln’s federals. Of course, Iraq is lucky in not having nearly so organized and skilled an opponent as Lincoln did.
shiite militias are not “the terrorists”…they are insurgents fighting for political power. the only significance is that this is the second time in recent weeks we have seen this…and it applies directly to the “as they stand up we can stand down” mantra. if you are into an open-ended commitment in iraq, you are right, the whole thing amounts to a hill of beans.
Norm,
Your such a dufus. “fighting for political power” is terrorism you big dummy. The minute you allow force to become a tool of political expression you have lost.
I guess 9-11 was also just an expression of political preference.
How did you get so off track in life man?
Norm, having chosen the wrong side of this war, must make terrorism appear to be more of a home-grown guerrilla insurgency then an international, radical Islamist movement. All Democrats now must base their decisions on a complete falsehood, that terrorism is in the eye of the beholder.
What an embarrassing position Norm and his ilk must be in, rooting, praying, and hoping for more dead Americans and a premature end to the war. It would have been so much easier for them had they just put America first, as is their responsibility as Americans, but no….Dems must always take the counter-American position.
terrorism is the use of fear to achieve political or idealogical ends. maliki and sadr in an open military confrontation for political power…a confrontation that we unleashed and that you are happy and proud to referee. it is not terrorism. your use of “the terrorists” is just another transparent attempt by you to conflate what is going on in iraq with 9.11 and the so-called global war on terrorism. neither of these clowns had anything to do with 9.11. and being in the middle of their struggle isn’t making the u.s. measurably safer.
much more important, than this shiney object which you are distracted by, is iran and how we intend to reverse the strategic gains this foreign policy blunder has granted them.
75…you are now claiming sadr is the head of a international, radical Islamist movement? interesting news.
Norm, You really are a dufus
International Islam terrorst force equals Al Tater sitting in Iran and directing a Islamic Terrorist force consisting of Iranian SG and IIRC members and loony toony Iraqi Shite terrorist.
Get a clue would ya..
then by your definition international islamist terrorism is also iranian support of maliki. unless you insist on tailoring your definitions to support your point of view.
Norm, I said no such thing. False premise again. This, my sad friend, is why you constantly whine about personal attacks and substance. You have earned nothing but our scorn and continue to do so.
I’ve known people like you for 30 years and they are all just the same…dumber than snot or worse…intentionally false. Either way, a pathetic excuse for a human being let alone an American.
75…it is exactly what you said. i said sadr is not a terrorist but an insurgent. you responded by saying that what i call an insurgency is actually “an international, radical Islamist movement”. if you don’t have the cajones to stand behind your statements don not make them.
I said no such thing. Here’s the quote:
“Norm, having chosen the wrong side of this war, must make terrorism appear to be more of a home-grown guerrilla insurgency then an international, radical Islamist movement. All Democrats now must base their decisions on a complete falsehood, that terrorism is in the eye of the beholder.”
The comment is about your dishonesty and what you and you sickos have to do now to cover your pathetic tracks. There’s nothing in there about Sadr but thedre’s plenty about you. Go back to your mat and naptime, dumbass.
75…not only are you too weak to stand by what you say, you have to resoprt to childish personal attacks to try to obscure what is crystal clear. one more time…i made the point that sadr et.al are not terrorists but insurgents. you responded by saying that i “…must make terrorism appear to be more of a home-grown guerrilla insurgency then an international, radical Islamist movement…” there is no other way to read that than you think sadr is an international islamist terrorist. if you can’t be honest enough to stand by your statements then why bother making them?
AJ,
Note this bit of information on the photographer in the picture attached to the NYT article. Does this surprise any of us that understand how the MSM works? No, we expect it. And he’s a contract photographer for the NYT. What a joke!
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=21569_The_Media_Are_the_Enemy&only
AJ,
Is there an “eject” button on this site?
I would be in favor of you using it.
Christ, almighty…Norm’s friggin whining again.
Ok, one more time for the cheap seats and then I recommend you go back to grade school where they teach you to be nice to people, even dumb and dangerous ones rather than teaching you how to think, read, and properly gauge good vs evil.
The comment was directed at you, a dumb Democrat, who having chosen the wrong side of this war, must downplay every badass out there fighting us as an “insurgent” or any other crazy thing you can call themother than “terrorist”.
Hint for dumbasses: IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU CALL THEM! Nor does it matter what your opinion is regarding them, whether it be insurgent, terrorist, or sitting Senator!! The war on terror is inclusive of all those supporting terror around the war. Until you get that through your thick skull, you will continue to live in the dark world of “diplomacy” solving all your problems. Only an idiot like yourself could actually claim Sadr isn’t a terrorist.
norm is a moron.. the shiia milita are not fighting for the nation of Iraq.. they are fighting for the Islamic Caliphate.
Their goal is to destroy Iraq and pave the way for the coming of the Imam Al Mahdi.
These people must not succede and they must be destroyed.
You leftists are too dangerous in your ignorance
norm applies his own worldview onto Sadr. norm’s world is one of Westphallian (sp?) nation-states. No transnational movements.
Whereas Sadrs world is one of Allah’s sharia.. Khalifah.. the Ummah.
Norm has no idea what any of that is and therefore has no means to intrepet what Sadr and so when Sadr even states what his objective norm discounts it as nonsense and instead applies a Marxist paradigm onto his actions.. thus Sadr is just a revolutionary insurgent with no threat to anyone beyond Iraq.
twit.
Norm knows exactly what Sadr, his militias, and others like them are. He intentionally tries to separate them from the “terrorist” label because he needs to falsely present this war as Bush’s war rather than America’s against radical Islam. Had he not taken the absurd position of fighting the republican president for his own selfish, party needs, he would right now be supporting America despite his objections, much like everyone did in WWII. But no, he’s a dumbass with twisted priorities, probably learned at any one of many, leftist, and liberal institutions of higher learning.
WWS
The War of Northern Aggression was already over in less time.
In your analogy the Capitol would still be bombarded by Rebel
fire in 1866.
Belive Strata or believe this US troop who was there.
“We don’t see any progress being made at all. We hear these guys in firefights. We know if we are not up there helping these guys out we are making very little progress.â€
WWS
The War of Northern Aggression was already over in less time.
In your analogy the Capitol would still be bombarded by Rebel
fire in 1866.
Believe Strata or believe this US troop who was there.
“We don’t see any progress being made at all. We hear these guys in firefights. We know ……we are making very little progress.â€