One of Moqtada al-Sadr's top aides was arrested - in a mosque, no less - by US forces in what appears to be the start of a crackdown on the Mahdi Army and the Shiite death squads. (By the way, both the WAPO and the AP repeat the bolshoi that this was an `Iraqi-led security mission', but rest assured that according to my other sources it was almost entirely US troops, who wouldn't trust the Iraqis not to tip the jihadis off - which is why the Iraqi government is upset).
Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji was picked up in a mosque and his bodyguard sent to meet Allah by American troops in Baghdad’s Baladiyat neighborhood, which is adjacent to Sadr City.
Mookie's not a happy camper , either.
In an interview with an Italian newspaper, La Repubblica , al-Sadr said the U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown had already begun. He confirmed this week that 400 Mahdi Army men had been arrested.
Al-Sadr said his militias would not fight back immediately because Islam forbids killing during the Muslim holy month of Muharram, which starts Friday for Sunnis and Saturday for Shiites.
"Let them kill us. For a true believer there is no better moment than this to die: Heaven is ensured,” he was quoted as saying. “After Muharram, we’ll see."
In case anyone is under the illusion that the Iraqi government is actually complicit in this, guess again. The US raid was condemned by the Iraqi government, which complained it had not been consulted. An aide to Prime Minister al-Maliki, who owes his job as Iraqi leader to al-Sadr said the operation was not part of the planned 'U.S.-Iraq security drive'.
“There was no co-ordination with the Iraqi political leadership and this arrest was not part of the new security plan,” Sadiq al-Rikabi, the al-Maliki adviser, told Al-Arabiya television. "Co-ordination with the Iraqi political leadership is needed before conducting such operations that draw popular reactions."
Hey, somebody's got to be able to warn people, y'know...
It's also a fact that the Mahdi Army arrests that have been made have been entirely peaceable, with little or no resistance from al=Sadr's men...not at all what you would expect from a `crackdown'.
Stay tuned....
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It's also a fact that the Mahdi Army arrests that have been made have been entirely peaceable, with little or no resistance from al=Sadr's men...not at all what you would expect from a `crackdown'.
Of course, with the catch-and-release protocol these days, the militias can be rest assured that in ten days or less, they'll be free men again. And again. And again.
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