Jun 13 2008
Will Iranians Be Caught In The Latest Iraqi Sweep?
Reader Crosspatch (one of the most informed and observant people I have ever dealt with) noted events percolating in Iraq as the Iraqis are staging their forces for a crackdown and sweep of a city known to be a center for Iranian weapons smuggling into Iraq.
Iraqi forces are said to be massing at the military airport outside of Amarah, the provincial capital. Police are said to establishing checkpoints along the roads entering the province.
An operation in Maysan was predicted by Nibras Kazimi on May 24. “Arrest warrants for Maysan officials are being prepared, and intelligence is being gathered about other Sadrist leaders who have gone into hiding there,” Kazimi said, noting the province has long been a safe haven for the Mahdi Army and the Sadrist movement, and heavily influenced by Iran’s Qods Force.
Maysan is a strategic link for the Ramazan Corps, the Iranian military command set up by Qods Force to direct operations inside Iraq. Amarah serves as the Qods Force / Ramazan Corps forward command and control center inside Iraq as well as one of the major distribution points for weapons in southern Iraq.
There is more on this pending action here.
Iraqi reinforcement troops deployed to the oil-producing southern city of Amarah on Thursday as the military geared up for another crackdown against Shiite militiamen, officials said.
U.S. and Iraqi commanders say many militia chiefs have fled to Amarah and Iran after security operations in Basra and Baghdad’s Sadr City district. Amarah is the capital of Maysan province, believed to be the hub of weapons smuggling from the nearby Islamic Republic [of Iran].
Quick reaction force troops from the Iraqi army’s U.S.-trained 1st Division that had been sent to Basra arrived Thursday in Amarah, said Marine Lt. Col. Chris Charleville, deputy team leader with the unit’s military transition team.
He said they were awaiting orders from the Ministry of Defense.
A local security official said new checkpoints also have been built on the roads to Basra, Baghdad and a border crossing with Iran.
I can only note the fact that the Iraqi PM recently visited Iran, and probably gave them a warning to allow their top people time to get out. Â Iraq does need to live with Iran given the enormous border they share and the fact the Shiia spiritual centers span both countries. Â But it will be interesting to see if we bag some Iranian nationals in the process.
I should note this is the fourth Iraqi led action in as many months. Â Beginning with Basra, then moving into Sadr City, then moving on al-Qaeda in Mosul the tempo of action the ever expanding Iraqi forces are pursuing and succeeding in is stunning. Â If the political alliances begin to coalesce we could see massive US troop withdrawals by this fall. Â
All of these actions are signs we have succeeded in Iraq. Â Iraq will never be Arizona, but it will be just as solid an ally as the United Arab Emirates, and probably more of an ally than Saudia Arabia, Jordan or Egypt. Â Because Iraq will have achieved its status as a Muslim democracy fighting Islamo Fascism with our assistance, blood and treasure.
But back to the point of the post – keep your eyes on Amarah and Maysan Province.  The results will be worth watching.
Update: Â Should have read a little farther into the second link because it answer my question:
The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information, said senior leaders had left for Iran and only lower-level militiamen were left in Amarah.
Too bad.
The Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was hand-picked by the United States. The US and George Bush have repeatedly insisted that Ira
The Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was handpicked by the United States. Bush has repeatedly insisted that Iraq is a sovereign state. Now, however, when push comes to shove on the long-term security agreement between the two principles, schisms in the alignment are appearing.
The AP reports
Further, fully 50% of the Iraqi parliament refuse to agree to allow the US long-term occupation of Iraq. The plan calls for 58 “permanent military bases” to be built in Iraq. Other plans for Iraq include “Tigris Woods Country Club”, a $500,000.00 golf course and vacation area for US forces in Iraq.
The US already has 737 military bases in 130+ countries around the world. The Chinese had “0”. Are we safer than China as a result?? Do we know something China doesn’t, or is it the other way around.
Sooth, if you take a close look at who those reports quote AND who is doing the writing, I think you will find that they tend to be mostly whining from marginal players in articles written by “journalists” who have a history of looking for negative information.
In other words, you have some AP “journalist” who is looking for negative news, finds some two bit player and passes it of as mainstream. Notice that you haven’t heard any such talk from the Iraqi government.
I read an article last week that made Mookie al Sadr, for example, sound like he was much more powerful than he is these days.
Just understand that the things you read are often somewhat misleading. Consider the sources quoted and the person writing it. Google their past articles and see what the profile of their past reports looks like. There are plenty of propagandists out there and simply quoting propaganda that is published by a wire service really carries little weight. Or it SHOULD carry little weight in people’s decision making. But most people aren’t going to research that and just assume that if AP is running it, it must be the “truth”.
Here is an example out of Reuters today, Sooth:
The truth is that an increasing number of the population are tired of the clerics. Attendance at Friday prayers is down. The Mullahs have less authority. Go out to Western Anbar and you find women in jeans and t-shirts. In Basrah since the mullahs have been driven from power by the Army you see women in Western dress, sans headscarf.
The Iraqi people are growing quite tired of sectarianism. Our media is doing all it can to stoke it and keep it alive at least in our minds but the reality on the ground is different.
CP,
Do you have some reference on those friday prayer attendance levels? I also assume those weekly protests by the Sadrists are starting wane too.
Cheers, AJStrata
Sooth, Prime Minister al-Maliki was NOT hand picked by the US. He, and the Dawa party he represents, were elected by the people of Iraq. US forces currently operate under UN mandate and the Iraqi govs request. The issue for Iraqi’s in a long-term security agreement directly with the US has nothing to do with a golf course. It has to do with Iraqi gov controlling troops operating within their own borders, and when and how the US military can contribute to those things, as things move forward and Iraq has it’s own military/etc.
Underwhat conditions US forces can arrest or detain Iraqi citizens, or fly planes in their airspace, etc. All of this is to be expected in any such agreement as the UN mandate expires at the end of this year. Maliki and his aides both reaffirmed that the issues were mainly about sovereignty and how to structure it. From Maliki’s office: “We are not talking about details. We are talking about principles, which is the sovereignty of Iraq”
The reason is such an agreement is on the table is because the UN mandate for foreign forces in Iraq is expiring and the government of Iraq requested that a bilateral arrangement … between Iraq and the United States — and potentially between Iraq and other coalition partners — be the new basis for the presence of our, and potentially other, forces in this country and the operation and status of those forces. That is why we are doing this.”
They figure the best way is to achieve this is via their own legislation/laws.
AJ: I will look them up in a bit but there was a spate of articles a few months ago concerning the turning away from Islam of a lot of the people, particularly the younger ones and a general sense of being lied to, used, and generally tired of the preachers telling them what to do.
Sooth, some more research on that article from Reuters that I quoted above. The byline at the bottom says:
Reporting by Khaled Farhan
That strikes me as odd because Farahan is a Persian or Iranian name, not a Arabic or Iraqi name. And if you do a search of news articles with his byline you find quite a lot of reporting in Sadr. I would not put a whole lot of stock in his reporting. He seems to be a Sadr cheerleader.
AJ here is an example report from the NY Times that appeared this spring. There was a rather large number of these articles that appeared in the February/March timeframe but suddenly dried up by May when the news was becoming good on all fronts.
CP, Sooth won’t pay any attention to all your good points.
Facts to a liberal are like Kryptonite to superman.
Thanks much CP – want to use it in an upcoming post.
Cheers, AJStrata
Another data point:
Soothghoul has a new fetish now??? Replaced troop deaths with political failures? Weird that you would cheer on us failing at anything??? Were is your IP some where in Moscow?