Iraqis forces seize Mahdi stronghold in Basra
posted at 10:30 am on April 19, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Despite the news media’s apparent insistence on clinging to their narrative of defeat and disaster in Basra, Nouri al-Maliki’s operation to restore control of the city to the elected government achieved its major goal today with the fall of the Mahdi militia’s stronghold in the city. An early-morning offensive against the Hayaniyah district of Basra netted dozens of arrests as the central government took control of the area for the first time:
Iraqi soldiers swooped on the Basra stronghold of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday, saying they had seized control of his militia bastion where they suffered an embarrassing setback in late March.
The dawn raid by government troops on the Hayaniya district of the southern oil city was backed by a thunderous bombardment by U.S. warplanes and British artillery.
It came after more intense fighting in Baghdad between security forces and Sadr’s black-masked militiamen. Police said 12 people had been killed in the Shi’ite slum of Sadr City and hospitals said they received more than 130 wounded overnight. …
“Our troops deployed in all the parts of the (Hayaniya) district and controlled it without much resistance,” Khalaf told Reuters. “Now we are working on house-to-house checking. We have made many arrests.”
Maliki, himself a Shi’ite, has threatened to ban Sadr’s mass movement from political life if the cleric does not disband the Mehdi Army. In response, Sadr has threatened to formally scrap a ceasefire he imposed on his militia last August, a move that could trigger a full-scale uprising.
The Mahdis claimed that the government faced no opposition and did not need to conduct a military operation to seize Hayaniyah. However, the Reuters report includes a reference to an armored vehicle with bullet marks, showing that the Iraqi Army took incoming fire.
The Mahdis claim that they may end their cease-fire if the Maliki government doesn’t stop its offensive, but it looks like they may not have much juice left. They haven’t been able to slow down the Iraqi Army since the first days of the Basra operation, and the joint IA/US operation in Sadr City continues as well. Maliki has decided that the time has come to put an end to extra-legal armies in Iraq, and the evidence so far shows that he may have timed his operation well enough for success.
Of course, others will likely continue to spin this as more disaster because “violence” has occurred. At some point, though, the central elected government had to displace the militias and ensure that they had an indisputable monopoly on force in the nation if they expected to remain credible and keep Iraq in one piece. They gave the Sadrists at least four years to disband on their own, and they refused to do so. Maliki’s confidence in his armed forces appears to have been justified, while the Mahdis look more like the paper tigers the IA was supposed to be.
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Necessary surgery — people complain and whine, then after the surgery is complete, they forget all about the pain.
Iraq is going to be a great success story — and the MSM will disappear among the other defeatists.
Richard Romano on April 19, 2008 at 10:37 AM
It is good to see the Iraqis taking a part in the operation. This is progress. Hopefully it will get the coverage it deserves.
DAT60A3 on April 19, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Wasn’t Basra liberated four days ago?
lexhamfox on April 19, 2008 at 10:49 AM
A similar story is unfolding in Afghanistan as the Afghan special forces are now conducting operations against the Taliban making the Taliban think that the US is busy conducting those missions. The Afghans have come a long way, and their regular army still needs lots of work and training, but their elite forces are stepping up in a big way.
lawhawk on April 19, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Hey bnelson….
Point of the spear baby! A hearty ‘Well done!’ to yours. I’m sure the IA needed some…er…halp in that operation.
Limerick on April 19, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Hey, I thought they were losing.
Our media (MSM) is as poor as the Chinese media, but ours doesn’t have the excuse of being government run.
p40tiger on April 19, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Another point about China’s new manufacturing capability. In WWII we ramped up so quickly because civilian manufacturing was quickly turned over to military manufacturing.
Those plants in China making circuit boards for your i-Phones and HDTVs can just as easily be making circuit boards for ICBMs or EWACS assets.
Limerick on April 19, 2008 at 10:59 AM
ooops wrong thread! sorry!
Limerick on April 19, 2008 at 10:59 AM
T.C.B.
Taking Care of Business!
ThePrez on April 19, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Ugh, screwed that one up….
ThePrez on April 19, 2008 at 11:01 AM
The Mahdi down that well in Iran must be getting nervous.
What if a stray British shell seals him in?
profitsbeard on April 19, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Liberal pundits: “Big deal—-where’s the political reconciliation?”
The facts are the Iraqi government (even in it’s fragile state) has accomplished more goals as a functioning government than our own pathetic Pelosi led House of Reps who have done nothing but continue to be invested in the defeat of another functioning government. While the Maliki-led government appears to become more united and committed as a central entity attempting to represent all regions of Iraq, our own government remains fractured across political divides that are only growing wider.
Rovin on April 19, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Great News! Sounds like the Sadr Trend is going to have to start coming to the negotiating table soon enough and disavow their Iranian Special Groups buddies. I just wish this could’ve been done without the military aspect of it, but some people just have to learn things the hard way.
LT Nixon on April 19, 2008 at 11:30 AM
A grim milestone
tlynch001 on April 19, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Maliki must have been very successful judging by the silence of the MSM.
snaggletoothie on April 19, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Looks like all eyes will be on Sadr city now.
bnelson44 on April 19, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Excellent! We can’t be spreading real hope and change.
Limerick on April 19, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Basra has been a hell hole for a long time now. Good to see that the sheriff has come to town.
bnelson44 on April 19, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Sorry but I just don’t think this really happened. The MSM hasn’t reported it and they’re the final arbiters of truth, therefore this event doesn’t exist.
Weebork on April 19, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Hands beer over, redfaced.
Limerick on April 19, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Be interesting to see the IA 5 years down the road, I suspect, given who’s training them, they’ll be a formidable force. Even now, I see a huge difference, when they get a good NCO cadre, our job will be eased considerably.
irongrampa on April 19, 2008 at 12:18 PM
A politician who goes against his own party for the good of his country, can we get one of those here?
Les in NC on April 19, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Ya know, that’s a very good point.
I’m thinking that may also be one of the reasons (I know there are plenty more) why iran is trying to hard to destabilize the process. Imagine; a competent well-trained and led Iraqi military allied closely with the formidable U.S. military.
If I was iran, I’d be very concerned about that.
techno_barbarian on April 19, 2008 at 12:23 PM
In case you missed it: The Iraqi Army Can Hold, Too
bnelson44 on April 19, 2008 at 12:31 PM
I just did a quick check of the BBC, CBS, NBC and ABC websites. None of them have reported this story. NBC has a story taken whole from AP (the wire service not the pundit) that says that the lives of Iraqi civilians have improved in Basra but also lets it be known that things could get a lot worse at any moment. Is this what it was like to live in Stalin’s Russia?
snaggletoothie on April 19, 2008 at 12:39 PM
BTW Drudge didn’t cover it either. He must be some kind of commisar too.
snaggletoothie on April 19, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Hey bnelson44, Lim, and the rest of you who either are in theatre or have loved ones and friends there; God bless you and yours and thank you all for your service and sacrifice.
Positive history is being made right now, even though it’s being completely ignored by our ‘elites’.
Victory is closer than most will admit. I haven’t been this hopeful in a long time.
techno_barbarian on April 19, 2008 at 12:42 PM
;) I’ll pass it along!
Limerick on April 19, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Thank you.
bnelson44 on April 19, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi were unavailable for comment. According to anonyomus sources both congressional leaders were undergoing medical procedures to having their heads removed from their asses!
dmann on April 19, 2008 at 12:56 PM
The media’s silence on this is just pathetic.
WisCon on April 19, 2008 at 1:17 PM
I hear Jimmuh Carter will be going to Basra to meet with
the Mahdi army to “help” neogotiate the peace.
robo on April 19, 2008 at 1:41 PM
Obama and Hillary will just use this to back up their plans to surrender without consulting the commanders on the ground, arguing that we are no longer needed in Iraq.
Buy Danish on April 19, 2008 at 1:48 PM
You got that right…MSM so prolific at making small to moderate setback look like the apocalypse…and when anything and I mean anything goes right they are more silent than a michigan lake on an early fall morning!
RedLizard64 on April 19, 2008 at 1:49 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHA…. it would actually be funny if it wasn’t true…and er happening to us!!!
RedLizard64 on April 19, 2008 at 1:51 PM
This is something that was why we were so succesful in the first gulf war against saddams army including his Republican Guard…They had no NCO structure. and that is what makes our guys so great and why we are so successful!!! If one of the Rpublican guard Majors was killed then everything fell into disarray…nobody below him new how to lead/command. It was also a weakness because instead of investing trust in your subordinates they kept all power to themselves. In our military a LT (Company level leader) dies then the next senior guy automatically takes over because he is alway training to do so. But trust goes back up to that the leaders are making decisions, yes, even the ones that put our lives on the line, with a regard to the sanctity of our lives. Something Islamic ts can not even conceive. We will be successful (barring an Iranian/Russian full scale invasion) and so will the IA. And in any subsequent conflict they find themselves in the Espirit de Corps we have instilled in them will sustain them..may they long be our solid allies! (just one retired military guys assessment and opinion)
RedLizard64 on April 19, 2008 at 1:59 PM
Sadr city has been walled off. Guess who’s next?
dogsoldier on April 19, 2008 at 2:08 PM
His name is Joe Lieberman and his own party tried to drive him from office. Joe and I disagree about a lot domestically, but on the GWoT, he’s got it right.
trubble on April 19, 2008 at 2:14 PM
Very nice techno_, but watch out, it doesn’t match with the leftie agitprop for CHANGE, their kind of change.
Entelechy on April 19, 2008 at 2:32 PM
Yes indeed. Mr Lieberman is a truly honorable liberal. Such a thing used to exist, where a good portion of the left still put America first. Unfortunately, the left has become a socialist party and hates what makes the US special. Those “neocons” that liberals love to hate used to be part of the center left. Zel Miller was right when he said he didn’t leave the Democratic party–it left him. Lieberman recently said the same thing.
Italy’s recent results, where the communists finally fell under the threshold for viability, shows that the far left can be defeated. Unfortunately for the US, the far left has been good about obfuscating their true nature. There is a reason Lieberman endorsed McCain–and no, it’s not because McCain is not “Republican enough”. It’s because he knows how far left Mrs. Clinton and Mr Obama are.
BryanS on April 19, 2008 at 2:37 PM
If the Brits had done their job over the last six years, there would be no need for this late success. again, The French are now tougher than the British.
THE CHOSEN ONE on April 19, 2008 at 2:55 PM
McCain thinks that’s him.
Cicero43 on April 19, 2008 at 2:57 PM
McCain thinks that’s him.
Cicero43 on April 19, 2008 at 2:57 PM
Yeah, when many republicans were starting to waffle on iraq(Romeny) he dragged the Bushies into canning Rumsfeld and implementing the overdue “surge”. He also has led the fight to stop pork barrel spending i.e. earmarks and such and was vicious during the investigation of Abramoff and political corruption even on our side of the isle. Maverick is going to make a great president. Mark my words , when it’s all said and done, Maverick will be remembered with the likes of Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.
THE CHOSEN ONE on April 19, 2008 at 3:16 PM
Every liberal press whine about how bad the Iraqi military is but in the end they did their job. It took decades for West Germany to get their military act together. The Iraqi military had only four years to do it. Outstanding job.
The Iraqi insurgency is almost over. Sure you might have sporadic fighting here and there but it is safe to said within a year or two Iraq will a peaceful country.
jdun on April 19, 2008 at 3:20 PM
Mahdi army is done EXCEPT for terrorist type ops… samae with Al Q in Iraq…
Key is that irregular troops can HOLD ground, but have a very hard time TAKING ground. That was the mistake we made in the early years… we’d take the ground, but then go somewhere else and the bad guys would retake it with no opposition.
Now? We take it, garrison it, and hold it. Irregular forces would have to come together, organize, and show themselves… where they would get slammed by superior firepower.
Key is that we now, with the Iraqis, and OUR irregulars, have enough troops to both garrison, and have flying relief squads… we didn’t have enough troops to pull it off the first few years… not until the Iraqi Army stood up.
Romeo13 on April 19, 2008 at 3:24 PM
Right about now, dear Entel, the lefties are HOPING that we’ll CHANGE the subject. Not gonna happen. World events are conspiring against them. Boy have they been backing the wrong pony.
Their open cowardice and defeatism is about to come crashing down on them. I’ve been hoping the mask would finally crack wide and expose the creamy marxist centers of the radical leftists and their enabling media puppets, and it finally looks like it’s happening.
Not a second to soon, imo.
techno_barbarian on April 19, 2008 at 3:27 PM
While there is definitely truth in what you’re saying, I give full props to the British and the beloved Aussies for their help in this battle in the Long War. We all made mistakes.
What I find interesting is that many of the countries who had leftist majorities have gone Conservative. Germany, Canada, France!?!, Italy…
Contrary to the popular dogma espoused by our own left and the media, leftism is failing and falling out of favor all over the world.
I’m gonna make a prediction. I’ll probably be wrong, but so what? I predict that McC will win in November. The dems will fully implode and be swept from power in 2010 due to their historically inept and feckless control of congress.
I just hope that some of those who have served and are currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq go into politics, as their demonstrated effectiveness and hard-earned leadership skills as Soldier/Statesmen (and Women) will be very much welcome and needed to strengthen our Republic.
techno_barbarian on April 19, 2008 at 3:37 PM
techno_barbarian on April 19, 2008 at 3:37 PM
Couldn’t agree more. All of the defeatist whether they be politicians or televisions hosts(Olby) are living on borrowed time. Because we live in a video era, their rhetoric will be used against them til the end of time. Should be fun to watch.
THE CHOSEN ONE on April 19, 2008 at 3:43 PM
Yup!
techno_barbarian on April 19, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Sorry the news of this offense are going to ring all through the Iraqi republic and have a very unifying effect on the population and the governments military. It will be a huge boost of confidence and moral further strengthening the Iraqi’s own sons and daughters.
If we can only get them to re-write their Islamic constitution to remove religion from it’s doctrine.
Egfrow on April 19, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Hear, he.. (1 and 1/2 “hears”).
I not sure about “great” because he just doesn’t have the “presence” that TR and RR had. He’s simply not the orator that those men were.
He’s far and away superior to the alternatives. Not even close.
At the worst, we won’t have to hear the “chickenhawk” crap from the left.
SteveMG on April 19, 2008 at 3:47 PM
Bush should be pushing this story as it progresses. The success of our brave men and women may not get any air time, however Bush does. He should hold a congratulatory press conference Monday. Not only will it help Republicans, but will also give Malaki more favorable liking by the Iraqis. If their chosen leader is perceived on a world stage as Heroic, Iraqi’s will rally behind him regardless of sunni, shia, kurd, etc. National pride can be a wonderful thing.
THE CHOSEN ONE on April 19, 2008 at 4:05 PM
Oh, so the SOB trying to waste me with the 107mms this past week was where, at the Shatt al-Arab Hotel? Ha! The IA went in fullbore today.
And that preparatory fire rattled me but good this morning…nice.
major john on April 19, 2008 at 4:08 PM
Harry Reid: How much did this so-called mission cost the American taxpayers?
chief on April 19, 2008 at 4:39 PM
major john on April 19, 2008 at 4:08 PM
Great job you guys/gals are doing over there. I never thought we’d get to a point where Malaki was going after his own folks, but I’ve never been happier to be dead wrong. Soon even the liberal media will have to expose the truth of your valor. God bless and in the words of Confederate General Bedford Forest, “Keep up the Scare”.
THE CHOSEN ONE on April 19, 2008 at 4:40 PM
And that preparatory fire rattled me but good this morningnice. - major john
Hey Major, if you ever get a chance to drill one of those SOBs, could you please dedicate it to my daughter, Baby737? Thanks man, keep up the good work!
Tony737 on April 19, 2008 at 5:01 PM
I’m with you Brother! And once they have that bit down we can help them develop their own airpower and they will be truly formidable. I say perhaps we should be willing to oversee such a project for say, 100 years?
Maquis on April 19, 2008 at 5:02 PM
Ditto!
labrat on April 19, 2008 at 5:07 PM
Hell from the Heavens
labrat on April 19, 2008 at 5:15 PM
In hindsight, it’s so clear. I was trashing Malaki previously and had thought that he had sought to make Iraq purely a State of Shia dominance once in power. Obviously, he was just waiting for his Army to be ready. It was a nice strategic play. He allowed these militias to operate freely until he knew his hand was stronger. I wish someone would teach him of the ways of General William Tecumsah Sherman. He knew that bringing hell to the south would be cruel, but also would bring a close to the Civil War at a quicker pace. In the end, his slash and burn policy actually saved lives in the long run by ending the war sooner rather than later. If Malaki wants ultimate long lasting success, he should bring hell on these militias until no one is left standing. There can be no more “deals”. Finish it.
THE CHOSEN ONE on April 19, 2008 at 5:36 PM
I don’t believe that Maliki can take the Sherman approach inside Iraq. “War is politics carried on by other means.” Sherman was dealing with a population that considered itself to be a separate country on a continent with relatively minor outside threats. Completely breaking the Confederacy’s means and will was a step from that back towards unity. Maliki is dealing with a country that was not as badly split and is now on the mend, and any such action would move Iraq backwards, not forwards.
The value of an Arab democracy in the Middle East, or anything resembling it, should be evident. To many it is not, but it should be: it will prove that you need a strong government, not a Strong Man. A government strong enough to replace a Strong Man will be strong enough to stand up to fifth columns and to secure its borders. Iraq is centrally located, easily threatened, and easily a threat. It is said that at the Battle of the Bulge, as Americans soldiers dug in at Bastogne, one of them said “It looks like they’ve got us surrounded, the poor b—–ds.” That is what the more fearful planners in Iran and Syria must think about.
njcommuter on April 19, 2008 at 6:24 PM
And now, the good news:
ThePrez on April 19, 2008 at 6:57 PM
If Maliki is doing as well as all this, then Obama’s plan to draw down American troops over 16 months starting in another year would seem well within reason.
In fact, McCain should be able to come up with a faster withdrawal plan than that slow poke Obama who obviously does not recognize all this progress.
Holmes on April 19, 2008 at 6:58 PM
Damn, i didn`t post the link. Sadr threatens open war, which would pretty much end the lower violence tread if it blows up.
ThePrez on April 19, 2008 at 6:58 PM
AQI is also planning on going hard back into Baghdad with suicide operations. So let`s prepare ourselves for a back slide.
Keep the champaign on very heavy ice.
ThePrez on April 19, 2008 at 7:01 PM
Sherman was dealing with a population that considered itself to be a separate country on a continent with relatively minor outside threats
njcommuter on April 19, 2008 at 6:24 PM
Yeah, that’s exactly what Basra has been under British control. They put up a perimeter, but don’t control the inner workings or political sentiment. The Sherman approach is EXACTLY what is needed here. The only way you can win here is devastating force, not Shia to Shia political handshakes. Terrible analysis, dude.
THE CHOSEN ONE on April 19, 2008 at 7:21 PM
This is absolutely thrilling news, and I’m glad that we have bloggers like Captain Ed, the posts at freerepublic, and milbloggers to keep us informed about what is really happening in Iraq and in the long war.
onlineanalyst on April 19, 2008 at 7:23 PM
Cleric Sadr threatens “open war” on Iraq government
A Reuters headline from today(full article under Hotair headlines).
One doesn’t give these ultimatums unless they fear their imminent defeat. If your as bad ass you say you are just fight, and stop with the verbal rhetoric. This guy is on his last leg, Ayatollah Al Sistani is the senior voice in this region and even he is with compliance to a central government. Go get Sadr, put his ass on a stick. It will only help the central gov’t in the future and will send a signal to Iran. The signal being that we came into your back yard and routed your puppet. Guess who’s next.
THE CHOSEN ONE on April 19, 2008 at 7:54 PM
The Prez:
Do you know these people? Do you have some inside information? AlQaida has been threatening to wipe us off the face of the earth for some time now and Sadr is acting like the Black Knight in the Monty Python movie.
Remember him?
Terrye on April 19, 2008 at 10:54 PM
I mean really Prez, AlQaida says it is going to go after us? Really? Honest? Well where have they been? On Vacation, on R&R or what? I mean they did manage to kill a bunch of people at a funeral.
Hey maybe the Democrats will luck out and a bunch of people will get killed. No doubt that would just tickle them pink.
Terrye on April 19, 2008 at 10:58 PM
Well, but see, the MSM gets to have it both ways. When the Iraqi government does not respond, the MSM gets to report, “The Maliki government is an ineffective failure.” When they do respond, and there is violence, the MSM gets to report, “The Maliki government is an ineffective failure.”
Either way, it’s still nothing but bad news from Iraq. Think of all that the reporters could have accomplished if they had put this much thought and effort into real IN DEPTH REPORTING.
Oops, sorry, what was I thinking. (sometimes I crack myself up!)
conservative educator on April 19, 2008 at 11:10 PM
It’s obvious to myself and any other who has objectivity in its understanding that Iraq will be a HUGE SUCCESS. Bush will be the Harry Truman of a new generation. Approval rating is abysmal on face value, but from a distance, say fifty years…. a stubborn, close minded, unapologetic patriot.
THE CHOSEN ONE on April 19, 2008 at 11:32 PM
Despite the news media’s apparent insistence on clinging to their narrative of defeat and disaster in Basra
Come on, Ed, give them a break. It’s only because they’re bitter.
TallDave on April 20, 2008 at 12:07 AM
I’m in Basrah and all I can say is don’t believe a word the NYT prints. That paper isn’t fit for our outhouses here.
ChosenOne…it’s true that the Brits have been ‘less than aggressive’ here but that’s because their Rules of Engagement are very restrictive. Since the Americans have been here the past 3 weeks the militia has been getting pounded…literally. The militia has been run out of town for the most part and they’re getting plastered when they pop their heads up in the surrounding areas. We call it “whack-a-mole” when our forces go out to greet them with full air support.
I talk with local Iraqis on a daily basis and they are so thankful that the Americans came to town. If you look American, many Iraqi strangers will come up and shake your hand and in their very limited English say “thank you America”. Something Sen. Kerry and Murtha will never do.
JetBlast on April 20, 2008 at 1:19 AM
JetBlast on April 20, 2008 at 1:19 AM
Well done, carry on and Thank you!
dmann on April 20, 2008 at 1:58 AM
You give McCain way too much credit, and sell Rumsfeld way too short. From all evidence, McCain simply wanted the conventional approach to the Iraq war of sending in a huge, overwhelming force. Rumsfeld’s approach was far superior for the first phase of the war. Rumsfeld was proven correct when the smaller force he inserted did exactly what some “experts” said was it was inadequate to do: defeated the Saddam army in record time.
This didn’t surprise me at all. I know our military, and they do warfare very, very well.
However, once the enemy had collapsed, we shifted from invasion to occupation. And here I had more concerns, because our country’s history shows clearly that we don’t do occupation all that well.
That’s right: in spite of the never-ending stream of leftists calling us “imperialistic,” we just … aren’t.
When the occupation started, suddenly the State Department was in charge instead of the DOD. DOD still had a mission, but they were often overridden by State. Given that, it’s not really fair to blame Rumsfeld for everything that went wrong.
The surge brought in only a marginal number of extra troops: far under what the retired generals and McCain had suggested originally. It has worked, not because of the greater number of troops, but because of the shift to a true counter-insurgency mission and the willingness to work with locals and within the tribal structure of Iraqi life.
For all that, the surge would not have worked nearly as well if Al Quaeda in Iraq had not made themselves so odious that the Americans started to look like the better bet after all.
McCain deserves great credit for standing firm about Iraq, but he can’t take credit for creating the surge or the counter-insurgency tactics now in use.
He does get credit for promoting the surge once it was proposed, though.
theregoestheneighborhood on April 20, 2008 at 2:44 AM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/20/wiraq120.xml:
The link is to another deluded Spin job.
And like most political spin it has some truth.
1. 52nd IA Bde should never have been fielded that soon and it broke.
2. The 1300 was not all IA, it was ISF. 1300 out of 30,000.
3. It was about 500 IA from the green 52nd Bde (3000). About 3 percent of the IA there at that point and all from the greenest Bde in the IA at the time.
4. Just under 800 Police, almost all local or about 4 percent.
5. Surprisingly, concidering the INP’s reputation, only 44 from the INP’s 1000 man BPPF deserted.
6. What is not mentioned is what was done when it became apparent they had bit off too much. The Iraqis moved an entire division into Basrah within five days.
- 1st IA Div HQ from Anbar.
- 3rd IA Bde from Diyala.
- half of 1st IA Bde from Anbar.
- 14th IA Bde from Salahadin.
- Karbala IP Emergency Response Bde.
- INP ERU Bn (equivalent to FBI HRT).
- Hillah SWAT Bn.
That is difficult for any force.
The last time the US did a comparable move (without any prior planning), the 82nd and 101st were eating at Burger King and only had their personal ammo for the two weeks it took for the USMC’s MPS equipment and ammo to arrive for the Army to borrow from (Saudi-1990)…
Compared to Aug 2006 when the IA could not move three battalions with a month’s notice, that is a considerable improvement…
DJ Elliott on April 20, 2008 at 5:48 AM
Go, sit in the corner!
OldEnglish on April 20, 2008 at 6:12 AM
DJ,
Yeah. 52 BDE is getting regen’d.
I had a IA CPT tell me a joke about the Basrah IP.
Q: “What do dinosaurs and the Basrah Police have in common?”
A: “They are both extinct!”
I am sure glad the INP came down here. I like not getting roketed anymore…
major john on April 20, 2008 at 8:45 AM
The media is still looking for the Iraq Tet to cling to for our defeat. This time the independent media, bloggers and embedded journalists are not allowing that to happen. I will do my part by donating a copy of Michael Yon’s book Moment of Truth in Iraq to our local library.
amr on April 20, 2008 at 9:04 AM
Interesting that the NYT picked this story up early Sunday am.
Comparing Iraq, Phase II, to the American Revolution between 1775 and 1781, things seem to be moving at a fair pace for the new government.
Iraq, like most countries, has not had the luxury of folks like Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, Adams, Hancock, however.
vnjagvet on April 20, 2008 at 10:24 PM
He better hurry before it’s too late and he’s not “needed.”
silverfox on April 20, 2008 at 10:27 PM
Actually, Reagan said it before they.
silverfox on April 20, 2008 at 10:29 PM