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August 17, 2004
Get Some!
Via Jeff at Backcountry Conservative, here's a report on what our Marines are up to - and up against - at Fallujah.
There is perhaps "no better combined-arms raid force in the world" than a Marine Expeditionary Unit, Col. Jeffery Bearor told National Review Online Friday. Unfortunately for Shiite firebrand Moqtada al Sadr, that's just the force that has been brought to bear on his Mahdi-army militiamen in and around the holy city of Najaf.
On August 5, after months of allowing al Sadr's insurgency to go virtually unchecked, the newly arrived 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (11th MEU) — including attached U.S. Army cavalry elements and Iraqi National Guard troops — began battling the Mahdi army in force.Last Thursday, the 11th MEU launched a major offensive toward Najaf's city center. On Friday, a tenuous ceasefire was called to allow for negotiations between Iraqi-government officials and al Sadr's chief lieutenants. The talks broke down on Saturday, and the U.S.-led force resumed the offensive early Sunday.
Perhaps al Sadr, reportedly slightly wounded, believes he can buy more time. Perhaps, he hopes Najaf will become another Fallujah: There, al Qaeda strongman Abu Musab al Zarqawi's guerilla forces were being systematically destroyed by U.S. Marines when — in a glaring political move — the Americans were called off to allow a somewhat impotent all-Iraqi brigade to move into the city in early May (Fallujah is still a dangerous battle-zone and Zarqawi is still at large).
Perhaps al Sadr believes his ranks will swell dramatically if the Americans continue pressing the attack, particularly if holy sites like Najaf's Imam Ali mosque are directly targeted, collaterally damaged, or destroyed. The mosque, which has been used as a battlefield sanctuary by Mahdi militiamen, is adjacent to a vast cemetery where much of the fighting has taken place.
Exhorting his followers to continue battling the Americans even if he is captured or killed, al Sadr may be beginning to accept that his days are numbered. Or he may be trying to infuse a fighting spirit in his militiamen.
Either way, he is clearly underestimating the determination of the fledgling Iraqi government and U.S. military commanders to ensure that Najaf will be no Fallujah.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that our Marines will be allowed to finish their task this time. If they had been allowed to take out Sadr last summer, it would have prevented a lot of present-day problems.
Posted by Deb at August 17, 2004 12:12 PM
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