Looks like US forces have pushed into Sadr city to get rid of those mortar attacks:
U.S. forces are pushing Shiite militias farther from the Green Zone in an attempt to put the area out of range for rockets and mortars that have recently pounded the diplomatic and government enclave.
The strategy, which targets the southern outskirts of the Shiite district of Sadr City, began as part of a wider crackdown on armed Shiite groups that left Iraqi leaders in disarray after strong resistance and protests from the powerful Mahdi Army militia.
But for American commanders, the showdowns offered an opportunity to move against the launch sites, known as “rocket boxes,” which soldiers previously had not reached through the teeming Sadr City streets.
U.S. troops reinforced positions on the edges of Sadr City , an 8-square-mile slum with about 2.5 million people , and have battled their way into suspected launch sites.
“We’ve seized the ‘rocket boxes’ and pushed them north,” said Col. John Hort, commander of the Third Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
And thanks to Blackfive for this video of our forces fighting in that city:
Additionally Bill Roggio updates us on the fight in Basra:
Eleven days after Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki launched Operation Knights’ Assault in Basrah, the picture of the fighting in the city has become clearer. Maliki launched the operation after giving limited notice to Multinational Forces Iraq, and an inexperienced Iraqi Army brigade from the newly formed 14th Division cracked doing the opening days of the fighting. The Iraqi Army rushed in forces into Basrah, including Army and elite police units, to stabilize the fighting, and six days after the operation began, Muqtada al Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army to stand down in Basrah, Baghdad, and the South.
Apparently the operation was supposed to occur this summer but Maliki pushed it up, against Petreaus’ advice. Once heavy resistance was met some of the Iraqi soldiers deserted.
A brigade commander and the executive officer of a Police unit in Basrah also deserted their posts, the Times reported. Several dozen officers are believed to have failed to carry out their duties. Most of those who deserted were green troops from the newly-formed brigade. “From what we understand, the bulk of these were from fairly fresh troops who had only just gotten out of basic training and were probably pushed into the fight too soon,” an unnamed US military officer told the Times. Overall “1,000 to 1,500 Iraqi forces had deserted or underperformed,” according to the Times, a number “that represent a little over 4 percent of the total” forces in Basrah.
The Iraqi security forces in the Basrah region have long been suspected to be infiltrated with militias. The operation in Baghdad has exposed the level of infiltration, which at first glance, to not appear to be as severe as thought. There are over 16,000 police and 14,000 soldiers deployed in Basrah.
But apparently the Iraqi army performed well in other areas:
While the focus of the reporting centered on Basrah, the Iraqi security forces also combated the Mahdi Army in the Shia cities between Basrah and Baghdad. The Iraqi Army was able to secure Hillah, Kut, Karbala, Najaf, Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, and Amarah in a matter of days after the fighting started. By March 29, the fighting in these cities largely stopped.
The Iraqi security forces quickly silenced the Mahdi Army in Najaf, the scene of Sadr’s uprisings in March and August 2004. Pro-government protests were staged in Diwaniyah, Karbala, and Hillah just days after the Basrah operation began. Security was deemed good enough in Hillah that the police SWAT team was deployed to Basrah.
Scores of Mahdi Army fighters were killed and hundreds captured in the southern region between Baghdad and Basrah. Major General Rick Lynch, the commander of Multinational Division Central, which controls Karbala, Najaf, Babil, and Wasit provinces, said 69 Shia terrorists were killed and 537 suspects were captured. Of those captured, about 230 remain in custody. Lynch estimated about 600 Shia terrorists were divided among 10 different cells in the provinces in Multinational Division Central’s area of operations.
So, while the operation could of gone better all in all they did a pretty good job killing many of the thugs.
See author page
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/umedia/20080404/cp.ea5888d70f87c0fa91240778ba8810ad
This cartoon matches the story.
And for how long will this area of the rocket boxes remain under the control of the US Army ?
My guess is that the American leftists hope that it is not for long.
“And for how long will this area of the rocket boxes remain under the control of the US Army ?”
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0_feLSmJcspNYz9g3tqDkkwXD2QD8VSIPN00
In yet a stranger twist of affairs a newfound political accord is bridging political divides, for the moment, coming together as one to weaken a political rival, without even having to utilize their own military support.
As a recent 15 point statement now calls for all militias to disband its subtext is a call for Sadr’s militia to disband.
Now that the Badr Brigade and pro-Maliki militias are understood as the Iraqi army and police, the Kurd’s Peshmerga is understood to be their army and police, and, most very recently, the Sunnis militias are now understood in terms of Awakening councils, as the Sons of Iraq, paid and sanctioned by the US military, the only militia out of step as “official” is Sadr’s Mahdi Army.
As none of the above sects are really interested in Iraqi unity, Sadr now stands to be pushed out of politics or lose his army, or both. Now various Iraqi factions have Sadr in their cross-hairs as Maliki pines to pull the trigger asap: But everyone wants to know if violence erupt again, or worse, spread as a national affliction? And then what comes next, what group will take Sadr’s place next, necessarily, as the outsider, –as all the groups march to their own diverse nationalism and anti-Iraqi sentiments?