Once Again Moqtada al-Sadr Proves Military Genius By Completely Surrendering Control Of An Iraqi City

Oh he’s a crafty one that Mookie.

They came at dawn, thousands of Iraqi troops and U.S. special forces on a mission to reclaim a lawless city from the militias who ran it.

By the end of the day, al-Amarah was under Iraqi government control — without a shot being fired.

The city had been taken over by Moqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army two years ago after British troops handed it to an ill-prepared Iraqi Army. On Thursday, the city's streets were crawling with Iraqi security forces. Soldiers searched houses as police manned checkpoints and Soviet-era tanks guarded bridges over the Tigris River.

The flood of troops, who had moved into position outside the city a week ago, had encountered no resistance as they moved in. The leaders of the Shia militias that once ruled as crime bosses and warlords were either gone or in hiding. Even the police chief fled a week ago, fearing arrest for his affiliation to the al-Mahdi Army, while the mayor, a member of the Sadrist movement, was arrested.

A couple more of these patented al-Sadr style victories and he’ll be out of business completely.

Update [Ace]: Oh, I wouldn't say al-Sadr is out of weapons. Sadrists are complaining that their top leaders are being arrested, which they claim is in violation of agreements with Maliki, but as I understand it, that sort of was the agreement.

So there you go: The Invincible Al-Sadr is fighting back... with complaints.

Boo!

posted by DrewM. at 10:37 PM

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