Iraq's Sadr uses lull to rebuild Army

[rodeodance]

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

Iraq's Sadr uses lull to rebuild Army
Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia aims to return leaner, stronger.
By Sam Dagher | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

December 11, 2007 edition

Karbala, Iraq - For more than three months, the Mahdi Army has been largely silent. The potent, black-clad Iraqi Shiite force put down its guns in late August at the behest of Moqtada al-Sadr.

The move has bolstered improved security in Baghdad, even though the US says some Mahdi Army splinter groups that it calls "criminals" or "extremists" have not heeded Mr. Sadr's freeze.

Away from public view, however, Sadr's top aides say the anti-American cleric is anything but idle. Instead, he is orchestrating a revival among his army of loyalists entrenched in Baghdad and Shiite enclaves to the south – from the religious centers of Karbala and Najaf to the economic hub of Basra. What is in the making, they say, is a better-trained and leaner force free of rogue elements accused of atrocities and crimes during the height of the sectarian war last year.

Many analysts say what may reemerge is an Iraqi version of Lebanon's Hizbullah – a state within a state that embraces politics while maintaining a separate military and social structure that holds powerful sway at home and in the region.



Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1211/p01s06-wome.html

[Posteritatis]

1. Looks like the Coalition's not the only one surging?

Sadr's militia managed to earn the USMC's respect one of the last times they tangled (at least going by interviews with the Marines I'd seen); I wonder if one or both parties is planning a second around.

[wellst0nev0ter]

2. "No One Could Have Predicted. . ."

We'll be lucky to get out of that hellhole with just our tail between our legs.

[saigon68]

4. A number of us did

This is not "Nationalism" like Viet-Nam

Its "Religious War" like the Crusades

The Crusades were a series of military conflicts of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe during 1095–1291, most of which were sanctioned by the Pope in the name of the Catholic Church

The Crusades originally had the goal of recapturing Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim rule and were originally launched in response to a call from the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire for help against the expansion of the Muslim Seljuk Turks into Anatolia.

[Supersedeas]

3. nothing to see here -- feed them more "the surge is working" stories

[donkeyotay]

5. Snow wants to make sure bush receives credit for this, too. nt