10,000 Iraqi troops bring calm to Sadr City

[BobbyVan]

The Army moved in under a ceasefire deal struck ten days earlier between the main Shia political bloc in the Government and supporters of Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, the charismatic Shia cleric who commands the al-Mahdi Army.

The offensive, involving 10,000 Iraqi troops, came after their successful campaign to restore Basra, Iraq's second city, to government control. No US forces are involved. They instead keep watch from the southern third of Sadr City.

“There are no winners and there are no losers,” said Falah Shanshel, the leading MP for Hojatoleslam al-Sadr's political wing. “The victory was to stop the bloodshed of local people and to make sure that the sort of destruction you see all around does not happen again,” he told The Times as he toured the battle-scarred district, where building after building lies in ruins, wrecked by Hellfire missiles, roadside bombs, rockets and bullets.

The guns are finally silent in Sadr City, but tensions between the two sides remain, with local leaders accusing Iraqi soldiers of mistreating residents as they conduct operations in the sprawling township - a charge the military denies.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article3987824.ece?print=yes&randnum=1211551025232

(It looks like the Iraqis are finally stepping up. I'm looking forward to all of our troops coming home as soon as possible!)