Sadr City now a success story

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/iraq/cst-nws-iraqwin15.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The capital's Sadr City section was once a hotbed of Shiite Muslim unrest, but it has become one of the brightest successes for the U.S. security effort. snip

Life in Sadr City, a slum of 2.5 million people, is dominated by the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose face is on posters everywhere. At police checkpoints, unarmed men loyal to Sadr enforce security, keeping car bombs and foreign fighters out.

"They're hoping they can minimize the coalition's contribution to security," said Lt. Col. Gary Luck, whose U.S. Army unit is responsible for security in Sadr City.

Despite the lack of terrorist violence, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers constantly find bodies dumped in industrial areas, bound, blindfolded and shoeless. American commanders say Sadr controls a "punishment committee" that enforces vigilante justice against the cleric's opponents and those who violate religious strictures, such as those who drink alcohol.

Here are some photos that show what the US success story in Sadr City looks like:

http://electroniciraq.net/news/2100.shtml

[peekaloo]

1. ahhhh the wretched smell of success.

:-(

[charlie]

2. Ah yes, one of our "brightest" successes

Maybe Sadr's thugs can repeat their success in Basra, where they beat, shoot, and kill people for having picnics. We can only hope.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1537512,00.html

[NNN0LHI]

5. They snuffed a few more today

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17481879.htm

In the Sadr City area of Baghdad, militiamen pulled a man from the trunk of a car and shot him and two women, saying they were running a prostitution ring, witnesses said on Wednesday.

[sshan2525]

9. A Veritable Paradise

Look out Hawaii, there's a new vacation spot out there.

[rman]

3. "unarmed men keep car bombs and foreign fighters out" - right

We could learn a thing or two from them.
Unless of course the claim is not entirely true.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. A model of the future.

The area is peaceful because the Sadr militia is in complete control, enforcing strict Islamist justice to those who do not follow their brand of faith.

A secular dictatorship has been replaced by a theocratic fundamentalist dictatorship.

That's real progress.

[dogday]

6. Winning hearts and minds

in Iraq. Rebuilding nothing, doing nothing. Where is the money going to?

[LSK]

7. success at what???

"At police checkpoints"

Is this the freedom that we are spreading???

[annabanana]

8. "one of the brightest successes for the U.S. security effort."

One of OUR successes? How on earth do they get that from al-Sadr's vigilante brigade keeping things under control?
It doesn't have anything to do with us our our presence.