Ablogination

The “Surge” would never have yielded a goddamn thing if it wasn’t for the Mehdi Militia and the truce brokered with them.
Now, without Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraq is once again plunged into turmoil.
Face it, we’re not in control of anything.

Such calm and serenity

BRING THEM HOME, NOW!

From Reuters:

* Security forces fight Mehdi Army in Basra

* Sadr threatens national “civil revolt”

* Fighting, curfews in southern towns (Adds mortar attack in Basra, fighting in Hilla, curfews in Nassiriya, Diwaniya)

By Aref Mohammed

BASRA, Iraq, March 25 (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces battled the Mehdi Army militia in Basra on Tuesday in a drive to win control of the southern oil city, but violence and unrest spread to Baghdad and other cities.

Police and health workers said at least 12 people were killed in the fighting in districts of central and northern Basra where Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army has a strong presence.

In a statement read out by a senior aide on Tuesday, Sadr called on Iraqis to stage sit-ins all over Iraq and said he would declare a “civil revolt” if attacks by U.S. and Iraqi security forces continued. He also threatened a “third step", but said it was too early to announce what it would be.

Columns of black smoke rose above Basra and explosions and machinegun fire could be heard. Reuters Television pictures showed masked gunmen firing mortars in the street, while others drove around in captured Iraqi army and police vehicles.