Doug Lorimer
The August 7 Washington Post reported that after a "predawn raid by Iraqi troops and American military advisers on a stronghold of Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr erupted into a two-hour gun battle Monday", pro-US Iraqi PM Nuri al Maliki made a televised address apologising for the raid.
Maliki, who leads a coalition of Shiite Islamist parties, said he was "very angered" by the raid into the heart of Sadr City, Baghdad's 2-million-strong Shiite slum district, which "was conducted without the agreement of the government" — an admission that it is the US military that controls the operations of Iraqi "government" troops.
The raid, which targeted members of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, was part of an offensive the US occupation forces began in early July against "sectarian death squads" — even though it is well-known that Baghdad's real death squads operate out of the US "adviser"-dominated Iraqi security forces, particularly the interior ministry's 11,000-strong Iraqi Special Police Commando Division.
The August 14 USA Today reported that US officials estimate the Mahdi Army has 6000-8000 members in Sadr City. "The growing strength of the Mahdi Army", the US national daily reported, "is raising concerns that an ongoing US-Iraqi offensive could trigger a clash with the group ... US and Iraqi officials have been careful to say the Baghdad offensive is designed to go after sectarian death squads and militias of all stripes, partly to avoid singling out the Mahdi Army, which clashed with US forces two years ago."
In April 2004, the US occupation forces launched an offensive to "capture or kill" Sadr, an outspoken opponent of the US occupation of Iraq. By November 2004, the Mahdi Army had fought the US military to a stalemate in Sadr City and in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
During 2005, an uneasy truce prevailed between the US-led occupation forces and Sadr's movement, which, since the January parliamentary election, has 32 MPs, more than any other single party.
In an op-ed piece in the August 9 Los Angeles Times, Ragan Menon, a professor of international relations at Lehigh University and a fellow at the New America Foundation, warned that Washington's public support for Israel's war on Lebanon was threatening to lead to an "open rift between [Iraq's] Shiites and the United States".
After noting that "Sadr was the first to rail against the Israeli bombardment and Washington's fulsome support of it", Menon wrote: "Sadr is driven by more than religious solidarity with Hezbollah. He also seeks to outflank moderate Shiite leaders, particularly Prime Minister Nuri Maliki, perhaps even Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, and he knows that the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon could boost his already substantial political stock.
"Not surprisingly, then, Maliki was quick to condemn Israeli attacks in the wake of Sadr's statements. Other senior Shiite clerics and Iraq's main Shiite parties, Dawa and the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, weighed in, expressing solidarity with Lebanon and lambasting Israel.
"After some delay, Sistani, by far the most influential Shiite leader, also pilloried Israel's 'flagrant aggression' and 'outrageous oppression' and, while not specifically naming the United States, accused the world of 'turning a blind eye' to Lebanese suffering.
"After Israel's July 30 attack on a residential building in Qana ... Sistani issued a fatwa condemning the 'dastardly crime' by the 'Israeli enemy'. He called for an immediate ceasefire and warned that Muslims 'will not excuse parties that put obstacles in the way of this'. (What he left unsaid, but that was nevertheless clear to all who read the fatwa, was that it is the United States that opposed the ceasefire for several weeks in hopes of giving Israel time to destroy Hezbollah's bastions in southern Lebanon.)"
Menon warned that it "is one thing for the United States to have Sadr as an enemy; it's altogether different to lose the support of moderate Shiite leaders such as Maliki and Sistani". Without such support, "the US would be forced to fold its tent and go home". A ceasefire in Lebanon, he argued, was the only way "to avoid this scenario".
The August 11 New York Times reported that the US ambassador to Iraq had claimed that Iran "is pressing Shiite militias here to step up attacks" against the US forces in response to the Israeli assault on Lebanon. "His remarks are the first public statements by a senior Bush administration official directly linking violence in Iraq to American support of Israel's military campaign in Lebanon."
Iran and Hezbollah want the Iraqi Shiite leaders "to behave by mobilising against the [US-led occupation] coalition or taking actions against the coalition", ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told the NYT, which noted that on August 4 Sadr had "summoned up to 100,000 followers to an anti-Israeli and anti-American rally in Baghdad".
The August 14 Washington Post claimed that "Iran's prodding has led to a surge in mortar and rocket attacks on the fortified Green Zone" in Baghdad.