Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
June 18, 2008
Pg. 9
Today's deadline for surrender of al-Sadr's militia a test of strategy
By Charles Levinson, USA Today
AMARAH, Iraq — When Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki went on TV last Saturday, he told the militants in this southern city they have until today to surrender or face battle on Thursday.
"So much for the surprise," says Maj. Darren LeMaster, a U.S. adviser to Iraq's national police force.
U.S. military advisers rolled into the Iraqi military camp here on Saturday expecting the assault to begin Monday on one of the last strongholds of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Instead of gearing up for battle, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are spending days idling, seeking shelter from the 115-degree heat and howling dust storms.
"The government doesn't want a big battle and a lot of bloodshed, so they tell the enemy beforehand," says Gen. Hussein al-Awadi, who is in charge of the paramilitary force of 40,000. "If we can do this without fighting, the people will support us more."
For the Iraqi government, giving the enemy plenty of warning and allowing top militia leaders to slip away has become the preferred approach. That was done this year in successive offensives against al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in Basra, Sadr City and Mosul.
The tactic has advantages and shows that the Iraqi government grasps the fundamentals of battling an insurgency, in which winning the hearts and minds of the people is more important than capturing the enemy, U.S. officials say.
It gives Iraqi leaders time to ward off the enemy without a fight and avoid civilian casualties that can erode public support.
"It's a trade-off," says Col. David Boslego, commander of another team of U.S. advisers in Amarah. "Most of the high-value targets will have left the area, so you're losing the opportunity to capture these guys. But there will be less likelihood of collateral damage (civilian deaths), so it won't alienate the population."
On his way here from Baghdad, Boslego says, a local Iraqi policeman stopped him at a checkpoint and asked whether the U.S. soldiers were on their way to the operation in Amarah. The secret was clearly out of the bag.
"That is not a good sign," Boslego said at the time.
Al-Awadi and other Iraqi commanders expect little resistance in Amarah, where streets were ruled by militia gunmen until recently.
Al-Awadi says militia commanders have decided not to fight and ordered their soldiers to pull improvised explosive devices out of the ground.
"The goal is to convince the militias that the Iraqi security forces are too powerful, and that it is better not to fight at all," he says.
Rather than attacking, Iraqi commanders have rolled long convoys of armored vehicles down the main streets of this city's most dangerous neighborhoods.
American F-16s have buzzed the town at regular intervals, as a reminder that U.S. air power is ready.
"We're sending a message to the citizens not to be afraid, that we're here, we're strong, and we can protect you," al-Awadi says. "And we have a message for the militias that we are here, we are powerful, and we can fight you."
As today's deadline runs out for militants to turn over weapons, the government has changed two local commanders, firing Amarah's police chief and replacing the head of the force that guards Iraq's border with Iran 30 miles from here.
Al-Awadi says the government has spent time hammering out political deals with influential local tribal sheiks.
Most important, he says, the government has had the chance to work out an agreement with al-Sadr's militiamen.
Followers of al-Sadr have said they won't resist the military operation here as long as the government doesn't commit human rights violations or arrest suspects without warrants.
Adel Mhodir, the Sadrist governor of Maysan province — of which Amarah is the capital — says local officials have "expressed their support for the imposing law operation due to start in the coming few days."
June 18, 2008
Pg. 9
Today's deadline for surrender of al-Sadr's militia a test of strategy
By Charles Levinson, USA Today
AMARAH, Iraq — When Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki went on TV last Saturday, he told the militants in this southern city they have until today to surrender or face battle on Thursday.
"So much for the surprise," says Maj. Darren LeMaster, a U.S. adviser to Iraq's national police force.
U.S. military advisers rolled into the Iraqi military camp here on Saturday expecting the assault to begin Monday on one of the last strongholds of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Instead of gearing up for battle, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are spending days idling, seeking shelter from the 115-degree heat and howling dust storms.
"The government doesn't want a big battle and a lot of bloodshed, so they tell the enemy beforehand," says Gen. Hussein al-Awadi, who is in charge of the paramilitary force of 40,000. "If we can do this without fighting, the people will support us more."
For the Iraqi government, giving the enemy plenty of warning and allowing top militia leaders to slip away has become the preferred approach. That was done this year in successive offensives against al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in Basra, Sadr City and Mosul.
The tactic has advantages and shows that the Iraqi government grasps the fundamentals of battling an insurgency, in which winning the hearts and minds of the people is more important than capturing the enemy, U.S. officials say.
It gives Iraqi leaders time to ward off the enemy without a fight and avoid civilian casualties that can erode public support.
"It's a trade-off," says Col. David Boslego, commander of another team of U.S. advisers in Amarah. "Most of the high-value targets will have left the area, so you're losing the opportunity to capture these guys. But there will be less likelihood of collateral damage (civilian deaths), so it won't alienate the population."
On his way here from Baghdad, Boslego says, a local Iraqi policeman stopped him at a checkpoint and asked whether the U.S. soldiers were on their way to the operation in Amarah. The secret was clearly out of the bag.
"That is not a good sign," Boslego said at the time.
Al-Awadi and other Iraqi commanders expect little resistance in Amarah, where streets were ruled by militia gunmen until recently.
Al-Awadi says militia commanders have decided not to fight and ordered their soldiers to pull improvised explosive devices out of the ground.
"The goal is to convince the militias that the Iraqi security forces are too powerful, and that it is better not to fight at all," he says.
Rather than attacking, Iraqi commanders have rolled long convoys of armored vehicles down the main streets of this city's most dangerous neighborhoods.
American F-16s have buzzed the town at regular intervals, as a reminder that U.S. air power is ready.
"We're sending a message to the citizens not to be afraid, that we're here, we're strong, and we can protect you," al-Awadi says. "And we have a message for the militias that we are here, we are powerful, and we can fight you."
As today's deadline runs out for militants to turn over weapons, the government has changed two local commanders, firing Amarah's police chief and replacing the head of the force that guards Iraq's border with Iran 30 miles from here.
Al-Awadi says the government has spent time hammering out political deals with influential local tribal sheiks.
Most important, he says, the government has had the chance to work out an agreement with al-Sadr's militiamen.
Followers of al-Sadr have said they won't resist the military operation here as long as the government doesn't commit human rights violations or arrest suspects without warrants.
Adel Mhodir, the Sadrist governor of Maysan province — of which Amarah is the capital — says local officials have "expressed their support for the imposing law operation due to start in the coming few days."