Gorilla’s Guides

They’ve been trying to get rid of him since 2004 why would they stop now? He’s an uppity sand nigger and he needs to be introduced to force.

There has been heavy fighting in Sadr city without interruption. Parts of the city are relatively subdued but only relatively. Air strikes and shelling by the Americans continue. There is the sound of explosions coming from the city as we write.

The American assault on Sadr city is following the pattern of their previous “surge” operations including the one in Basrah, which, contrary to what you might believe from media reports is continuing. The Americans and their allies in the GZG have been trying to break al-Sadr’s power from the outset this latest assault is no more than the latest and the most blatant. The American strategy has been the same as the previous years as have been the tactics. (See sidebar.)

Last week was eventful. The Sadrist office in the Noumaneiyah, in Kut was stormed the occupants shot, and the office set on fire. The Sadrists say that the attacking forces were GZG troops backed up Americans. We have not been able to confirm those reports independently. However in this case it is very likely that the Sadrists are telling the truth, or something close to it.

The attack on the office which was a major source of charitable relief in Kut follows the pattern of American raids aimed at liquidating Sadrist leaders established in December 2006 during the unlawful killing of Sahib al-Aamiri the head of the Shaheed Allah foundation near to Najaf and the attempt to kill Amer al-Husseini the head of the social commission in al-Sadr’s office on 9th August 2007. Both Dawa and SIIC are desperate to hang on to as much of Wasit as they can and the Sadrists’ charitable works in the governorate are a major impediment to them doing so. Neither Dawa nor SIIC have any problems with “tipping off” the invaders and then sitting back and watching the Americans send in either Peshmerga or GZG troops (closely backed up by American ground support and air power) to eliminate the “rogue” elephant element.

Also on Friday Riyadh al-Nouri was killed as he returned to the Sadrist stronghold of Kufa this represents a major (and very foolish) strike at al-Sadr’s family and at the movement as a whole. Al-Nouri was Muqtada al-Sadr’s brother-in-law and the two were personally very close. Personally very charismatic, al-Nouri was both liked and respected throughout the Sadrist movement — including by those who deplored his habit of consistently winning the arguments for moderation and restraint. He had on several occasions advised al-Sadr to moderate his stance and restrain his followers (advice which al-Sadr took) and was sufficiently trusted by him to be the designated negotiator between the Sadrists and the GZG.

Sadrist leaders and al-Sadr himself were quick to lay the blame for al-Nouri’s murder squarely and fairly where it belongs at door of the Badr Brigade (GZG) forces in control of the area where he was shot. Al-Sadr declared three days of mourning and called for restraint from his followers and an investigation of the murder. The panicked imposition of a curfew in Najaf and the very panicky statements by one GZG politician after another denouncing the murder are indicative of the horror with which senior GZG armed forces greeted the news of al-Nouri’s murder.

It is hard to see how the outrage over this murder, particularly given its timing, can be contained. Our sources within the Sadrists right throughout the South and in Baghdad speak of fury at the continuing onslaught by GZG and American forces against the Mahdi army and at the massive level of civilian casualties being caused by the American military’s habit of recklessly bombarding civilians and shrugging off the resulting dead women and children as “collateral damage” which they “regret”. The tone of the coverage of the American assaults on Sadr City and al-Shula on Sadrist sites and in Sadrist publications has become noticeably more strident.

Sadr City, children are dying in large numbers due to the shells launched by the American forces and government on the population indiscriminately .. All of this is done amid the silence of the politicians and most of the members of the House of Representatives who have acquiesced with the occupation forces and are party their crimes.

With their usual impeccable timing the Americans chose Friday to make thinly veiled threats under the guise of conciliatory remarks about al-Sadr. The American war criminal Robert Gates and his fellow war criminal Admiral Michael Mullen made soothing noises about the important role al-Sadr had in Iraki politics if he renounced violence:

Gates said anyone who is prepared to “work within the political process in Iraq, and peacefully, are not enemies of the United States.”

While Mullen described him as “somewhat of an enigma” adding that

“So, I think Sadr clearly is a very important and key player in all this. Exactly where he’s headed and what impact he’ll have long term, it’s, I think, is out there still to be determined.”

Source: AP: Gates: Iran Boosts Support for Militias

Al-Sadr was having none of it. He publicly denounced Gates as a terrorist saying of the Americans that they had:

“bombed our cities and our people and [that they] occupy our lands and attack our children and our women , steal our money, our rights and our wealth.”

Coupled with his remarks that the Americans had acted “traitorously and aggressively against our dear martyr” and that “The occupiers will not rest in our land as long as I am alive” it is hard to see him wanting to restrain his followers for much longer. Particularly as one of the key voices for restraint, who happened also to be his brother in law and one of his closest advisers has now been murdered, and the same people who murdered him are busily trying to exclude the Sadrist from the elections.

In Sadr city itself the situation is grim. Bread prices have tripled, other food stuffs have doubled in price, and there is no fuel for the bakeries other than black oil which contaminates what bread there is to be had. We can confirm reports that despite the alleged lifting of the curfew that the Americans continue to blockade the city and that the streets are almost deserted. In sectors one to nine only pedestrians are visible on the streets and there are few of those. There is little sign of the vaunted “humanitarian relief” ordered by Maliki and we have no word that any of the many attempts by the Red Crescent to deliver essential medical and food supplies met with success. What we can confirm is that no government services have entered the city for 17 days and that there is neither water nor electricity.

We can also confirm the reports both in Arabic and English that the Americans are erecting walls in the city ostensibly to prevent rocket fire into the Green Zone it is difficult to see how erecting these barriers will achieve that aim just as it is difficult to see how this is for the “protection” of residents. As usual it is an American lie. The walls are being erected to try to section the city into mini ghettoes. The more easily to pick off the inhabitants.

Omar Khdhayyir, Saba Ali Ihsaan, Mohammed Khader Hashi.