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Reports From Iraq > Tue., Apr. 27, 2004
America Attacks Najaf
The American assault is precariously close to the shrine
of Imam Ali, the holiest site in Shia Islam. |
by Aaron Glantz
BAGHDAD, IRAQ-- U.S. troops backed by helicopter gunships
have entered the holy Shiite city of Najaf, clashing with
the Mehdi Army of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The
US military says 64 Iraqi fighters were killed, though hospital
officials in Najaf told the Arab satellite network al-Jazeera
most of the 28 injured received from the clashes appear to
be civilians.
"We're going to drive this guy Sadr into the dirt,"
Brigadier General Mark Herling told reporters. "Either
he tells his militia to put down their arms, form a political
party and fight with ideas not guns, or he's going to find
a lot of them killed."
The fighting Monday night marks the first time U.S. troops
tried to enter Najaf -- moving into Spanish military base
on the edge of the city as 1,400 soldiers from Spain, Honduras,
and the Dominican Republic pull out of Iraq. It's also the
same spot where gun-battles first erupted at the start of
this month after US forces closed Sadr's newspaper, al-Hawza,
and arrested one of his top lieutenants. After that, occupation
authorities produced an arrest warrant for al-Sadr announcing
they wouldn't rest until he was captured or killed.
"What we are concerned about mainly is the safety of
the people and the religious shrines in Najaf and Karbala,"
says Dr. Sa'ad Jawad Kindil of the Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which the Bush Administration
gave a seat on the Iraqi Governing Council. His organization
is trying to mediate between Muqtada al-Sadr and the US military.
"The religious magi, Grand Ayatolla Ali Sistani and others
have called on all parties with guns to get out of the towns
and that includes the American Army."
He says an American withdrawal from Najaf until the after
the planned restoration of Iraqi sovereignty June 30th represents
the best hope for protecting the people and protect the sacred
shrine of Imam Ali.
"Any outlaw memorandum against al-Sadr must be taken
through Iraqi channels and must be dealt with through Iraqi
channels and with Iraqi authority," Dr. Sa'ad Jawad Kindil
told Pacifica. "If we have a memorandum against al-Sadr
that does not justify any American military action in the
area."
Also key to defusing the dispute, according to SCIRI's Dr.
Kindil is allowing Iraqi's to take a greater role in keeping
security in Iraq. "From the very beginning it was clear
American forces would not be able to maintain security,"
he says. "They don't know the people, the people don't
know them and they don't know the people and they don't know
the country. There is no trust between those two sides as
between the Iraqi forces and the people."
But SCIRI's plan has gotten a cool response from the US
government, which plans to continue to command not only its
own force of 135,000 after the political hand-over but also
control over the new Iraqi Army its trained after the over-throw
of Saddam Hussein. Speaking Friday on the American network
Fox News, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said U.S. control
of Iraqi forces is necessary "because you have to have
unity of command. You can't have two military forces operating
independently of one another. So to some extent, they would
yield some of their sovereignty to our military commanders."
But that kind of talk seems destined to result in more fighting
and death in Iraq. In his sermon at Friday prayers in Najaf,
Muqtada al-Sadr demanded an election before giving up the
arms of his Mehdi Army. "If I agree with the law of the
Americans and their followers it will be as if I approve of
them and a man like me will never approve."
In his sermon, al-Sadr quoted one of Shia Islam's most important
martyrs, Imam Hussein to explain his position: "Our people
didn't give our hand to the devil," he quoted Hussein,
"We have our dignity so we can't be traitors."
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