Iraqi PM: Basra Strikes A "Success"
No Official End Given For Offensive Against Shiite Militants
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Iraqi woman walks past the demolished car that was destroyed during a bombing and recent clashes between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi government forces backed by the US military in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 1, 2008. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)
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Residents check damage to their apartments after a bombing and recent clashes between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi government forces backed by the US military in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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Twelve-year-old Haidar Mohammed, foreground, lies in hospital in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 31, 2008. The boy was wounded in clashes Sunday between the Mahdi Army and government forces backed by the American military. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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A Mahdi Army fighter stands next to a burning Iraq armored police vehicle outside a state-run al-Iraqiya TV facility in Basra, Iraq, March 30, 2008. Mahdi Army fighters stormed the facility in the southern city on Sunday, forcing Iraqi military guards surrounding the building to flee, and set armored vehicles on fire. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
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The statement by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, however, stopped short of declaring an end to the offensive as the Shiite leader faced criticism that the government had been unprepared for the ferocious resistance mounted by al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Sporadic fighting, meanwhile, continued in Baghdad and Basra despite a tense calm that followed a peace agreement by al-Sadr.
The fighting in the capital and cities to the south has helped make March the deadliest month for Iraqis since last summer, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press.
At least 1,247 Iraqis, including civilians and security personnel, had been killed as of Monday, according to figures compiled from police and U.S. military reports. The figure was nearly double the tally for February and the biggest monthly toll since August, when 1,956 people died violently.
Iraqi government figures showed a similar trend, with at least 1,079 people were killed in March - 923 civilians, 156 security forces.
That was an increase from 718 the month before, including 633 civilians and 85 security forces, according to figures compiled from data provided by officials at the health, interior and defense ministries.
Underscoring the fragility of the peace agreement, Harith al-Edhari, the director of al-Sadr's office in Basra, demanded the government stop continuing random raids and detentions.
Al-Edhari's complaint followed a raid by Iraqi commandos on the house of a wanted Mahdi Army battalion leader that prompted clashes in a northern section of the city, although the suspect was not home at the time.
In ordering his militia to stop fighting on Sunday, al-Sadr also demanded concessions from the Iraqi government, including an end to the "illegal raids and arrests" of his followers and the release of all detainees who have not been convicted of any offenses.
U.S. and Iraqi officials insisted the operation was directed at criminals and rogue militiamen - some allegedly linked to Iran - but not against the Sadrist movement, which controls 30 of the 275 seats in the national parliament.
But the fighting mainly involved Mahdi Army fighters, provoking intense anger among al-Sadr's followers.
The agreement - said to have been brokered in Iran - stopped short of disarming the militia and left Iraq's U.S.-backed prime minister politically battered and humbled within his own Shiite power base.
However, al-Maliki insisted in a statement issued by his office that the operation launched a week ago Tuesday had achieved "security, stability and success" in Basra.
He also announced a seven-point plan to stabilize the area, including recruiting 10,000 more police and army forces from local tribes and moving to enhance public services for the embattled population of some 2 million.
Al-Maliki had promised to crush the militias that have effectively ruled Basra for nearly three years. The U.S. military launched air strikes in the city to back the Iraqi effort.
But the ferocious response by the Mahdi Army, including rocket fire on the U.S.-controlled Green Zone and attacks throughout the Shiite south, caught the government by surprise and sent officials scrambling for a way out of the crisis.
The confrontation enabled al-Sadr to show that he remains a powerful force capable of challenging the Iraqi government, the Americans and mainstream Shiite parties that have sought for years to marginalize him. And the outcome cast doubt on President George W. Bush's assessment that the Basra battle was "a defining moment" in the history "of a free Iraq."
With gunmen again off the streets, a round-the-clock curfew imposed in Baghdad last week was lifted at 6 a.m. Monday, except in Sadr City and two other Shiite neighborhoods. Streets of the capital buzzed with traffic and commerce.
Iraqis also cautiously emerged on the streets of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, with peddlers selling fruit from stalls and men cleaning up huge piles of trash from the roadsides.
Women shrouded in black and children also lined up to collect water and food from aid workers after days of curfew.
In other developments:
allowing scores of husband-and-wife soldiers to live and sleep
together in the war zone - a move aimed at preserving marriages,
boosting morale and perhaps bolstering re-enlistment rates at a
time when the military is struggling to fill its ranks five years
into the fighting.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The secrets of tennis legend 
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See all 163 CommentsI can easily see how writing like the above can provoke so many reader comments, along with those mainstream media criticisms that are obviously already floating around cyberspace! This is one PATHETIC attempt at summarizing another cbs.com article (April 1)titled: "Iraq''s Prime Minister: Basra Operation ''A Success''". What is getting criticized is the ommission of "the military said" at the end of this first sentence, making it appear most unsupported and therefore not credible. THEN to add more insult to injury, Major Cheadle said that ground forces called for the airstrike, but then went on to deny that US forces were involved... HUH?? That makes absolutely NO sense, and CBS TRULY OUGHT TO BE ASHAMED of themselves for posting such junk reporting!!
So they can run away and join forces with the Mahdi army?
I thought GW Bush was an idiot - al-Maliki is just as bad.
Got it, thanks again... I think he had to go through all of that again, in addition to the IT part, maybe another 2 weeks or so added.
Oct. 30 - When recruit training comes to an end, the School of Infantry takes over to train Marines in accordance with their ethos, "every Marine a rifleman" and to prepare them for any combat situation.
Recently, to ensure that ethos remain, seven days of weapons, tactical and medical training were added to extend on the original training being conducted at SOI.
SOI consists of Marine Combat Training and Infantry Training Battalion, which have both added a week to their training schedule. MCT, originally 22 days, is now 29 and ITB changed from 52 days to 59.
"Seven days doesn''t seem like much time, but when conducting 12-14 hours of combat training per day, the additional 84 hours or more makes a difference," said Maj. Andrew Del Gaddio, a principal officer whose title is declined due for security reasons at Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry East.
In addition to the training already being conducted, the seven days will give new Marines more time to focus on important factors of combat survival, such as knowledge of improvised explosive devices, medical treatment and rules of engagement, he said.
More training for the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and the M240G medium machine gun will ensure the new Marines are confident when using them in the fleet, he continued. These additions to the school are to help young Marines understand the importance of combat readiness.
http://tinyurl.com/276cco
I was just wondering.
After boot camp everyone goes to ITR, Infantry Training Regiment, and from there to Schools Battalion for MOS training, and then when we went to Viet Nam we went through what they called Staging Battalion. I''ve never heard of SOI.
Wait a minute, I found this;........this is why I didn''t know what it was, it didn''t start until this year. Sounds something like ITR to me.
Recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. were the first to experience the change to SOI in October and MCRD San Diego recruits will experience these changes starting January 2008.
Oh, I see what you mean.
This stupid page goes to no comments and the only way to get back into to it is publish something, so just to get back on, I hit a key, hit publish, and all the comments come back.
One of lifes little mysteries.
AJMarine1,
I was referring to your comment at 07:54 PM
.. She''s getting an admin discharge & they are opening an investigation into the problems.
Congrats on your son in law, and how''s your niece?
Yes I did. From a quick galance, it looked like another group of people with an ax to grind and people to kill; just what Iraq needs.
Posted by FeelFree1 at 08:02 PM : Apr 01, 2008
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I think you mistake my lack of vocabulary and typing skills as brevity;.......but, I''m always up for an award, so thank you very much.
AJMarine1,
You are today''s winner of the brevity award.
This story just keeps getting funnier all the time.
Related-
"Al-Sheikhli, a spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, designed to make the Iraqi capital safer, was kidnapped from his home by armed gunmen on March 27, 2008"
"On Thursday afternoon last week, plumes of black smoke drifted into an otherwise blue Baghdad sky. Rockets, mortars and gunfire shook the earth, causing both buildings and people to tremble; almost all of Iraq suddenly seemed as if it were teetering on the edge of collapse. This was especially true for Tahsin al-Sheikhli. As the government spokesman for the Baghdad Security Plan in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki''s government, Sheikhli was in charge of reassuring people that Iraq was becoming a safer place, that electricity was being restored, and that reconstruction was on the right track. So what would it mean for Iraq if that very authority on security suddenly vanished? He would that afternoon."
www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1726977,00.html
Maliki supporters rival bush supporters in their depth of gullibility and stupidity.
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See all 163 Comments