"US, Iraqi forces sweep into slum to end uprising; Sunni group was protesting leader's arrest" by Robert H. Reid, Associated Press | March 30, 2009
BAGHDAD - US-backed Iraqi forces swept through a central Baghdad slum yesterday, disarming Sunnis from a government-allied paramilitary group to quell a two-day uprising launched to protest the arrest of their leader.
Not U.S. forces like the headline suggested? Which one is the lie?
Also see: Boston Sunday Globe War Report
Why no report on the uprising on Sunday, hmm?
At least four people were killed and 21 wounded in the two days of fighting between government troops and the Awakening Council in Fadhil, a ramshackle warren of narrow, fetid streets on the east side of the Tigris River where Al Qaeda once held sway.
Members of the Fadhil council said yesterday that they decided to give up the fight and hand over their weapons to spare the neighborhood, whose bullet-pocked buildings bore witness to intense combat there two years ago. Most of the top council members fled the neighborhood as Iraqi troops searched house-to-house, according to residents who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety.
Nevertheless, a few fighters were holding out. An Iraqi patrol, accompanied by an Associated Press photo and video team, came under heavy fire, sending them ducking for cover as bullets sheared off bits of mortar from the buildings lining the narrow alleyway.
The confrontation in Fadhil is potentially explosive if it leads to a split between the Shi'ite-led government and the Awakening Councils, made up of Sunnis who abandoned Al Qaeda and joined forces with the Americans to fight the insurgents....
You SEE where this is ALL LEADING, right, readers?
There have been fears that some fighters may return to the insurgency if they feel threatened by the government. That could undermine US plans to remove all combat troops from Baghdad and other cities by the end of June and end the US combat role in Iraq by September 2010....
Are you as unsurprised at that as I am? I think the permanent bases kinda gave it away!
Oh, this, too: Occupation Iraq: Non-Combat Combat
"In our view, all these arrests and assassinations . . . is part of Iran's plan to dominate Iraq," said Shogaa al-Aazami, commander of an Awakening Council in west Baghdad. "We think the arrests and the assassinations will continue."
Umm, actually, see: Occupation Iraq: Israel's IEDs for why I no longer believe in "suiciders" or anything else the agenda-pushing, war-promoting, Zionist AmeriKan war press has to report about Muslims!!
Odd how the violence always increases or decreases depending on the agenda of a certain group that happens to control the U.S. government and foreign policy, huh?
I'm sick of the lies, how 'bout you?
Clashes broke out Saturday when Iraqi troops seized Mashhadani, accusing him of terrorist activity and leading an armed group loyal to Saddam Hussein's ousted party.
Who lines up with a (dead) loser? STINK!
Awakening Council fighters, who a few days earlier had been manning security checkpoints, opened fire on Iraqi troops, setting off gun battles that persisted into yesterday. US soldiers rushed to support the Iraqis, and US helicopters patrolled above the neighborhood....
Yeah, LITERALLY U.S.-BACKED -- which answers that question!
Helicopters dropped leaflets over Fadhil with a statement from the Iraqi army's top Baghdad commander asking Council fighters to "take a patriotic stance" and distance themselves "from suspect elements and outlaws."
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Awakening Council leaders have also complained of delays in receiving their salaries since they went off the US payroll last year. US officials blamed the delay on red tape and said salaries would resume this week.
Yeah, PAY 'EM OFF QUICK!! I'm SURPRISED -- not -- that the BLOODTHIRSTY MUSLIM TERRORISTS WAITED SO LONG without getting paid, hmmm?
Under pressure from the United States, the government agreed to accept 20,000 of the fighters into the police or army and continue paying the rest until they could find them civilian jobs. But US officials say the process has been slowed because the drop in world oil prices has cut into government revenues, prompting a freeze on army and police recruiting.
So Iraqis aren't standing up? These guys have an excuse every time!
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