Gasoline

Yesterday we stormed a mosque in Karbala:

U.S. Military Strikes Mosque Held by Iraqi Cleric's Militia



KARBALA, Iraq, Wednesday, May 12 - The American military attacked a mosque in this holy city on Tuesday in its largest assault yet against the forces of the rebel Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, even as the first signs emerged of a peaceful resolution to the five-week-long standoff with him.

The strike on the Mukhaiyam Mosque brought hundreds of American soldiers to within a third of a mile of two of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, the shrines of the martyrs Hussein and Abbas. A building behind the mosque was fired on, detonating a huge weapons cache, and soldiers stormed the mosque, chasing insurgents out into a hotel and alley.

By 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, some 30 insurgents had taken up positions around the Shrine of Abbas, and they appeared to be lobbing mortars from that area at the Mukhaiyam Mosque. Special Forces soldiers began organizing groups of Iraqi forces to counterattack. Fighting was still intense five hours later. Casualties could not be immediately determined.

Until now, American forces had kept out of Karbala and nearby Najaf, another holy city, fearing to further inflame Iraqi fury against the occupying forces, now fevered because of widely distributed photographs of American personnel abusing Iraqi prisoners.

Also yesterday, Juan Cole wrote of the negotiations going on between Sadr & the sons of Shia leaders, hoping to achieve a peaceful resolution to the standoff in Najaf:

A statement issued by Muqtada's office in Najaf suggested that he would end his insurgency in the Shiite south on condition that the Americans agree to direct negotiations with him, a demand that the US had rejected up until this point.

The grand ayatollahs of Najaf clearly anticipate a major blow-up if these final negotiations fail. They have sent their wives and children to stay with relatives outside Najaf, but are remaining in the city themselves. The four grand ayatollahs include Ali Sistani, Muhammad Sa'id al-Hakim, Bashir al-Najafi, and Muhammad Fayyad.

Al-Hayat says that in recent negotiations between Muqtada and the sons of the grand ayatollahs, they have managed to convince him that he will simply have to leave Najaf.

Today, Sadr gave a press conference, which given the above from Al Hayat, seems to have been a way to publicly save face for Sadr, by demanding particulars he'd already agreed to:

Radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has vowed to continue his fight against US forces in Iraq but says he will disband his militia if asked by Shia leaders.
"If the US wants to leave Iraq it will bring peace, but their presence will lead to more terrorism," he said.

It was Sadr's first press conference since his Mehdi Army rebelled in April.

Shia talks are continuing in Najaf to find ways to end to the Sadr uprising, as US forces battle his militia in several southern Iraqi cities.

Mr Sadr has offered a conditional truce to end a standoff with US troops in Najaf, but he was defiant over the situation in Karbala which has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the last two days.
"I appeal to the fighters in Karbala to stand together so as none of our holy sites and cities are defiled," Mr Sadr said in a press conference at Najaf's Imam Ali mosque, one of Shia Islam's holiest shrines.

He did not say whether two days of talks with Shia leaders were nearing a deal to end his uprising, but he praised the efforts while accusing the US of trying to sow discord.

"If the religious authorities issue an edict to disband the Mehdi Army we will disband it," he said. "If not, it will remain to defend this country and its sanctity."

Might we expect an edict from the fathers of the negotiators? Lord I hope so. We do sorely need some good news on the Iraq front. We'll see.

On a side note, are we supposed to refer to him as "radical cleric" or "rebel cleric?" Just want to be sure we're all drinking the same kool-aid.