BAGHDAD —And here:Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will call on his fighters to maintain a cease-fire against American troops but may lift the order if a planned Iraq-U.S. security agreement lacks a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces, a spokesman said Thursday.
The statement by Sheik Salah al-Obeidi comes as al-Sadr plans to reveal details of a formula to reorganize his Mahdi Army militia by separating it into an unarmed cultural organization and elite fighting cells.
The announcement is expected during weekly Islamic prayer services on Friday.
Several cease-fires by al-Sadr have been key to a sharp decline in violence over the past year, but American officials still consider his militiamen a threat and have backed the Iraqi military in operations to try to oust them from their power bases in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.
Off topic but interesting are the article's number of deaths cited because this is what I get on the Iraq Casualties site:BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called off a mass demonstration set for Wednesday in Baghdad and threatened to formally end the seven-month cease-fire of his Mehdi Army militia.
In fighting Tuesday in al-Sadr's Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City, 12 people were killed and 27 wounded. At least 48 people have been killed and 176 wounded since Sunday, an Interior Ministry official said.
Eight of the 11 U.S. troops killed in Iraq on Sunday and Monday died in fighting in Baghdad.
Four U.S. soldiers were killed Monday in the capital, the U.S. military said.
One soldier was killed by a roadside bomb, two by a rocket-propelled grenade and one by small-arms fire after a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle during a patrol in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
The deaths bring the U.S. death toll in the Iraq war to 4,024, including eight civilian Defense Department contractors.
[snip]
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, speaking Tuesday afternoon to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, said that "U.S. forces will remain in Iraq beyond December 31, 2008." At that time, he said, the U.N. resolution that allows U.S. troops to operate in Iraq will expire and be replaced by a status of forces agreement, commonly called a SOFA, requested by the Iraqis.
Crocker said it would cover the "basic authorizations and protections" to allow troops to continue operations but will not specify troop levels or establish permanent bases.
"We anticipate that it will expressly forswear them ... and it will not tie the hands of the next administration," he said.
Crocker also said Congress will be "kept fully informed," but he has previously made clear that the administration sees no role for Congress in the agreement's final approval.
U.S. Confirmed DeathsAnd that's not even listing the defense contractors' deaths.
Reported Deaths: 4134
Confirmed Deaths: 4134
Pending Confirmation: 0
DoD Confirmation List
So what will the Bush administration do?
Bomb Iran probably.
2 comments:
The 4134 figure represents on the number of military personnel who have died in Iraq as a result of combat, not those who have died as a result of the wounds they received in the Iraq conflict, but survived long enough to be airlifted out.
Even the definition of "combat" is not clear, as some people who have died in vehicle accidents, may have had the accidents while avoiding mines or gunfire.
Maliki will not sign a SOFA prior to the elections, and the date of the elections is in limbo.
Jesus. Quibbling about whether the death counts or not... I'm sure they aren't counting those who come back wounded and die several years later.
And I'm sure Maliki is looking beyond the Bush cabal and waiting for the next president..
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