Mahdi Army Defeats Green Zone Troops in Diwaniyah

In Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad, Iraqi government troops backed by US air assets fought a 12-hour battle with militiamen of the Mahdi Army on Monday. If that isn’t the definition of a civil war, it is hard to say what is. Worse for those who believe in the US mission in Iraq, the Mahdi Army held the field at the end of the shooting. The Green Zone government lost, and it is hard to spin this any other way.

On the previous Thursday, the Iraqi Army arrested three supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, the spiritual leader of the Mahdi Army, and Mahdi Army militiamen took to the streets and fought with police. Then, the police withdrew and the Green Zone troops took over. When they tried to raid three neighborhoods controlled by Mr. al-Sadr’s men, with the backing of Polish troops and US air power, the battle started, shortly after midnight.

The governor of Diwaniyah, Khalil Ibrahim, met with Moqtada al-Sadr who had requested an investigation into what happened. This is a crafty move that prevents any blame from immediately falling on his people. Mr. Ibrahim later told the press, he said, the Mahdi Army still controls two big neighborhoods, "and neither the American forces nor Iraqi forces were able to enter these neighborhoods yet. The police refuse to go back to the streets, especially after three of their cars were set on fire Thursday."

Since then, a truce has been negotiated. The Green Zone troops will stay out of the area for three days, and during that time, the Mahdi Army will withdraw its combatants. The men whose arrest started the whole thing will appear in court. Shops are re-opening and the city is trying to return to normal.

The Green Zone government won’t collapse as a result of this skirmish. However, the Mahdi Army fought the government troops to a draw. Moqtada al-Sadr has taken another step closer to becoming Iraq’s Ayatollah Khomeini, and the Mahdi Army looks even more capable than it did at Fallujah against the Americans earlier in the occupation. Meanwhile, Prime Minister al-Maliki looks more and more like a caretaker.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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