Reply #1: I don't think it's going to help. The Iraqi "Police" are melting away... [View All]

[Cooley Hurd]

Juan Cole's reporting that large elements of the Iraqi Police are refusing to fight the Mahdi Army and, in some cases, joining them:

http://www.juancole.com/2008/03/police-mutiny-refuse-to-attack-sadrists.html

Despite the US intervention, government troops were unable to pierce Mahdi Army defenses or over-run their positions.

Al-Zaman says that the police force in Basra suffered numerous mutinies and instances of insubordination, with policemen refusing to fire on the Mahdi Army. The government response was to undertake a widespread purge of disloyal elements.

The Mahdi Army has also opened several other fronts in southern Iraq:

The Mahdi Army opened a number of new fronts in the fighting, in Nasiriya, Karbala, Hilla, and Diwaniya, as a means of reducing the pressure on its fighters in the holy city of Karbala. Local medical officials reported 36 dead in the fighting in Nasiriya.

The Mahdi Army used its position near Nasiriya to attack government troops attempting to go south to join the effort in Basra, and is said to have inflicted substantial casualties on them.

MOst of our troops are busy with the Mahdi Army in Sadr City. Not good news...