LAT: Officials foresee no ebb in Iraq violence

[Eugene]

Source: Los Angeles Times

NEWS ANALYSIS

Officials foresee no ebb in Iraq violence

Americans and Iraqis agree that the enmity ignited by a government
crackdown on Shiite militias remains, setting the stage for 'a hot
summer in Iraq.'

By Tina Susman and Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
April 7, 2008

BAGHDAD -- When Gen. David H. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan
Crocker brief Congress this week, they will be hard-pressed to depict
Iraq as moving toward stability in the wake of recent violence that
sent deaths soaring to their highest level in seven months.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's move against Shiite Muslim militias has
revealed the gravity of the country's Shiite rivalries, just as U.S.
forces are decreasing their presence.

The intense combat in southern Iraq that pitted Shiite cleric Muqtada
Sadr's Mahdi Army against Iraqi and American forces has largely wound
down for the time being, but the enmity that fueled it remains.
Fighting between the two sides flared Sunday in Baghdad, leaving as
many as 22 dead.

-snip-

"We are now locked in a battle," said a high-ranking Iraqi government
official, who predicted more confrontations in the coming months.
"I think this will be a hot summer in Iraq."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-future7apr07,1,6913892.story