Wave of retaliation sweeps Iraq
Shiite bloc's threatened walkout could lead to the government's collapse.
By Solomon Moore, Times Staff Writer
November 25, 2006
Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr warned the prime minister not to meet with President Bush.
(Alaa Al Marjani / AP) November 24, 2006http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq25nov25,0,1345526.story?coll=la-home-headlinesBAGHDAD —
Iraq's civil war worsened Friday as Shiite and Sunni Arabs engaged in retaliatory attacks after coordinated car bombings that killed more than 200 people in a Shiite neighborhood the day before. A main Shiite political faction threatened to quit the government, a move that probably would cause its collapse and plunge the nation deeper into disarray.
The massacre Thursday in Sadr City — a stronghold of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr and his Al Mahdi militia — sparked attacks around the country, reinforced doubts about the effectiveness of the Iraqi government and U.S. military and emboldened Shiite vigilantes.
In a sermon Friday, Sadr, a strong opponent of the United States, said the Pentagon's refusal to grant full control of Iraqi security forces to the Baghdad government was leaving the populace vulnerable to insurgent attacks.
And as Sadr's militiamen took matters into their own hands in battles with Sunni Arabs, his political representatives demanded that Prime Minister Nouri Maliki signal his displeasure with the U.S. military occupation by canceling a meeting with President Bush next week in Jordan.
President George W. Bush talks to troops from Camp David, Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006. The President called members of the Armed Forces who are stationed overseas or who have recently returned, to wish them a happy Thanksgiving and thank them for their service to our Nation. White House photo by Eric Draper