US forces drawn deeper into Iraq crackdown

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2008/March/focusoniraq_March175.xml§ion=focusoniraq

28 March 2008

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces were drawn deeper into Iraq’s four day-old crackdown on Shia militants on Friday, launching air strikes in Basra for the first time and battling militants in Baghdad.

The fighting has exposed a rift within the majority Shia community and put pressure on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose forces have failed to drive fighters loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr off the streets of Iraq’s second-largest city.

Authorities shut down Baghdad with a strict curfew, but that did not halt rocket attacks and clashes in the capital.

Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim acknowledged that Iraqi security forces had been caught off-guard by their foes.

“We supposed that this operation would be a normal operation, but we were surprised by this resistance and have been obliged to change our plans and our tactics,” he told a news conference in Basra. Reporters were brought to the briefing in military vehicles and kept inside because of clashes nearby.

[Muttocracy]

1. just when you think it can't get much worse... nt