The Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is preparing for war in Sadr City, the vast Baghdad slum.
Announcements on Iraqi TV last night said that the cleric will force every man in Sadr City between 15 and 45 to join his militia.
Sadr supporters believe they will be targeted by U.S. and Iraqi government troops after President Bush unveils his new Iraq strategy Wednesday night. The Mahdi Army is rumored to be distributing grenades to every family in Sadr City, a district already brimming with weapons.
http://www.npr.org/...
Sadr is conscripting every fighting age male in Sadr City. That totals about 1.5 million male Shia given Sadr City is a city of about 4 million. Of course a certain percentage will have had no military experience, but many have.
The entire Iraqi Army is only about 140,000 men, with a certain percent on leave at any given time. The US Army will have even with the "surge" will only have about 160,000 on hand, combined that number pales in compairison to the Shia masses Sadr will throw at them.
Unless, the US gets the Peshmerga and the Badr to fight with the US troops and the Iraqi Army this fight will not go well if it is an on the ground battle. Of course Bush could decide to wipe out large portions of Sadr City from the air.
Iraq's prime minister has told Mahdi Army militiamen they must surrender their arms or face an all-out assault by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces, senior Iraqi officials said Wednesday, revealing a pledge Washington wanted to hear as American and Iraqi troops prepared a fresh operation to end the bloody sectarian war gripping Baghdad.
"Prime Minister al-Maliki has told everyone that there will be no escape from attack. The government has told the Sadrists (the political movement that supports the Mahdi Army), if we want to build a state we have no other choice but to attack armed groups," a senior Shiite legislator and close al-Maliki adviser said.
http://www.thestar.com/...