Iraqis defeated by Shi'ite militia in Basra
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi offensive against Iranian-sponsored Shi'ite militias has failed.
Officials acknowledged that after more than a week of fighting, Iraq Army and security forces had failed to dislodge the Mahdi Army and aligned militias from Basra. They said up to 1,400 Iraqi troops defected rather than fight Shi'ites in what demonstrated the weakness of Iraqi security forces.
Several Iraqi parliamentarians maintained that the fighting bolstered the Mahdi Army and its leader Moqtada Sadr. Sadr has organized what he termed a million-person rally against the United States on April 9, the fifth anniversary of the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime.
Officials said more than 1,000 Shi'ite soldiers in the Iraq Army and police defected, including a brigade commander and his deputy. They said military and security force units were hampered by shortages in ammunition and food.
In contrast, Mahdi Army and other Shi'ite militias, trained and equipped by Iran, mobilized up to 15,000 fighters. They said this was about the same number as that of government troops.
Officials said Iraqi forces in Basra would have been defeated without the significant help provided by the U.S. and British militaries. Britain and the United States, who contributed air and intelligence support, did not deploy ground troops in Basra.
"Gains are fragile," U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, said. "This episode demonstrates it."
The Baghdad government has agreed to a ceasefire in Basra, ending fighting that began on March 25 in an operation supervised personally by Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki. Al Maliki has also offered amnesty to the insurgents.
"To give space and an opportunity for those who are remorseful and are willing to give up their weapons, all pursuits and raids in all areas will be stopped," Al Maliki said on April 4. "Those who take up arms will face the law."
Officials said Al Maliki planned the offensive in Basra without U.S. military help. But the operation failed to defeat the Iranian-backed Shi'ites, and Teheran was summoned to help arrange a ceasefire. More than 600 casualties were reported in Basra and Baghdad.
"Everyone who was not on the side of the security forces will go into the military courts," Al Maliki, who acknowledged the defections, said.
"Joining the army or police is not a trip or a picnic. There is something that they have to pay back to commit to the interests of the state and not the party or the sect."
The Iraqi government had planned anti-militia operations in Baghdad's Ameriya, Sadr City and Shuala. But officials said the failure in Basra would lead to a reassessment of military and security units.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Michael Jones, director-general for interior affairs in Baghdad, acknowledged setbacks by the Iraqi police force in the Basra operation. Jones said the National Police fought well while local police abandoned their stations rather than confront Shi'ite militias.
"They realized they weren't equipped or trained for the operation," Jones said. "They moved out of the stations and fought elsewhere."