MetaFilter posts tagged with sadr

UAVs over Sadr City

odinsdream — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:31:23 -0800

A sanitized look at the use of UAVs 1.9 miles above Sadr City, Iraq. [print version] 60 Minutes is granted access to information about the use of Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs) over Sadr City as part of Ray Odierno's counterinsurgency strategy. The video includes footage from both unarmed and armed drones used to provide so-called "persistent surveillance" of the city and to execute direct attacks on groups identified and tracked over hours or days. Other parts of the strategy include a nearly two-mile long concrete wall separating the city:

"It seals off about a quarter of Sadr City and it's been beautified, with local artists painting murals of peaceful, happy scenes, that have to be approved by the U.S. Army. To get from one side of the wall to the other, the locals have to go through "entry points" and are checked when going back and forth."

~~Awakening Councils~~ ~~Concerned Local Citizens~~ Sons of Iraq [mefi], another component in the strategy, have had their salaries reduced from $300 per day the U.S. was paying, to about $250 to be paid by the current Iraqi government. 2008 per-capita income is approximately $1,200.

Iraq: The Lost Generation

washburn — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:30:33 -0800

Iraq: The Lost Generation. This 47 minute long documentary was filmed by an anonymous Iraqi journalist. Broadcast on the UK's Channel 4 in November, it tells the stories of several young Iraqis whose lives have been changed by the invasion and occupation of their country.

A bridge too Farsi?!

insomnia_lj — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 09:27:37 -0800

Moqtada Sadr promises to help defend Iran. The Iraqi Shi'ite leader promised to defend Iran -- presumably in Iraq -- if Iran is attacked by the US. Moqtada Sadr is the commander of the Mahdi Army, which fought US troops for weeks in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, threatening to unite poor, discontented Iraqi Shi'ites in common cause with Sunni insurgents. Sadr and his followers are known to have close ideological and logistical links to clerics inside Iran. In the event of a conflict with Iraq, their assistance to the Iranians could greatly increase instability within Iraq, possibly assisting elements of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Qods Force in infiltrating Iraq, and orchestrating attacks upon American interests.

handover of what?

amberglow — Thu, 24 Jun 2004 20:47:38 -0800

Order 17--sovereignty sure, but... The Bush administration has decided to take the unusual step of bestowing on its own troops and personnel immunity from prosecution by Iraqi courts for killing Iraqis or destroying local property after the occupation ends and political power is transferred to an interim Iraqi government, U.S. officials said. (including contractors, btw.) Apparently US immunity was used by Khomeini in Iran as a rallying cry in the 60s. Are Sadr and Sistani listening?

Shia Uprising

y2karl — Sun, 04 Apr 2004 22:03:48 -0800

Eight U.S. Troops Killed in Shiite Uprising Occupation Forces Battle Cleric's Followers As Widespread Demonstrations Erupt in Iraq
A Young Radical's Anti-U.S. Wrath Is Unleashed For months, as American occupation authorities have focused on a moderate Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a radical young Shiite cleric named Moktada al-Sadr has been spewing invective and threatening a widespread insurrection. On Sunday, he unleashed it. At his word, thousands of disciples, wearing green headbands and carrying automatic rifles, stormed into the streets of several cities and set off the most widespread mayhem of the occupation. Witnesses and occupation officials said the disciples occupied police stations, fired rocket-propelled grenades at American troops and overran government security in Kufa, the town in south central Iraq where Mr. Sadr lives. "The occupation is over!" many yelled. "We are now controlled by Sadr!"