The Discerning Texan

All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

al Sadr's Militia Kidnapped Brits

Ol' Moqtada hasn't wasted any time since returning to Iraq from his meetings with his bosses in Iran. He is already getting busy sabotaging the Iraqi government and endangering the lives of US and British troops. Captain Ed has more:

Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army apparently masterminded the kidnapping of five Britons in Iraq. The abductions likely came as retribution for the death of Sadr's lieutenant in a gunfight earlier this month between the Mahdis and the British [...]

[...] If this is true, it challenges the status of Sadr as a politician to a degree not seen since his capitulation in Najaf in 2004. It also highlights the problem of Sadr's influence on the Interior Ministry, controlled by one of his allies and reportedly infiltrated to a high degree by Mahdis and other Shi'ite militias. The kidnapping took place at a government building, the first time Westerners have been abducted from such a facility.

But it is the Captain's final words which are the key here:

The big worry is that the Mahdis will sell the hostages to another group, perhaps even al-Qaeda. The commandos of the SAS have been put on alert in case they are needed for rescue and extraction. In the meantime, the UK and the US have to pressure the Maliki government to either take care of Sadr or to stand by while we do so. The raids on Sadr City this week sent a message, but as we have seen with Sadr in the past, that message needs to be personal -- and final, this time.

Emphasis mine. The only thing the Arab mind understands is strength--brutal strength. And there is very little time left for us to beat around the bush. We knew it was going to come down to going after al Sadr. He has only grown more aggressive since returning, and since the foolish and stupid decision to actually talk to the #1 sponsor of State terror on Planet Earth. Somehow the words "You are either with us or you are with the terrorists" just don't quite have that same snap and believability. Go figure...

Labels: al-Sadr, Iran, Iraq, Islamic Fascism, War strategy