The Washington Post reports on this situation in Basra:
As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources, deepening concerns among some U.S. officials in Baghdad that elements of Iraq's Shiite-dominated national government will turn on one another once U.S. troops begin to draw down.
Three major Shiite political groups are locked in a bloody conflict that has left the city in the hands of militias and criminal gangs, whose control extends to municipal offices and neighborhood streets. The city is plagued by "the systematic misuse of official institutions, political assassinations, tribal vendettas, neighborhood vigilantism and enforcement of social mores, together with the rise of criminal mafias that increasingly intermingle with political actors," a recent report by the International Crisis Group said.
The report also says that Iran is not involved much. Given that Sadr is involved, it seems odd to think that Iran isn't operating in the south. Nearly 3/4 of our Baghdad casualties from last month were from Shia militias (many supported by Iran--many probably Iranian). Would Iran fail to operate in Basra? The city they expended considerable resources trying to seize in the Iran-Iraq War?
I certainly hope our troops at sea, in Kuwait, in central Iraq, and back in the US (our ready brigade) are poised to react to a possible Iranian attack this month to discredit signs of progress in Iraq. Or are they aiming to win it all?
