The raid on the dangerous Shiite slum was aimed at capturing an alleged rogue militia chief, one of thousands of fighters who have broken with Muqtada al-Sadr's mainstream Mahdi Army. The military did not say if the man was captured. He was also not named.
The Shiite cleric has ordered gunmen loyal to him to put down their arms. But thousands of followers dissatisfied with being taken out of the fight have formed a loose confederation armed and trained by Iran.
The U.S. operation was the latest in a series that have produced significant death tolls, including civilians, as American forces increasingly take the fight to Sunni insurgents, al-Qaida militants and Shiite militiamen.
The enemy always says our operations slaughter civilians. While civilians do die in our operations on occasion, for the most part we just kill bad guys. And id the enemy didn't hide among civilians, fewer still would die. Even better, if our enemies didn't kill civilians, even fewer would die.
More and more Iraqis reject the jihadis, making the jihadis a still-deadly but essentially defeated threat. Over time, they will be hunted down and killed and arrested.
The Iranian-sponsored Shia death squads are the last serious internal threat to victory in Iraq. Our operations reflect this threat.
The question remains whether the Iraqi government will hold strong while we nail the Shias who fight for Iran and pretend to be Shia Iraqi patriots.
And let me say I'm shocked that AP admits that Iran is arming and training these thugs.
