It looks like "..rejekt.." must help train Mudtaco al Sadr's wacko cloud-shooters........
Iraq cleric's militia mounts sloppy, but fierce, fight By Edmund Sanders Los Angeles Times
NAJAF, Iraq — They're a ragtag team of about 1,000 or so young, impoverished men -- "..who sometimes shoot one another by accident.." -- or stick machine guns out windows and spray the area without looking.
Yet they've also set up clever ambushes, demonstrated surprising resilience and executed defensive maneuvers that have impressed the U.S. military.
After a week of butting heads with Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, U.S. military authorities tasked with capturing or killing the Shiite cleric call his militia a mix of sophistication and amateur hour.
"They are prepared. They are bold. And they are willing to fight," said Maj. Rick Heyward, 38, of the Army's 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry, which has clashed with the militia twice in the past week. "But they're undisciplined and don't have our training."
The vast majority of al-Sadr's militiamen are young and unemployed and are inspired by al-Sadr's anti-American rhetoric and calls to end the occupation of Iraq.
"They're mostly thugs," said Col. Dana Pittard, commander of the newly created task force in Najaf. "A lot are young kids in it just for the thrill."
Soldiers who have faced the militia in street battles say members frequently lose control of their weapons or fail to aim carefully.
"We call it spray and pray," said Capt. Sean Stinchon, 29, of the 1-14 Infantry. "They don't even use the scopes."
Stinchon and other officers, awaiting the resolution of negotiations over the U.S. standoff with al-Sadr, got a firsthand look at the questionable marksmanship of the cleric's militia last week when their six-vehicle convoy was forced by rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fire to cross a bridge over the Euphrates River and race down a busy commercial street in Kufa.
As the U.S. forces sped the wrong way down a street at 50 mph, about 50 al-Sadr followers fired machine guns and AK-47s. But none of the soldiers was hit.
"We should have been dead," Heyward said. Because the attackers positioned themselves across the street from each other, some appear to have shot one another as well as hitting innocent bystanders, according to U.S. soldiers.
At the same time, al-Sadr has assembled an inner core of experienced security professionals who consider themselves holy fighters. Some were groomed at a special al-Sadr training camp, officials said.
This group, thought to number about 100, provides al-Sadr's personal protection and helps plan strategies, according to military intelligence reports.
They move the cleric frequently between different locations in Najaf and Kufa. They've positioned themselves in the mosques, which they know the United States is loath to attack.
Although al-Sadr publicly has claimed to be pulling back from his positions inside the cities, military officials have observed his militia tightening its hold, setting up fighting positions in key buildings in preparation for a U.S. attack.
On Friday, U.S. officials left a five-hour battle with more respect for the militia members, who despite nearly four hours of heavy bombing continued to hold their position inside a palm grove next to Kufa.
Unlike insurgents who attack from afar with mortars or improvised explosive devices, al-Sadr's forces maintained their grip on a building inside the grove, using a water tower as a lookout post to help launch counterattacks.
"This was not just an ambush," said Maj. Mike Davies, 40. "It was a defense. They got into prepared fighting positions."
After several hours of fighting, the militiamen fell silent, luring U.S. soldiers into a false sense of security. Then the al-Sadr followers struck suddenly with an RPG, wounding two soldiers.
When U.S. forces finally captured the building, they were shocked to see scores of reinforcements climbing into boats and crossing the bridge to continue the battle. The U.S. forces decided to withdraw.
"These guys are different from the enemy we've seen in other parts of Iraq," said Capt. Chris Budihas, who fought against the militia in the ambushed convoy last week. He also said the militiamen appear to be learning from their mistakes. When military vehicles escaped the ambush on Tuesday, al-Sadr's followers repositioned themselves so they could fire from the rear. "They're getting smarter."
At the same time, they continue to make rookie mistakes.
Three al-Sadr followers were captured near a military checkpoint Friday.
Inside the shirt pocket of one man was a document claiming he was a French journalist. But he also was carrying an invoice for weapons for the Mahdi Army, diagrams for making homemade bombs and a picture of al-Sadr in his wallet.
seattletimes.nwsource.com
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