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[The Long War Journal] Operation to clear the Mahdi Army in Baghdad's Shula neighborhood ...: The US military stated Mahdi Army commanders are leaving Sadr City and surrounding neighborhoods, and abandoning their units to escape the Iraqi security forces. The Mahdi Army commander captured today was found in Rusafa, which borders Sadr City.

 [International Military Forums] Iraqi Women Take On Roles Of Dead Or Missing Husbands: The women in the building should lead the fight, Abadi decided. Shortly after the soldiers gave them an ultimatum, she packed the women into a handful of taxis and traveled to the military base where Abdul Sattar works.

[Libertarian Leanings] Sure to be a best seller: The meeting last Thursday between Turkish President Abdullah Gul met and Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi to discuss the territorial integrity and safety of Iraq, is indication of a development that has so far remained beneath the Cockburn/Saul radar. That development would be the rise of the Iraqi government, which is actively pursuing political and diplomatic objectives and has now developed the strength and confidence to demand that everybody else pursue their objectives diplomatically and politically -- including Moqtada al Sadr.

 [Pat Dollard | Young Americans] Iraqi Leaders Getting Nervous About Confronting Iran: Iraq’s national security advisor, Mowaffak Rubaie, and a spokesman for the Defense Ministry told The Times that Iranian-made weapons with manufacture dates of 2008 had been found in Basra during a recent crackdown on Shiite militias in the southern oil hub. Pentagon officials said they had also supplied the Iraqis with additional, unspecified evidence.

[Egregious Moderation] Leila Fadel: general played key role in brokering Iraq cease-fire: Following Sadr's announcement a curfew was lifted in most of the capital, while the Sadr controlled areas of Sadr City, New Baghdad and Kadhemiya remained under 24-hour lockdown. The U.S. military still surrounded the Shiite slum of Sadr City, named for Sadr's father and a stronghold of support for Sadr.

 [Impeach Bush For Peace] Another Bushevik Attempt To Justify Attacking Iran Derailed”¦Where ...: Gareth Porter is an historian and national security policy analyst. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in 2006

 [International Military Forums] Iraq Sends Team To Iran To Discuss US Accusations: Armed with the latest intelligence, a delegation from Iraq's governing Shiite alliance traveled to Iran on Wednesday to lay out its concerns to political, security and religious leaders and to discuss the way forward, said a close aide and two other politicians with ties to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

[Everyone's Blog Posts - The Watchmen Magazine WM] Bogus Claim, al-Maliki Stall US Plan on Iran Arms: The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki refused to endorse US charges of Iranian involvement in arms smuggling to the Mahdi Army, and a plan to show off a huge collection of Iranian arms captured in and around Karbala had to be .

 [Justmytruth's Weblog] bush, Foiled Again!: Iranian leaders, who deny providing backing to Iraqi militants, were furious at officials here for publicly airing their concerns. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini was quoted last week in the official Islamic Republic News Agency as “lambasting such undocumented and fabricated allegations”

 [In These New Times] US plot to nail Iran backfires: Karbala is one of Iraq’s eight largest cities, and it has long been the focus of major fighting between the Mahdi Army and its Shi’ite foes. Muqtada declared his ceasefire last August after a major battle there, but fighting resumed .

 [B!llicus !llicus_____ __ _ _ _] US Plot to Nail Iran Backfires: The Karbala weapons cache also raises new questions about the official US narrative about the Shi'ite militia's use of explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) as an Iranian phenomenon. Among the captured weapons mentioned by Major General Raied Shaker Jawdat, commander of the Karbala police, were what he called "150 anti-tank bombs", as distinguished from ordinary roadside explosive devices.

[Just Foreign Policy News] Just Foreign Policy News, May 15, 2008: 6) The Bush Administration’s plan to create a new crescendo of accusations against Iran for allegedly smuggling arms to militias in Iraq was derailed by the defection of the Iraqi government from the plan and by the US failure to produce Iranian weapons it had promised to reporters, write Gareth Porter for Inter Press Service. He argues that the failure to produce Iranian weapons suggests that the dependence of the Mahdi Army on arms manufactured in Iran is insignificant.

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