Word: basra
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...Nouri al-Maliki fired for refusing to fight al-Sadr's militia be reinstated "after honoring them." On Sunday, Maliki's government announced the dismissal of more than 1,300 security personnel who deserted last month when fighting broke out between Iraqi government forces and the Mahdi Army in Basra. Sadr reacted swiftly to the news by issuing a statement from the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf Monday that said those who refused to take up arms against his militia were only doing their religious duty...
...American and Iraqi officials had been casting around for some sort of political solution to end the violence since Sadr's forces fended off an assault by Iraqi government troops last month. Those clashes were sparked after a failed campaign by Iraqi security forces against the Mahdi Army in Basra. During the fighting in Basra an estimated 1,000 men from Iraqi security forces either refused to fight or outright switched sides and joined the Mahdi Army, leading the Iraqi government on Sunday to announce the dismissal of some 1,300 soldiers and policemen...
...Sadr has rejected calls by the Iraqi government for his group to disband thus far, and Iraqi officials say they plan to press their campaign in Sadr City and Basra until all militia groups are defanged. It remains unclear, however, how many gains Iraqi and U.S. forces can make against Sadr's fighters, who have proved formidable...
...hold on the government of Nouri al-Mailiki as one might think. Many Iraqis hostile to the government take Maliki to be little more than an American stooge. But Petraeus revealed to lawmakers that Maliki went against his advice in launching an attack against the Mahdi Army in Basra, where Maliki's forces were quickly bogged down and bloodied by Sadr's street fighters. That means the Americans may not have the ability to stop the Iraqi government from an even worse strategic blunder in a place where Sunni insurgents might deal a blow, like Diyala Province or Mosul...
...Green Zone. Blasts in the enclave where the Iraqi government and the American command stay had fallen off steeply until the most recent wave of fighting. In recent months people inside the Green Zone felt safer and maybe a little bolder - possibly one reason for picking a fight in Basra. But a steady hail of rockets falling on and around Iraqi government buildings suddenly got Maliki talking about a political compromise with Sadr, at least for a time. In other words, the "heavily fortified" Green Zone is looking more like a soft spot...