Word: shied
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...forces to attack the Mahdi Army in Baghdad and the holy city of Najaf. Then a poorly armed and ill-trained band, Sadr's men were easily routed, but Allawi didn't have the stomach to deliver the coup de grace: he allowed Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the senior Shi'ite cleric, to broker a peace that allowed Sadr to keep his fighters and, more importantly, his freedom...
Sadr then morphed from a militia leader to a political force in Iraq's parliament, controlling the second-largest bloc of MPs in the Shi'ite alliance that brought Maliki to power. And his militia regrouped, acquiring arms, training and a modicum of discipline with help from Iran and Lebanon's Hizballah. By the end of 2005, the Mahdi Army had grown into a formidable force. Allawi's political fortunes, meanwhile, had faded. Religious Shi'ites never forgave him for attacking the militias, and secular Iraqis accused him of leaving the job unfinished; in two general elections, he was barely...
...following spring, when an all-out sectarian war broke out between Shi'ites and Sunnis, the Mahdi Army was blamed for much of the violence. The militias specialized in the kidnap and gruesome torture of Sunnis; hundreds of mutilated bodies were left in the streets and in garbage dumps. The militias began a year-long campaign of sectarian cleansing in many of Baghdad's mixed neighborhoods, driving out tens of thousands of Sunnis...
...Maliki government turned a blind eye to this murderous campaign, blaming only "rogue" elements of the Mahdi Army. Given Sadr's political clout, a direct confrontation could have brought down the government. Besides, with Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda terrorists still attacking Shi'ite neighborhoods, an offensive against the Mahdi Army would likely have been unpopular with Shi'ites of all classes...
...Maliki is hoping that the U.S. military's successes against al-Qaeda have also helped Shi'ites feel more secure - and less dependent on the Mahdi Army's protection. He's betting, too, that he has enough support in parliament to risk Sadr's wrath, counting on Kurdish parties to keep his government afloat in the event Sadr's loyalists desert the coalition. The Prime Minister has also been careful to give himself some political wiggle room. His spokesman has said the operation in Basra is not directed at the Mahdi Army, but against unspecified "armed gangs." This allows Maliki...