A Big Steaming Pile of Freedom

BBC Radio said this morning that the heavy fighting in Baghdad and other cities in Iraq has people cowering in their homes with no food and sporadic water.  Looks like the insurgents declined al-Maliki’s generous offer to relieve them of their weapons:

Heavy fighting has continued for a third day between Shia militias and the Iraqi security forces in southern Iraq. 

There are reports of extensive exchanges of fire between the Iraqi army and militiamen in Basra and in the town of Hilla, just south of Baghdad.

More than 70 people have died and hundreds have been injured in days of violence sparked by an Iraqi crackdown on Shia militias in Basra.

More signs that freedom is on the march after the jump.

It’s nice to know that The Surge is making the lives of ordinary Iraqis so much better:

In Basra, police chief Adbul Jalil Khalaf said he survived an assassination attempt overnight, in which three of his bodyguards were killed.

Residents in the city have said that they are beginning to run out of food and water.

One told the BBC that the Iraqi army broke into shops, took food and water, then set fire to shops and cars on the street.

The Dear Leader, of course, says this is good news because the Iraqi army is doing something, even if that something is killing the prime minister’s political opponents.

And the spokesman for Baghdad’s security plan?  Kidnapped.

Fresh Clashes Grip Southern Iraq [BBC]

Comments

[Tata]

... the insurgents declined al-Maliki’s generous offer to relieve them of their weapons:

Hey, we don't know. Maybe they're into Freecycle?

[actor212]

I heard they had a "crack for guns" program.