Mookie retreats to Iran again

Bill Roggio:

Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Shia Mahdi Army and the Sadrist bloc in parliament, has left Iraq and is in Iran, military sources told Reuters. An anonymous U.S. military intelligence official and a military officer stationed in Iraq told The Fourth Rail the Reuter's report is accurate, but would not say when they believe Sadr left Iraq. Sadr's flight from Iraq and return to Iran comes as Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki issued an unusually strong statement calling for Sadr's Mahdi Army to disarm, and Iraqi security forces continue to battle his Mahdi Army in southern Iraq.

"We have heard statements from officials in the Sadr movement that they are against using arms and that they condemn those who hold weapons," a statement issued from the prime minister said, AFP reported. “This puts us in front of a fact we must face courageously: If those are Sadrists, then Sadrist leaders disavow clearly those who carry guns ... Therefore, these gunmen are infiltrated Saddamist and Baathist gangs and robbers using this movement as a front," Maliki said. Sadr's aides have warned Prime Minister Maliki to back off from calling the Mahdi Army to disarm.

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The “rogue” elements of Sadr's Mahdi Army have been repeatedly attacked by Iraqi and U.S. Special Forces due to their relationship with the Iranian-backed “Special Groups” or “Secret Cells.” These Iranian backed cells are receiving arms, funding, training, and guidance from Iranian Qods Force.

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It is hard to justify his bunch of thugs with guns an army. They are only effective when they ambush unarmed non combatants. The secret cells are a different problem and the Iranians have given some of them training for using the EFPs. The US has been focusing many of its attacks recently on this group with some success. The secret cells still cannot stand up to a disciplined military force.