Sadr City fighting underway

CNN:

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Eyewitnesses and media in the heavily Shiite Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, home to the cleric's power base in the capital, reported heavy fighting between U.S.-backed Iraqi troops and al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia.

The witnesses said U.S. aircraft had been bombarding the area for hours, and media reported rockets slamming into houses and many casualties.

Witnesses and al-Sadr's office said mosques were making loudspeaker announcements about Mehdi Army attacks on U.S. military armored vehicles.

U.S. Army Maj. Mark Cheadle said the fighting began when a U.S. Army patrol, supporting Iraqi soldiers who were working to establish a checkpoint in the northwest of Sadr City, was hit by 10 roadside bombs followed immediately by small-arms, machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire from nearby buildings.

The soldiers fired back at the snipers, killing at least four, Cheadle said. Two subsequent rounds from an M1A2 Abrams tank killed "an undetermined number of criminals and end(ed) the small arms attack," Cheadle said.

Cheadle also said that the U.S. Air Force, operating an unmanned aerial vehicle, fired a Hellfire missile at three men setting roadside bombs, killing all three.

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Maj. Cheadle's remarks seem more coherent that the "witness" statements quoted. If the first reports from a battle area are usually wrong, those of witnesses who do not understand the dynamics of the conflict are even less reliable. It appears that elements of the Mahdi army are not honoring the call for a cease fire by Sadr. The American forces are fighting back and destroying those elements with the help of the Iraqi army. It sounds like our side is doing its job and prevailing. Hopefully the media will not fall into the trap of going with a "violence" metric in reporting this particular conflict.