Inquiry Finds Major British Failures in Iraq War Preparation

New documents have come to light as a result of the investigation in the United Kingdom into the war in Iraq. Not surprisingly, the papers show some level of deceit by the British government regarding the preparations to attack Iraq and make the planning and execution of the war look frighteningly bad.

They show there was significant tension between the civilian administrators and the military commanders who wanted more resources, and that there was little planning for the post-Saddam situation. In fact, the unit set up for post-war planning was only created in February 2003.

Other documents show friction between the British and American military commands, particularly over the British forces’ refusal to take action against Shiite militias under the leadership of Moqtada al-Sadr in the south and the decision to engage in dialogue with them instead.

Regardless of your feelings on the decision to invade, we should all be dismayed regarding how the war was prosecuted. On the bright side, understanding such mistakes allows us to really appreciate how stunning the turn-around in Iraq is, and apply such lessons for future conflicts.

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Iraqi PM Vows to Fight Militas in Basra

Mahdi Army fighters stand in Basra, Iraq, Thursday, March 27, 2008. Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki defiantly vowed to keep up the fight against Shiite militias in
Basra Thursday despite protests by tens of thousands of followers of a radical
cleric and deadly clashes across Baghdad and the oil-rich south. (AP Photo)

By Robert H. Reid

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged "no retreat" Thursday in the fight against Shiite militias in the southern city of Basra, as thousands of protesters demanded he resign over the crackdown and extremists fired rockets into the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr called Thursday for a political solution to the burgeoning crisis and an end to the "shedding of Iraqi blood." But the statement, released by a close aide, stopped short of ordering his Mahdi Army militia to halt attacks on the Green Zone or stop fighting in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city.

In a sign of the deteriorating security, gunmen in Baghdad seized a high-profile government spokesman from his home in a Shiite neighborhood, killing three of his bodyguards and torching his house. In a bid to curb the violence, Iraq's military ordered vehicles and pedestrians off the streets of the capital until Sunday morning.

As Americans and Iraqis scrambled to cope with a newly violent Iraq, the State Department ordered all personnel at the U.S. Embassy not to leave reinforced structures because of continued incoming rocket or mortar fire from suspected Shiite extremists angry over the Basra crackdown. Read more ...

Source: AP

Muqtada Al-Sadr Declares Three Days Of Mourning For Mughniya; Source: Mughniya Trained Mahdi Army, Assassination Squads

The Sadrist Shi'ites in Iraq, led by Muqtada Al-Sadr, have declared a three-day mourning period for Imad Mughniya.

An Iraqi security source said that Mughniya had entered Iraq via Iran, and had trained some 500 members of the Mahdi Army, which belongs to the Sadrists.

He added that he had also trained a number of squads in planning and carrying out assassinations within Iraq.

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat
H/T: MEMRI