Iraq Continues to Fall into Violence

Heavy fighting continued for a second day Wednesday in two of Iraq’s largest cities, as Iraqi ground forces and helicopters mounted a huge operation to break the grip of the Shiite militias controlling Basra, and Iraqi forces clashed with militias in Baghdad. The fighting threatened to destabilize a long-term truce that had helped reduce the level of violence in the five-year-old Iraq war.

The Prime Minister has ordered the insurgents to disarm within 72 hours. A spokesman for the Iraqi military said 40 people had been killed and 200 wounded in the two days of fighting in the southern city of Basra, according to The Associated Press.

Muqtadr Al Sadr is warning of a release of the Mehdi Army fighters and word is he has already done so. This is bad news for Iraq. The cease fire has been the main reason for the curb in violence. This clearly shows why we must withdraw our troops as soon as possible. This is a civil war and military operations will do nothing in the long-term to curb the violence. It must be done by the political players in Iraq. This is bad news.