It looks like the counter-attack is coming.
WaPo: U.S. Forces Block Access to Fallujah
U.S. forces sealed off the Iraqi city of Fallujah Monday in advance of what a spokesman called an “extended operation” aimed at insurgents who killed and mutilated four U.S. contractors last week.
In the slums of Sadr City in Baghdad, meanwhile, black smoke from burning tires darkened the sky as Shiite followers of cleric Moqtada Sadr erected makeshift barricades outside his headquarters under the eye of U.S. forces in tanks in the streets and helicopters above.
The area was the scene Sunday of some of the deadliest fighting since Baghdad fell to U.S. led troops last year. New details from the military Monday revealed how serious the fighting was–ultimately involving 14 tanks, armored vehicles and helicopters battling what one top officer called “a mob” armed with assault rifles, rocket propelled grenades and other weapons, spraying automatic weapons fire from rooftops onto U.S. soldiers.
On Monday, L. Paul Bremer, the head of the U.S. led authority in Iraq, declared Sadr an “outlaw,” vowing that further attempts by Sadr’s militia to take over government offices “will not be tolerated.”
Indeed, CNN reports we’ve issued an arrest warrant.
Lots of posts–constantly being updated–over at Command Post.
