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October 15, 2008 8:59:07 PM CDT

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Criticism Dogs Basra Battle

Posted Mar 29, 08 5:33 AM CDT in World 

(Newser) – As US troops are drawn deeper into the four-day-old Iraqi crackdown on militants in Basra,  critics see a long and difficult road ahead. While President Bush praised the operation as a "defining moment in the history of a free Iraq," military officials murmured that the battle "is going to go on for a while," CNN reports.

Iraqi security forces control less than a quarter of Basra, and militants have deeply infiltrated the city's police. US officials told the Washington Post they distrust the motives of Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki in launching the offensive, and fear this "precarious situation" will tip Iraq back into the chaotic violence of 2006 and early 2007.

Sources: CNN, Washington Post, Reuters

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Mahdi Army fighters take positions in Basra, Iraq, Friday, March 28, 2008. Shiite militants clashed with government forces for a fourth day in Iraq's oil-rich south. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)   (AP Photo)
Mahdi Army fighters take positions in Basra, Iraq, Friday, March 28, 2008. Shiite militants clashed with government forces for a fourth day in Iraq's oil-rich south. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)   (AP Photo)
Iraqi children inspect a government forces vehicle destroyed in fighting with the Mahdi Army in Basra, Iraq, Friday, March 28, 2008. Shiite militants clashed with government forces for a fourth day in...   (AP Photo)
Iraqi children view debris in the aftermath of fighting between Mahdi Army and government forces in Basra, Iraq, Friday, March 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)   (AP Photo)
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Iraq  • George W. Bush  • Iraq war  • Nouri al-Maliki  • Basra  • Shiite militants


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