Pay attention here. I think the shit is about to hit the fan. I hope I'm wrong.

Iraqi Conference on Election Plan Sinks Into Chaos

A conference of more than 1,100 Iraqis chosen to take the country a crucial step further toward constitutional democracy convened in Baghdad on Sunday under siege-like conditions, only to be thrown into disorder by delegates staging angry protests against the American-led military operation in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. After an opening speech by Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, delegates leapt out of their seats demanding the conference be suspended. One Shiite delegate stormed the stage before being forced back, shouting, "We demand that military operations in Najaf stop immediately!" Shortly afterward, two mortar shells fired at the area where the meeting was being held landed in a bus and truck terminal nearby, killing 2 people and wounding at least 17.

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Talks Fall Apart for Shiite Rebels and Iraq Leaders

Truce talks between Iraq's interim government and Moktada al-Sadr's rebels collapsed Saturday, prompting American commanders to prepare new battle plans for breaking Mr. Sadr's grip on this holy city and the Imam Ali mosque, the Middle East's most sacred Shiite shrine. Soon after the talks broke down, American marines and soldiers lined up in tanks and armored vehicles at their base in Najaf, with some anxiety but ready to begin an offensive. Instead, it was called off, for the second time in recent days.

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Najaf: turning point for whom?
by Helena Cobban

One week into the present Battle of Najaf it seems clearer than ever that Allawi and his US backers are determined to win this battle in a way that imposes a humiliating defeat on Moqtada Sadr and his Mahdi Army. From his side Moqtada also seems to have dug in his heels. The possibility of a face-saving-all-round outcome seems to have almost disappeared. It is not yet clear who will "win" this showdown. Militarily, of course a large, very well-armed US force, backed up by extremely lethal airpower and augmented by some local Iraqi forces would seem to have a large advantage over a few hundred-- perhaps 1,500 at most--lightly armed Mahdi fighters. (Urban fighting, however, can be really brutal. Do the US Marines there really have the guts for it?) But as every first lieutenant should understand, the "Battle" of Najaf will not be won on the military battlefield. It will be won in the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, and in that arena the US/Allawi forces are almost bound to lose any all-out showdown.

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US/Allawi have overplayed their hand

Following up on this post here Thursday, it now seems clear to me that in forcing the confrontation against the Mahdi Army in Najaf, the US-Allawi forces seriously overplayed their hand. And over the next few days we will see what consequences they have to take for that. [...] The next few days could well be a turning point for the US position in Iraq. If I were Karl Rove--which thank God I am not--I would have to be seriously wondering how an electoral victory come November can possibly be plucked out of this crock of chaos, misery, and imminent defeat.

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Iraqi Troops to Take Lead In Battling Sadr's Forces

Prime Minister Ayad Allawi will send Iraqi troops to Najaf to battle a Shiite Muslim militia, Iraqi officials and U.S. commanders said Saturday after peace talks collapsed between the interim government and rebellious cleric Moqtada Sadr.

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Offensive resumes in Najaf, prompting desertions of Iraqi troops

The officers, most of them decorated veterans from the former regime, shook their heads at the thought of Iraqis battling Iraqis on sacred soil. Several said they would resign immediately if senior officers ordered them to serve in Najaf. They asked to withhold their names for fear of reprimand. "I'm ready to fight for my country's independence and for my country's stability," one lieutenant colonel said. "But I won't fight my own people." "No way," added another officer, who said his brother - a colonel - quit the same day he received orders to serve in the field. "These are my people. Why should I fight someone just because he has a difference in opinion about the future of the country?"

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US poised for killer blow against Muqtada

Once again, US armed forces appear on the verge of winning a decisive military victory in Iraq - this time in the holy city of Najaf. And once again, they appear closer to losing the larger wars for a stable and friendly Iraq and for an Islamic world that will cease producing anti-US terrorism. That is the rapidly growing concern of Middle East and Islamic specialists as US Marines, after a week of fighting, captured virtually all of central Najaf on Thursday, including the home of Mehdi Army leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and launched a final siege of the Imam Ali Shrine, which is considered the world's holiest by some 120 million Shi'ite Muslims.

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