Bang Up Job AP!

You can actually feel the teeth grinding coming from Sameer Yocoub at the AP as he wrote this article in which he grudgingly admitted things are pretty good in Basra now after Maliki sent the army in:

CD shops sell love songs again. Some women emerge from their homes without veils, and alcohol sellers are coming out of hiding in the southern city of Basra — where religious vigilantes have long enforced strict Islamic codes.

The changes in recent weeks mark a surprising show of government sway — at least for now — after an Iraqi-led military crackdown that was plagued by desertions, ragged planning and ended in a virtual stalemate with Shiite militias in Iraq’s second-largest city.

But it’s unclear whether the new tone in parts of Basra represents a permanent tilt toward the Iraqi government or just a temporary retreat of Shiite hard-liners challenging the current Baghdad leadership.

During five days of heavy fighting last month, Iraqi troops struggled against militiamen, particularly the Mahdi Army loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The military was plagued by desertions and poor organization — and, in the end, the offensive was inconclusive with Iran helping mediate a truce.

Still, the crackdown appears to have succeeded in giving some sense of government control in Basra.

“At least for now,” “temporary,” and other sentiments abound in his report because you know he can’t just admit that the fight was a good thing. There just has to be some pessimism in any AP report and he doesn’t fail here. He even includes lies like “military was plagued by desertions,” and that there was a truce in effect.

Four percent of the troops deserted. Four freakin percent! And thats a plague to Sameer. And Maliki said there was no truce, he continued operations inside Basra and in Baghdad. A truce with offensive operations going on is not a truce….no matter how much Sadr wanted one.

But what do you expect from a reporter who falsely claimed American troops killed civilians and wrote glowingly of Saddam in 2002.

As always AP….way to go!

UPDATE

Some truce:

Iraqi troops have surrounded an office block used by supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Shia al-Mahdi Army, in the southern city of Basra.

Al-Sadr’s supporters criticised the move on Friday as a “provocation”, but the government said its operation was aimed only at recovering offices unfairly occupied by political groups.

Sheikh Harith al-Athari, the head of the Basra office, said: “The police and the army have laid siege to Sadr’s office in Basra.

“They have also stopped people from attending Friday prayers. The forces, backed by armoured vehicles, have asked us to leave the building.”

General Abdel Karim Khalaf, an interior ministry spokesman, said the operation had been approved by Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister.

He said that al-Maliki had ordered government troops to take possession of all government buildings in Basra within 48 hours.