Mahdi Army taking significant casualties in Baghdad, South - The Long War Journal

With the fifth day of fighting in Baghdad, Basrah and the South completed, the Mahdi Army has suffered major losses over the past 36 hours. The Mahdi Army has not faired well over the past five days of fighting, losing an estimated two percent of its combat power, using the best case estimate for the size of the militia.

…Since the fighting began on Tuesday 358 Mahdi Army fighters were killed, 531 were wounded, 343 were captured, and 30 surrendered. The US and Iraqi security forces have killed 125 Mahdi Army fighters in Baghdad alone, while Iraqi security forces have killed 140 Mahdi fighters in Basra.

While the size of the Mahdi Army is a constant source of debate, media accounts often put the Mahdi Army at anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 fighters. With an estimated 1,000 Mahdi fighters killed, captured, wounded and surrendered, the Mahdi Army has taken an attrition rate of 1.5 to 2.5 percent over the past five days.

This is nothing more than infighting between two military/political forces, with Moqtada al Sadr and the Mahdi militias on one side (perhaps - the actual fighting may be from rogue Mahdi militias beyond Sadr’s control, in which this entire exercise is doing him a favor by eliminating his internal opposition for him) - and Nouri al Maliki and the Badr Brigades militias on the other - Nouri has been busily enrolling the Badrs into the “official’ Iraqi military.

And it is becoming increasingly obvious that the “official” Iraqi “security services” are unable to get a handle on the Mahdis without massive support from the US and Brit militaries - which does not bode well for Iraq after these militaries leave.

One other thing that bodes no better: the Badr Brigades, which are now more or less in control of the “official” Iraqi military, (which is waging war on some elements of the Mahdi Militias) are a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iranian Mullahs.

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