So the Coalition arrested one of Moqtada al-Sadr's major henchmen and bombed the crap out of his Baghdad office. Apparently that's the signal for the Mahdi Army to move into 'Phase 2' of their resistance:
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr Monday ordered his Mehdi Army to launch a broad new offensive against U.S.-led occupying forces following a U.S. crackdown on his strongholds in Baghdad and across the south.Apparently, this is the phase where the Coalition gets to kill them wholesale instead of retail.
U.S. bombs flattened his office in the capital overnight.
"We have now entered a second phase of resistance," said Sadr's chief aide at his main base in the holy city of Najaf.
Update: Yep, sure seems like it:
United States troops, backed by tanks and armoured vehicles, have killed up to 25 militiamen loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in fierce fighting in the holy Shiite city of Karbala, a senior US military officer said.
Locals said the fighting erupted on Tuesday evening (local time) and was still going on as dawn broke, with members of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia holed up in a mosque and surrounded by US forces.
After waking up to find a smkoing hole in the ground where your house used to be, and nothing else touched next to it at all, I would imagine phase II would consist of changing ones undergarments....
"I soilt my armour, I was so scared!"