corrente

Walking on eggshells, I assume:

U.S. troops will likely enter parts of Najaf soon to clamp down on a radical Shiite cleric's rebel militia, but they will stay away from sensitive holy sites in the center of the city to avoid rousing religious outrage, a U.S. general said Sunday.

With the new move, the military seeks to impose a degree of control in Najaf, while hoping a foray limited to the modern parts of the ancient city would not inflame Shiites. Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling did not say when troops would move in, or how many.

"We probably will go into the central part of the city. Will we interfere in the religious institutions? Absolutely not," said Hertling, a deputy commander of the 1st Armored Division.

He did not say when the move would occur, but it appeared unlikely for several days and was aimed at tightening the clampdown on radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his militia.

"It's not going to be large-scale fighting, the likes of other places, but it's going to be critical," he said. "We're going to drive this guy into the dirt."

"Either he tells his militia to put down their arms, form a political party and fight with ideas not guns -- or he's going to find a lot of them killed," he said.
(AP via LA Times)

But since Sadr and his militia are, in fact, inside a religious institution, it's unclear to me how we are going to drive Sadr "into the dirt" without demolishing a mosque or two.