Why are the Iraqis fighting the Americans so ferociously? Perhaps things like this helped to fan those flames.

The US Army tried to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr, the widely revered Shia cleric, after luring him to peace negotiations at a house in the holy city of Najaf, which it then attacked, according to a senior Iraqi government official.

The revelation of this extraordinary plot, which would probably have provoked an uprising by outraged Shia if it had succeeded, has left a legacy of bitter distrust in the mind of Mr Sadr for which the US and its allies in Iraq may still be paying. "I believe that particular incident made Muqtada lose any confidence or trust in the [US-led] coalition and made him really wild," the Iraqi National Security Adviser Dr Mowaffaq Rubai'e told The Independent in an interview. It is not known who gave the orders for the attempt on Mr Sadr but it is one of a series of ill-considered and politically explosive US actions in Iraq since the invasion. In January this year a US helicopter assault team tried to kidnap two senior Iranian security officials on an official visit to the Iraqi President. Earlier examples of highly provocative actions carried out by the US with little thought for the consequences include the dissolution of the Iraqi army and the Baath party.


The attempted assassination or abduction took place two-and-a-half years ago in August 2004 when Mr Sadr and his Mehdi Army militiamen were besieged by US Marines in Najaf, south of Baghdad.

To be fair I have no idea of the veracity of the above accusations. However in the past when we have received information from somebody, and the American military disagrees with it, then it has almost invariably been proven to be accurate.

Lets face it, our government lies to us. Not just occasionally, but constantly.

So with that fact in mind, and the knowledge of all of the tactical mistakes we have made in Iraq, I tend to believe that this probably did happen. And it can probably be blamed for why we will never gain control of Iraq. No matter how many lives we waste in the attempt.