Sailor there was 1300 that fled in Basra.
This is Sadr City. Follow the link, it happenned the other day!
Seperate event, and yes I take one man fleaing as serious!

Top total being 2000 out of 180,000 that fled

That is 1%

Enough said. Plus, it was reported that those that did flee during the Sadr City offensive were a fresh company with very new recruits.

First off, so were our troops in both Dessert storm and again in this one.
Second you cant compare them to us. they are fighting for and in their own country.
Our troops come from peaceful communities and like you, have never experienced the terror and bloodshed of battle, while
the Iraqis have been living in a combat zone for awhile now.

You keep saying it wasn't bad, and yet both the Iraqi gov and our Pentagon keep saying it is the reason the offensive failed.

Discipline and belief in the cause is what is missing!

Many of the Iraqis in Basra did not simply flea the battlefield, they joined the other side.

Honestly, I was expecting that they would have joined or failed to fight in MUCH greater numbers. The fact that it was so extremely small is shocking to me. And, I would say it is a good mark for the Iraqi Army. They have done many successful operations, including rescuing that cameraman, I believe he was with CBS, earlier this week.

The fact that they are becoming quite experienced and not falling apart or running away in greater numbers or switching sides is a VERY good thing.

The offensive failed, but they didn't lose ground either. It seems like the Iraqi Government is what caused it to fail, holding back the real offensive for they fear al Sadr and his influence.

They are going to have to learn with further time, just like the Sunni Tribal leaders learned over time with al Qaeda blowing them up in greater numbers than US forces. Eventually, they turned sides and came on the side of the Iraqi Government and assisted them and US forces.

This will happen with Sadr, his forces will continue to screw with things, kill their own people and it will turn. I think, I mean I dont grasp exacly how far loyalty goes, but I have to assume there are rivals to al Sadr in his own sect that could see a good opportunity to grab power from him and side with the Iraqi Government as well.

In Basra the Iraqis had US and British air suppoort, stacking the odds heavily in their favor.
The other day when this happened, a sandstorm had grounded all American air power.
They were a defensive force and they retreated.
If the US did not aide the Iraqi Army, Sadr and his army would quickly defeat them.
Thats my guess! Then the civil war would be over, our boys could come home.

You do know Saddam was a Sunni, right!
And while Sadr stayed and defied him, Malaki left the country. Only returning when the US took Saddam out. He was gone for years, Sadr never left!

Sadr has a 60,000 man, loyal, disciplined Army (they fight when he tells them and stand down when he tells them). They fight without US help and would win if the US wouldn't aide Malaki.

You're forgetting something. It may well be true that one company isn't representitive of the force as a whole. But your problem stands when you consider this isn't an isolated event, and it happens now in 100% of operations the Iraqis lead.

An army fleeing 3 times when they've only embarked on 4 operations is pretty ****ty.

Sadr fled to Iran, and has been there for a long time.

He didnt flea untill the US put a price on his head, ordering his arrest for murder. Since however the Iraq supreme court has cleared him. The US still hunts him, even though they say they dont, and he is in Iran studying to become an Ayatollah!

Al-Maliki left Iraq in 1980 and only returned in 2003 when the US invasion was successful. He also fled to Iran, later to Syria.

His party has 37 seats in parliment, Sadr's party, he didnt even run for office, has 30 seats in parliment.

ya know what???? I'll settle this....someone piss me off and I'll go over there and deal with everyone lol. hey if i can get fanta to stop with the name calling...i can stop a war lol