At least seven American troops were killed and over 20 wounded in fighting last night in the eastern working class “Sadr City” suburbs of the capital. The US military used tanks and helicopter gun-ships to retake control of Baghdad police stations that had been seized by Iraqi militiamen loyal to the Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr.

New York Times correspondent Jeffrey Gettleman described what happened: “At nightfall today [Sunday], the Sadr City neighbourhood shook with explosions and tank and machine gun fire. Black smoke choked the sky. The streets were lined with armed militiamen, dressed in all black. American tanks surrounded the area. Attack helicopters thundered overhead.”

The situation as day breaks in Iraq remains volatile. Hundreds of militiamen are believed to be manning barricades and rooftops throughout Sadr City and American tanks and troops have taken up positions. In Kufa, near the holy Shiite city of Najaf and Sadr’s place of residence, militiamen have reportedly taken control of the main government buildings and police station. Some of the local police, according to an unconfirmed AFP report, have shed their uniforms and joined the rebellion. Parts of Najaf are under the control of Sadr’s militia, which is reportedly preparing to fight in Karbala, Nasiriyah and Amara. In Basra, militiamen reportedly took over the governor’s offices this morning.

The uprising constitutes a staggering political crisis for the Bush administration. Every lie the White House told to justify the invasion of Iraq has now been shattered. Last April, it claimed that the columns of American tanks rolling toward Baghdad were bringing liberation to the Iraqi people, especially to the Shiite population that suffered repression under Saddam Hussein. Twelve months later, American troops are being prepared to kill or be killed in combat with hundreds of Shiite youth, who are so hostile to the occupation that they have taken up arms.

For months the Bush administration has maintained that opposition to the US-led occupation is confined to supporters of the former regime or foreign terrorists. It has insisted that the majority of the population is sympathetic to the US, that the security situation is improving and that it is developing an “exit strategy” for the 110,000 American troops still in the country.

The truth is that the White House had no political strategy when it ordered the invasion of Iraq, apart from using overwhelming force against any resistance to its agenda of seizing the country’s energy resources and installing a pro-US puppet government. The brutality, arrogance and recklessness of the American actions have produced nothing but suffering, mayhem and bitterness for the vast majority of the Iraqi people.

It is not accidental that Sadr City is the centre of the unfolding events. It is home to as many as three million poverty-stricken Iraqis—mostly Shiites—who have endured over 13 years of deprivation due to the 1991 Gulf War and the following United Nations-imposed sanctions. Last year’s invasion made the situation worse. Unemployment is well over 50 percent and what little infrastructure that existed before the war has been disrupted. The only services that exist are those provided by charities and organisations linked to the Shiite clergy.

On top of the guerilla war raging in Sunni Muslim cities like Fallujah and Tikrit, the wrath of the majority Shiite population is now being unleashed against the occupation forces.

The trigger for the outbreak of hostilities was the decision a week ago by Coalition Provisional Authority head Paul Bremer to begin a crackdown on supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr—a fundamentalist critic of the occupation who is demanding the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq and the establishment of an Islamic state. Sadr is also one of the many Shiite religious leaders who have publicly declared they will not accept as legitimate the “sovereign” Iraqi government the US is planning to install on June 30. Sadr City is his main base of support.

On March 28, in the first step toward outlawing Sadr’s movement, Bremer closed down his newspaper Al Hawza, alleging it was “inciting violence.” Over the course of last week, thousands of furious Sadr supporters protested.

Interpreting the closure of his paper as the first step toward his arrest, Sadr announced on Friday that he would issue a call for a citywide indefinite general strike in Baghdad if the ban on Al Hawza were not lifted. On Saturday, in a show of strength, 5,000 members of his “Mehdi Army” militia marched in military formation, but unarmed, through the streets of Baghdad. The editor of Sadr’s paper told Associated Press: “It’s not just a question of closing down Al Hawza. If we don’t resist by all means now, they’ll close our offices and ban our Friday prayers.”

Later that day, Bremer pushed tensions to breaking point by ordering the arrest of Mustafa al-Yacoubi, one of Sadr’s leading aides. The American military alleges he was involved in the April 2003 killing of a moderate Shiite cleric—an accusation al-Yacoubi and Sadr have both consistently denied.

Since Saturday night, the violence has steadily escalated from mass demonstrations against the arrest of Yacoubi into full-scale combat.

In Najaf, Spanish and El Salvadoran troops carried out a bloody massacre of civilians taking part in a demonstration. They fired on a crowd of over 5,000 Shiites in the streets approaching the Spanish military barracks on the outskirts of the city. At least 21 demonstrators were killed and over 200 wounded. Armed militiamen engaged the occupation forces and fighting continued for hours.

A Shiite fighter told the Washington Post: “The cowardly Spanish forces were waiting inside the hospital and shooting from the hospital roof on unarmed people. Thank God the reply has been so violent. This revolution will not calm down until the USA goes out of Iraq. Now the resistance has begun.” Militiamen have already killed at least one American and one El Salvadoran soldier, and wounded a number of others.

As word spread of the events in Najaf, Sadr’s followers unveiled their weapons. In Nasiriyah, Italian soldiers clashed with militiamen, while British troops came under attack in Amara. Sadr himself issued a statement declaring: “There is no use for demonstrations, as your enemy loves to terrify and suppress opinions and despises peoples. I ask you not to resort to demonstrations because they have become a losing card and we should seek other ways. Terrorise your enemy, as we cannot remain silent over its violations.”

In Baghdad, United Press International reported: “The vast Shiite slum of Sadr City... went into near chaos Sunday afternoon after the news of the fighting in Najaf.... The members of Sadr’s banned militia, the Mehdi Army, were seen arming themselves and preparing for combat outside Sadr’s offices...

“Trucks and minibuses with license tags from all over the predominantly Shiite south of Iraq were seen streaming into Sadr City and unloading waves of young men in the black T-shirts of the Medhi Army, which has previously never openly displayed weapons banned by the occupation forces.”

The militiamen seized control of at least three police stations in Sadr City, which were retaken by US troops in the fighting last night.

The mood in Shiite communities appears to be defiant. During Saturday’s march in Baghdad, Mehdi militiamen chanted: “Say the word Moqtada and we will resume the 1920 Revolution”—invoking the Shiite rebellion against the British in 1920 that claimed the lives of 500 occupation troops and 6,000 Iraqis. Journalists reported that youth on the streets of Baghdad last night were yelling: “The occupation is over!” and “We are now controlled by Sadr! The Americans should stay out!”

In the clearest indication that the situation will not be brought easily under control, the main Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, issued a statement late yesterday that, while appealing for calm, condemned the US-led coalition and declared that the actions of Sadr’s militiamen were “legitimate.”

The response in the United States has been hysterical, with calls by rightwing elements of the establishment to drown the uprising in blood. Speaking on Fox News, Lawrence S. Eagleburger, a former secretary of state in the first Bush administration, declared: “We have to start the killing... We have to do whatever it takes to put these people down.” Asked by the Fox anchor if the US should assassinate Moqtada Sadr like the Israelis had murdered Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Eagleburger responded: “I think so.”

American commentators have opined that the transfer of sovereignty to an Iraqi transitional government June 30 is no longer possible due to the mass unrest. Further calls are being made for more troops to be sent to impose “stability” on the country. One year after the criminal invasion of Iraq, the US occupation of the country has degenerated into an open-ended, murderous war of attrition against the Iraqi people themselves.