As fighting rages for a third day in the Iraqi cities of Basra, Baghdad and elsewhere between government forces and Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, and perhaps more troubling, between the Mahdi Army and its rival Shiite group the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, we’re being given a glimpse into how the Iraqi army (IA) functions without the safety net of American or British military support.

One overlooked aspect of the fight is how the IA is using its equipment to leverage some advantage over the militia groups. This morning’s New York Times provides a glimpse into this story, telling us that

…Mahdi fighters seemed to hold their ground. Witnesses said that from the worn, closely packed brick buildings of one Mahdi stronghold, the Hayaniya neighborhood, Mahdi fighters fired mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, automatic weapons and sniper rifles at seemingly helpless Iraqi Army units pinned on a main road outside, their armored vehicles unable to enter the narrow streets. (emphasis added.)

Previous press reports have it that the IA is using old T-72 tanks and M113A1 armored personnel vehicles, which weren’t designed to fight small, fast-moving bands of insurgents who exploit the narrow urban geography to their advantage.  

While this isn’t necessarily a defeat for the IA, it remains to be seen if they can overcome the limitations of their equipment to move through the city to confront the Mahdi Army. For now, at least, it looks like their recon might not have been the best. A “Basra newspaper editor” quoted by the Times told the paper that “it was obvious that the central government had not consulted with local commanders in planning the assault, citing the inability of the armored vehicles to fit through city streets.”

When fighting an insurgency that relies on motorcycles and small cars and trucks to move around the narrow streets of a city, bigger isn’t always better.