TOUGH LOVE

We are serious about letting you guys run your own country. Are you?

The fighting began Wednesday evening -- just before midnight -- when the Mehdi militia fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr attacked a police station in the center of Najaf with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, killing two police officers, U.S. military sources said.

Although Najaf Police Chief Sayed al-Jazairi contacted the U.S. commander, asking for American troops to come to his aid, the coalition soldiers were held back from the fight.

"He's gotta learn how to deal with it on his own," a senior U.S. officer told CNN. "We will not get involved unless the situation gets way out of hand."