Oct 20 2006
Shiite Militia Establishes Itself As Target
Well, it seems one of Sadr’s militia’s have attempted to take over an Iraq city. This shows things are coming to a head in Iraq. It seems the Sadr’s Mahdi army is feeling put upon and so took over the city. I expect to see some effort to negotiate the Mahdi militia to stand aside, and then probably a strong show of force. The Iraqi government must treat these militia as if they were criminals (which they are). It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Sadr is outgunned (as usual) and will have to step back to survive. The insurgents tried this time and time again, only to get smacked hard when the US and Iraqi forces came to clean things up. I expect this will end the same way.
I think this is a turning point in that if the government doesn’t do something to stop Sadr, we can not continue to support Maliki.
Will We Become A Paper Tiger?…
You gotta love these kind of articles in which the lefty reporters try to spin a story that involves Bush having no choice but withdrawal from Iraq. The only problem is that the storytellers these reporters use are these kind of “anonymous”…
Flopping Aces:
Under the terms of Geneva, an occupying power is charged with
restoring stability and safety quickly. This means at worst in a few
months, in 2003. The US has failed miserably. Now, these
militias were vowed to have been dismantled by Bremer and other
US officials promptly in 2003. WE not Maliki, who owes his
safety,indeed, to a Shia militia are charged under Geneva to
disarm them -and indeed WE vowed to do so long ago.
And still you regard with indignation a newspaper article which
you believe, rightly or wrongly, militates for US departure.
You have been “spun” by your faith in transparently
incompetent war administrators, and ,probably, a good dose
of hubris as Mike Scheuer would put it.
I read your linked piece, FA and it predictably distorts the Iraqi reality. Actually only two provinces of 18 in Iraq are stable-
and it is because the insurgency has less interest in them. Ask yourself why Bush would be retreating if your idyllic description
were even in the ballpark, claiming he will examine alternative
strategies. On the other hand if the insurgency were so
stymied as you wishfully depict, why has it immediately broken
into lethal effectiveness in areas vacated by US troops for
Baghdad–and why has the Baghdad enterprise been a flop?
Why do you fail to mention the Sunni tribes which have agreed to
drive al Qaeda out have also said they can do so without
lessening the attacks on American troops?
Finally,why do you believe you have more accurate estimation of
Iraqi conditions than all the GOP politicians you suggest are
unduly retreating? Obviously, if you’re right, they are either
cowardly or ill-informed..meaning they have marginal ability
to govern at any rate.
As for the critiques on myself in the previous post above:
1. I am not to blame for the Iraqis not trusting the Americans
and therefore approving of insurgent attacks on US troops.
The bases we are building there are enough to convince them
we do not wish to leave. Moreover the Shias haven’t trusted
us since Bush the First bailed on them after encouraging
them to revolt against Saddam in 1993. Further,very very few
Arabs and Moslems are going to be pro-America as long as
it supports Israel’s oppression of Palestinians, a fact of which
the commenters appear to be blissfully ignorant.
2. Even if the false interpretations of the poll in question
were true and the average Iraq approved of the current
Maliki regime, the US would be in bad position, as shown by
Maliki’s praise of the “terrorist” Hezbollah’s attack on
Israel (which the commentors, not myself, find abhorrent)
and by Maliki’s friendship with “axis of evil” member Iran.
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2006/sep/29/poll-iraqis-back-attacks-troops/
Readers should check the actual Iraqi poll results discussed in the previous post linked above. 3/4 of Iraqis say because the US is building bases it plans to stay. Which means they will go on approving of attacks on US troops, according to my critics’ own logic. My critics say people like me are to blame for Iraqis not trusting America, rather than accepting Bush policy itself eg base-building causes the mistrust.
NOTE-The secret State Department poll cited above , reveals the overwhelming majority of Iraqis want the US out immediately,
which dovetails with previous polls since 2004.