Jan 10 2007
Shiite Mahdi Militia Ordered To Disband
Those who do not think Iraq is salvageable are going to really be upset to see the Shiite Iraqi PM order the Shiite Mahdi Militia to to disarm and disband or else be destroyed:
Iraq’s prime minister has told Mahdi Army militiamen they must surrender their arms or face an all-out assault by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces, senior Iraqi officials said Wednesday, revealing a pledge Washington wanted to hear as American and Iraqi troops prepared a fresh operation to end the bloody sectarian war gripping Baghdad.
The blunt message was particularly significant given that Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi leader, previously had blocked several U.S. attempts to crack down on the military wing of radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, now one of the most powerful players in Iraq.
“Prime Minister al-Maliki has told everyone that there will be no escape from attack. The government has told the Sadrists (the political movement that supports the Mahdi Army), if we want to build a state we have no other choice but to attack armed groups,” a senior Shiite legislator and close al-Maliki adviser said.
Iraq over religous faction. Finally. I admit it may have taken the Democrat win and begging for surrender to stiffen Iraqi resolve, but it also took the ramrod straight spine of George Bush to pull a Lincoln, switch out his military leaders who were bogged down and take advantage of the upheavel to press ahead. It has always been a question of full speed ahead or full retreat in the face of Iran and Al Qaeda. The democrats have never faced up to the repurcussions of failure in Iraq because they think losing Iraq will be a kick at Bush. It won’t be of course, it will the start of a bloody, out of control generational battle in the ME. But the dems hate of all things Bush blinded them. And so Bush is taking full advantage of the situation and shaking things up.
The Iraqi military is bringing two brigades from northern Iraq and one from the south to increase troop strength for the new Baghdad security push that al-Maliki announced on Saturday. He immediately set it in motion with an attack on Sunni insurgents in Haifa Street in central Baghdad. Thirty suspected insurgents were killed then and 50 more were reported killed Tuesday in a nearly day-long assault there backed by U.S. troops, fighter jets and attack helicopters.
With both US and Iraqi forces concentrating their efforts to maximixe their effectiveness Iraq will succeed.
This is really good news for the country and for the republicans. I know the libs will see it as just another step toward disaster. They will pray for continued bad luck for America, as usual.
If the Sunni backed terrorists would stop killing people in places like Sadr City it would help shut down the militias. They feed off each other.
I heard that the other day Bush had a two hour conversation with Maliki and when it was done, Maliki got the message.
Will he do as he says? I guess we will find out.
G_d bless George W. Bush and our magnificent military. We owe them a lifetime of gratitude.
And I pray, as well, for the success of the Iraqi’s in their defeat of our enemies.
So you are buying that the trips to the woodshed for Nouri al-Maliki actually worked?
I’m not.
The biggest mistake that the President will not admit is that the Iraqi government are a the very least dysfunctional and at the worst part of the problem.
Words are fine, deeds are better.
The clock is ticking, and the American people are watching. If the Iraqi government does not take the actions they have promised, we should start pulling our troops ether out or out of the line of fire of the Civil war. Give Nouri al-Maliki one, maybe two months to back up his words then ether regime change or time to start packing.
Drudge is hinting there is info that a naval contingent is going to be off the Iranian coast. This is probably going to coincide with what I have heard about the 3rd ID deploying on the Iran/Iraq border. Anyway, Matt is stating details are embargoed until the President’s speech. Since Iran is the financial and munitions support of the Mahdi army this may mean something.
From the text of the speech available at Drudge:
There is nothing to stop us from going in and kicking a.. in the near future.
And frankly, I really don’t think that we would tell ALL our plans upfront, directly to the enemy, now would we? This is all very interesting…and my gut tells me we are entering a new phase in the GWOT…
Steve:
The Iraqi people lived through decades of brutality under Saddam. They survived a war with Iran that costs a million or more people their lives. They went through the Gulf Wars and the sanction regime that Saddam used to increase their suffering, not his and then the Sunni terrorists come in there and start attacking and killing thousands of civilians. No people can go through all that without scars.
This country has lost 3,000 soldiers in 3 and a half years and there are people ready to give up. The Iraqis have lost a lot more and it will take time for them to recover.
And if we just pull out, chances are we will be back in there again. I am getting tired of the US having to go to Iraq every few years.
Terrye,
Do you know what “Three Card Monty” is? That is what the Iraqi government has been playing on the Rube from Texas I’m sorry to say.
If they can’t or won’t stop the fighting with some help from us, in effect asking us to do the heavy lifting and killing of our young men and women, then they can have it.
Maybe not pull our troops out, but move them North to the Kurdish parts of the country, along the border of Syria and Iran and let the Sunnis and Shia have at each other, if they don’t start holding up their end of the bargain.
Bottom line, if the war for their own freedom is not worth the Iraqi government and army fighting for, why should we?
Steve-for this reason:
from gatewaypundit.blogspot.com:
“Iraq Could Not Be Graver – The War On Terror Cannot Be Won If We Fail In Iraq. Our enemies throughout the Middle East are trying to defeat us in Iraq. If we step back now, the problems in Iraq will become more lethal, and make our troops fight an uglier battle than we are seeing today. ”
What is not to understand about why we are there? IT IS THE GLOBAL FRONT ON THE WAR ON TERROR.
Hey, well, you know … “If at first you don’t succeed, give up!”
It’s the Standard Democratic Response to Republican Initiative.
Republicans must succeed the first time, every time or else they are a failure. Democrats on the other hand can always see that their plans are always “partially successful for more needs to be done”.
Basically it is comedy. And I am tired of it.
Yea, what the hell steve, let’s chunk it over there and fight them here.
Sounds like a winner to me.
Only probllem is, like the Iraqis that don’t want to fight for themselves, (they must be Dems over there too.) the Dems here would have all the white flags waving when they got here.
Rube from Texas? who would that be. Didn’t you say you were from Louisiana originally?
Crosspatch…
So how many bites at the apple do you want the President to have?
Which version of the “Victory in Iraq” plan do you want to believe, how many times has the President told you we are winning, when we are not?
Maybe withdrawal is not the answer, but pulling back to the Kurdish areas might work, or pull into defensive potions and let the Iraqis have at each other. Lots of other plans, other than put more troops into the middle of Civil War.
Tell me Steve, WHAT OTHER OPTIONS DO WE HAVE IN THIS WAR ON TERROR IN IRAQ?
And yes, I am screaming…it’s for the chilren…
Enforcement,
If a person is continually lied to, believes the lies, ignores the nose on their face, that’s what I call a rube. Charlie Brown was rube to think that Lucy was actually going to let him kick that football, President Bush is a Rube to believe that as long as the US military is there in force the Iraqis are going to fight for their own future.
I’d call this new plan, lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig and the responsibility for victory in Iraq belongs squarely on the shoulders of the Iraqi people and their government.
And yes I’m from Louisiana originally.
Lived in la. 20 years and I will NOT comment any further…
Why waste my time…
And for the record, we will just see who the real rube is…there are more than a proportional share in the L state.
Ivanhut…
Find Bin Laden
Go hard after the Pakistani government to crack down on the madras that teach Islamic hate.
Go hard after the Saudi Government which funds Wahhabi fundamentalism around the world.
Pull our forces to the North of Iraq and let the Sunni and Shias fight it out.
How’s that!
And who will have control of the oil in Iraq? YOu think Iran is just having a tea party in Iraq?
Sheeze…
And if you think our problems are solved because we find Bin Laden, then there is just nothing further to discuss….really.
And you think this is open ended? That the American people will continue to support “just one more try”.
ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.
The American people voted in November for a change of the course of the war in Iraq. This is not change, this is one more attempt of what did not work before, according to the President himself, and which may fail again this time. Time will tell.