Cheney must be furious Iran negotiated the Maliki/ al Sadr truce and thwarted American Big Oil imperialism.

No absolutes.

Its just that these Defeatists always want to quit. I am just pointing out that they even want to quit when they have absolutely no skin in the game. March Madness must be tough on them. This is a case of Iraqi government forces against some brave, but misguided, Minutemen wandering around with assault rifles and intimidating the city of Basra. There are no coalition forces in danger. Even if Bush followed the Dali-Bama and bailed out last year there would be conflicts like this. Too me, it is very nice to see independent movement by Iraqi government forces. They will win. Numbers are on their side. Training is on their side. Supplies are on their side. And, who the hell would want to be ‘secured’ by a thuggish protection racket.

So, I say wait and see.

If Iraq wins the government forces will remain in the city. If Iraq loses this battle they will look like the Russians retreating from Afghanistan. My money is on the government forces. So is my hope.

Hope.

Future historic perspectives hinge on what happens to this new government… do they survive, and become a western tolerant nation, friends in intel, and trader in world’s free markets for their resources? Or do they fall to jihad movement thugs who ignore their elections and voices, and be herded into Islamic law and raped of their resources?

One can hope that the US is not the cause of their failure simply because a new POTUS forms his/her foreign policy based on poll opinions of a nation who’s citizenry enjoys only 60-70% of it’s high school students being graduated. Frankly, I do not want my future being decided by so many that are so clueless.

Iraq deserves every opportunity to make a success of their nation. And the US owes them whatever assistance they ask of us to do so. This behooves us all. And as of Nov 2007, the Iraq President asked us to stay another two years. So for those concerned with mending fences with the int’l community, I suggest that doing so doesn’t include abandoning a fledgling democracy after they have requested help.

But be not so immediate to prounouce absolutes and predict history. It has surprised us all before, and lays in wait to do so again over time.

MoveOn.Troll.

Just like every conflict – it all must be resolved yesterday for the libs to be satisfied. There is nothing worth a long conflict of ideals. Including a conflict between a government, head choppers, and/or morons running around with assault rifles and pretending to be in charge. I wonder if either the Poet or the ‘Anonymous One’ or the ‘Truth is Very Difficult‘ guy would accept Californians running about with assault rifles. Maybe if the State of California cracks down on some gun toting morons trying to intimidate a city we can call it politics or something. Very dark. Very sinister. I sense the presence of the Free Masons or Bildeburgers or Tri-Latteral Commission or the now bankrupt – but all powerful – Carlyle Group.

At some point the government has to assert control over the whole country. This could very well be the beginning. Let’s see. Al-Sadr loses over 500 dead, the ISF fatalities seem to be in single digits. The ISF has 202,000+ military troops, 214,000+ police, 28,000+ border patrol. There are 165,000+ coalition troops still in Iraq. Al-Sadr has how many???

And, al-Sadr sues for peace. And it is a peace that allows the ISF to deal with the ‘rogue elements’.

I kinda like that deal. The Sadrists that have a chance to be incorporated into civil society don’t have to be wiped out. But, the Iran backed slugs can be targeted. If they pop up in mighty minuteman violence they can be targeted with extreme prejudice.

Plus, like Terrye stated: What’s the rub. We all want the Iraqi government to deal with Iraqi problems. They make a move and the libs over here rend their clothes. Whining and crying.

Do not pay any attention to them. Trolls? What trolls?

Don’t Believe the Hype – It’s a Sequel
Eric Martin Apr 1 2008 – 2:07pm
I suppose it’s not surprising that so many right wing pundits, politicians and bloggers are clamoring to declare the latest anti-Sadr operation a success and (yes, yet again) a sure sign that Sadr is finished. Once President Bush signaled early on in the campaign that the resulting action would prove the “success of the surge,” those onlookers that were still committed to defending the prolongment of the Iraqi occupation became invested in this narrative. Then again, declaring the death of Sadr has been a sort of preoccupation for many of those same observers, regardless of the fact that by their count, Sadr’s got more lives than an alleyway teeming with cats giving birth to kittens.

But contrary to the beliefs of those deeply enthralled with “Green Lantern Theories” of geopolitics, and other assorted subjectivists, blind cheerleaderism in the face of contradictory empirical evidence does not lead to victory. Quite the opposite in fact. Belief alone does not create reality, it gets demolished by it.

Read it all.

Then consider also, Maliki has been begging Basra citizens to return
50 Army vehicles “stolen” as the debacle ensued, promising an
automobile in return.

The amazing thing is that the Democrats want to do what the British did and back off and they want the Iraqis to do what Maliki did and take matters into their own hands…and still they bitch.

They say Iraq is a failure and so they mourn for the Butcher of Baghdad, disgusting little traitors that they are. They just want to see Bush hurt, if some Iraqis have to die, who cares?

The thing is alSadr called for a cease fire, this is not something that is done by a winner, it is something that is done by a loser.

And while it is true that the militia was not destroyed, it seems to me that too many pundits left and right forget that there are civilians living in that city and the Iraqi Army can not just destroy the place.

The truth is the left considers any kind of fighting to be a sign of much sought after failure, and the right considers anything short of complete destruction of the enemy to be failure. In fact neither of these outcomes are realistic under the circumstances.

I would say that this is something of a stand off, but it tips toward Maliki. I would recommend this piece from the Long War Journal, note the casualties, it was not Maliki’s forces that lost more than a thousand people.

I would have loved to asked him, if it’s just the MSM, what about all
the soldiers coming back who say quite the opposite poll thge opposite attitude, and what about the polls of Iraqis since 2004 showing a majority approve of insurgent attacks on American occupiers?