Iraq Fighting Underscores Power Struggle

The Guardian:

For once, George Bush's open-faced incomprehension - at Nouri al-Maliki's decision to set off a civil war inside Iraq's Shia community - seems entirely appropriate. When the American President admitted he did not know why the Iraqi Prime Minister had launched an offensive in Basra saying, 'I'm not exactly sure what triggered the Prime Minister's response', he was not alone.

The consequences of the decision to send 15,000 Iraqi troops, and as many policemen, into Basra has been the destruction of a nine-month-old ceasefire from Moqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army. In just a few days it has swept back onto the streets in Kut, Hilla, Amara, Kerbala, Nasiriyah, and Diwaniya, as well as into Sadr City in Baghdad, where militiamen have been raining rockets and mortars on the Green Zone...

...Meanwhile, in Basra, British troops have been supporting the Iraqi troops who have been struggling to take ground against the Iranian-backed militia. American jets have been in action supporting the Iraqi army and there is even talk of US troops being sent south into what has been a British-run zone. The ceasefire with al-Sadr has been an essential part of the success of US general David Petraeus's 'surge' - the deployment of an extra 28,000 American troops into Baghdad and nearby cities. Assured of quiet on the Shi'ite front, US forces have been free to concentrate on battling al Qaeda and Ba'athist insurgents among the Sunni community.

Petraeus is due to testify before the American Congress in two weeks' time, where he was expected to show his favourite slide - a graphic illustration of the steady decline in fighting and terror attacks since the surge. A new slide will now have to be prepared, showing an upturn in violence.

Read the whole story: The Guardian

Comments

[pastgone]

Right winger's equation:

We are America
You hate us, therefore:
You hate America

Here's the way it really works:

You aren't America
We hate you, therefore:
We love America

[DumbDad]

Is there no clue about Cheney's visit to al-Maliki? Do we really think this was a surprise?

[couch2000]

I have just learned that B Obama voted against a bill to ban Partial Birth Obortion and he said he would not change his position, incase some one dont know what this is its a full term baby in the womb and they kill it, this is sad

[shockmagog]

Well, you can vote for Huckabee then.

Oh, that's right...

[DumbDad]

well, a) that's irrelevant and b) partial birth abortion is normally used on dead fetuses which otherwise would have to be carried to term and delivered at risk to the mother's health. Nobody does them for birth control, and if you outlawed it you'd force people like a couple I know and love to carry a dead fetus to term. Get out of the kool aid bucket, Jack. The right is wrong about everything about abortion.

[Nyland8]

It's a fetus and it's off-topic

8

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

I see the 5th Column is hard at work tonight

[WLA]

Yes, your anti-American troll friends are all over tonight.

[Nochnoi]

Indeed they are.... those who can think have been greatly out numbered today...

[Nyland8]

They're in the White House and they work hard night and day to undermine our democracy, arm our enemies, ruin our economy, decimate our fighting forces, enrich their cronies, manipulate our media and destroy our reputation in the world - even among our closest traditional allies.

The Bush administration IS the Fifth Column.

8

[unclewoody]

We can agree the White House has subverted our democracy, enriched their pals and manipulated the media.
This suffices to seize power, to loot the country and to leave town before the yokels sense the scam and send the posse.
Accusing them of more than this misses the mark. The Bushies are not smart enough to ruin the nation so completely.
The State Department sold US nuclear secrets to the highest bidders, but this program dates back to at least 1996.
The CIA has murdered at least six millions civilians since 1950 [not counting victims in Iraq]. They wrote the book on how to make enemies and to terrify friends.
The White House never intended to ruin the economy. Why would thieves prompt a bank to go bust before the heist was complete?
The US military has been a joke since it last won in 1945.

[NoFactsJustTruth]

The ONLY part of the Iraq escalation 'surge' that EVER really worked, was the surge in 'don't-shoot' bribes using USA tax-payer dollar$. Guess what happened when those ran out...

[JohnTalbutt]

How much does an AK47 go for on the Iraqi black market?

[Crozier]

I would like to nominate Senator McCain as viceroy of the Green Zones in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
And of course, when he finishes bombing Iran as in BOMB, BOMB, BOMB IRAN and he leaves his first term as POTUS, President Romney can name him Shah of Iran's Green Zone.

[jinjinpinti]

Good one. ROFLMAO!

[GhostintheMachine]

In an unusually frank analysis, Colonel Richard Iron, military mentor to the Iraqi commander General Mohan al-Furayji, said 'There's an uneasy peace between the Iraqi Security Forces [ISF] on the one hand and the militias on the other. There is a sense in the ISF that confrontation is inevitable. They are training and preparing for the battle ahead. General Mohan says that the US won the battle for Baghdad, the US is going win the battle for Mosul, but Iraqis will have to win the battle for Basra.'

Basra has been the scene of a violent power struggle between rival Shia factions, prominently Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM) led by the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who last week announced an extension to its six-month ceasefire. It has seen armed groups move into hospitals and university campuses to impose their religious and political ideology, bullying or even beheading women for going out to work or dressing inappropriately.

[Nyland8]

"It has seen armed groups move into hospitals and university campuses to impose their religious and political ideology, bullying or even beheading women for going out to work or dressing inappropriately."

Before Bush's invasion and occupation, Iraq was the most secular country in the region where Iraqi woman could drive themselves, dress as they pleased and attend University. How many years do you suspect it will take to undo the damage Bush's occupation has done?

It's worth noting that Saudi Arabia, Bush's friends, oppress woman, and Kuwait, the country Bush the Elder "liberated", is known by our state department as a center for slave trading.

Stop defending these people

8

[GhostintheMachine]

Really so you have been there?

And here is all those rights womwn enjoyed in Iraq under Saddam, keep drinking the Kool-aid 7. Iraq under Saddam, if you are a woman, you could face:

Beheading. Under the pretext of fighting prostitution, units of "Fedayeen Saddam," the paramilitary organization led by Uday Hussein, Saddam's eldest son, have beheaded in public more than 200 women throughout the country, dumping their severed heads at their families' doorsteps. Many families have been required to display the victim's head on their outside fences for several days. These barbaric acts were carried out in the total absence of any proper judicial procedures and many of the victims were not engaged in prostitution, but were targeted for political reasons. For example, Najat Mohammad Haydar, an obstetrician in Baghdad, was beheaded after criticizing the corruption within health services. (Amnesty International Report, Iraq: Systematic Torture of Political Prisoners, August 2001; Iraqi Women's League in Damascus, Syria)

Rape. The Iraqi Government uses rape and sexual assault of women to achieve the following goals: to extract information and forced confessions from detained family members; to intimidate Iraqi oppositionists by sending videotapes showing the rape of female family members; and to blackmail Iraqi men into future cooperation with the regime. Some Iraqi authorities even carry personnel cards identifying their official "activity" as the "violation of women's honor." (U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2001, March 2002; Iraq Research and Documentation Project, Harvard University)

[GhostintheMachine]

And some more of their "rights" 6

Torture. The Iraqi Government routinely tortures and kills female dissidents and the female relatives of Iraqi oppositionists and defectors. Victims include Safiyah Hassan, the mother of two Iraqi defectors, who was killed after publicly criticizing the Iraqi Government for killing her sons after their return to Iraq. Women in Saddam's jails are subjected to the following forms of torture: brutal beatings, systematic rape, electrical shocks, and branding. (U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2001, March 2002; U.S. Department of State, Iraq: A Population Silenced, December 2002)



Murder. In 1990, Saddam Hussein introduced Article 111 into the Iraqi Penal Code in a calculated effort to strengthen tribal support for his regime. This law exempts men who kill their female relatives in defense of their family's honor from prosecution and punishment. The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women reported that more than 4,000 women have been victims of so-called "honor killings" since Article 111 went into effect. (UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, January 2002)

[JohnTalbutt]

This in a country twhere women had more education an rights than any other in the Mid East, before we invaded.

[GhostintheMachine]

Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters off Iraq's streets Sunday in a move which Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki welcomed as a "step in the right direction" after several days of heavy fighting. "We want the Iraqi people to stop this bloodshed and maintain Iraq's independence and stability," Sadr said in a statement with his seal released by his headquarters in the Shiite shrine city of Najaf in central Iraq. "For that we have decided to withdraw from the streets of Basra and all other provinces."

Sadr's call came after battles since Tuesday between Shiite fighters and Iraqi forces in the southern port city of Basra, Baghdad and several other Shiite regions had killed at least 270 people



This doesn't sound like the surge failing, it sounds like success. What is the ultimate intent of the surge? To bring enough security so the Iraqiis can train and employ their own military and police to govern themselves. This is exactly what happened in this case. You notice it is Maliki and Sadr negotiating not the US. They are enforcing their laws, Maliki knew that he would have to deal with Basra eventually since it was being ruled by street thugs. And Sadr asked for a truce because he wants a place in the new government.

[HumeSkeptic]

So this violence that killed 300 or so a measure of the success of the surge? If so, then the supposed reduction in violence must have been a failure. Which is it?

Should we expect a bloodbath before each "negotiation", because that's what the surge is supposed to accomplish?

[timothe]

Your analogy is highly flawed. It's like saying our schools are a failure because the occasional whack job goes in and shoots people.

[GhostintheMachine]

There were 39murders in the city of Detroit in January, I guess we should close the police department because they are a failure.

[Nyland8]

"What is the ultimate intent of the surge? To bring enough security so the Iraqiis can train and employ their own military and police to govern themselves. This is exactly what happened in this case. ... "

Uh ... no. There were no less than 18 stated goals of the surge and only three have been met or partially met. It is not a help to our country when mindless, gung-ho Bushbots like yourself persist in distorting facts, denying reality, twisting intentions and engaging in gross revisionism. Iraq is a failure and has been for at least 4 years now. Next year, it will have been a failure for five years ... and so on. Nothing our military can ever do in Iraq can reverse the past 4+ years of failure, and throwing more lives and more taxpayer dollars into a demonstrably failed policy can never have any result justifiable to the American people.

Please stop.

8

[jinjinpinti]

"to bring enough security so the Iraqis can train and employ their own military and police to govern themselves"....??? Oh, you mean like they were doing BEFORE we crashed the party? You mean like ripping down and burning your house, dispersing and/or killing it's occupants just so you can build it back up and rescue everyone while sacrificing your own resources? Sounds like a plan to me...if you're a blithering idiot. Oh wait...you and der chimporater are.......­..........­..........­..........­..........­..blitheri­ng........­..........­..idiots..­..........­.....never­mind.

[JohnTalbutt]

About one third of what you say is true but the last sentence is laughable. He is a guerrilla. We want to kill him. We tried to kill him. If he enters the Green Zone we will kil him.

[donkee]

"the American President admitted he did not know why the Iraqi Prime Minister had launched an offensive in Basra saying, 'I'm not exactly sure what triggered the Prime Minister's response"

bush wouldn't LIE

would he?

It's the latest episode in a strategy that has been under way for some time now to draw out the militia's hard-core elements, thus dividing it into "good" and "bad," according to the deputy chief of staff of Iraq's armed forces, a secular Shiite who has strong ties to US military commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0331/p01s09-wome.html

[GhostintheMachine]

In his interview Saturday, Sadr demanded the release of one of the founders of the special groups, Qais al-Khazali, now in US custody along with his brother and an operative from Hizbullah, the Iranian-backed Shiite movement and militia in Lebanon. They were all captured by US-led coalition troops in Basra one year ago on charges of setting up the nucleus for a Hizbullah-like organization in Iraq. Sadr claimed that all factions were now under his control.

"Yes some people split from us momentarily but they are all coming back now to their dad," he said.

A similar assessment was offered Thursday by a ranking operative in the militia based in Baghdad. He said that Mr. Khazali's decision to assert himself at Sadr's expense had initially angered him but that now all these rifts have been supposedly healed and that Sadr has learned how to better divide up responsibilities.

As to his relationship with Iran, Sadr was more evasive. He said he told Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, recently that he will not be "your political and military extension," while pointing out to some "corrective" measures that it needed to take in Iraq, perhaps in a suggestion that it needed to rethink its long-standing relationship with his bitter rivals ISCI and Badr more to his favor.

[shockmagog]

Wow, what a mess Bush has caused.

Any ideas on how to get us out of it?

[couch2000]

Obama if i were you campaing manager i would try and distance myself from some of my supportors, it doesnt look good on you, for one the Black Panthers, the worst hate group in america, # you better distance yourself from Wright if you are going to have a chance at the General Election, instead of giving this history lesson and comparing him to you Grandma and Typical White people, #3 you need to keep your wifes mouth shut if it isnt to late, and if you dont denounce Moveon.org instead of supporting this hate group you will not have a chance, oh yea Faricon does not help, my god , who is your campaing manager?, and your Running on bringing everyone together?, these groups are not supporting you for nothing, the average american is not stupid here, you can distance yourself from these hate groups or loose the Election, every which one you want, just trying to Help.

[Davwbaird]

really?

[dwillisno1]

Who is his "campaing" manager?? Probably your spelling teacher.

[BetterDays]

Not off topic or anything, Couch Potato!

[shockmagog]

"...just trying to Help."

It's OK. Just let it go. Simply be sanguine in knowing you will be one of the 30% voting for McCain.

[jinjinpinti]

couch2000: The grand dragon just called. He wants you to come by the KKK meeting and pick up that load of sheets for the laundry. Oh, and he asked if you'd also stop and pick up a jug of purple koolaid for the hodown at the Shady Pine trailor park community center tonight.

[ResidentChimp]

The surrender monkeys and their allies' surge has failed. Now the Huffers are trying to characterize Al Sadr's uncle as a peace offering. Get over it. The Surge has been a success regardless of the surrender monkeys waving the white flags. Huffers would bend over backwarfs to stab fellow Americans in the back, but they roll over and beg for a kibble when the terrorists beckon.

[HumeSkeptic]

Good. Then our soldiers can come home now. Immediately.

[ResidentChimp]

I'm sure you surrender monkeys and your terrorists allies would love to see the US military cut and run; just as we did in Vietnam. If fact they're counting on the surrender monkey's support in achieving that goal. That's why Al Sadr endorsed Obam last week, or was it Osama? I forget. Only Huffers believe waving a white flag entitles you to be called "liberators"

[CarlsV]

You're a pathetic idiot!

[CarlsV]

zzzzzzzzzz­zzzzzzzzzz

[Amennyc]

Can we now be greeted as liberators???

[GhostintheMachine]

Nearly 4,000 American service members and about 100,000 Iraqis (most of them in the suicide bombings for which al-Qaida has become infamous) have been killed since March 19, 2003. Has it been worth it?


Iraqis apparently think so. Last week ABC and the BBC released results of a poll conducted in Iraq last month in which 55 percent of Iraqis said their lives were going well, up from 39 percent last August. Forty-nine percent of Iraqis think the U.S. invasion was justified, up from 37 percent in August.

[Nochnoi]

How completely daft of you to say....

[donkee]

Iran has now brokered a peace treaty
between maliki and al sadr
Iran the terrorists
that iran
heh...

[Nochnoi]

I ran so far away....

[hydenorhare]

BTW, nice Huffington headline on the main page. Half news, half lunatic fringe.

[shockmagog]

You're right...it should say "escalation failure."

[Gerald36]

So what did you expect? Mission accomplished?
Dream on!

[speakingtruth2power]

Revisionism in Iraq's recent history, big surprise!

[opines]

The Surge was based on the hope that by increasing the number of troops, by increasing our use of air power and by diverting the American public's attention from the war, we could succeed in 'pacifying'
the Iraqis.

The MSM's has done its best to keep the war from its viewers. The Pentagon model for this operation was its 'success' in the war against the Filipino people. It took several years for our superior weaponry, use of torture and MY Lai type wiping out of entire villages to bring the Filipinos to heel.

The American public was against the war, but the Philippines was half a world away and the crimes we were commiting were difficult to verify. Over time, the public lost interest and the dirty deed was accomplished.

McCain and the MSM would like the debate to be whether or not the Surge is working. Recent events would seem to indicate it is not. The Democratic candidates focus on its drain on the economy.

But unless we accept ourselves as an international outlaw, our preemptive strike, invasion/occupation and attempted armed-robbery of a weaker nation's oil resources cannot be justified.

Obama has declared that he will end the war honorably and swiftly and will abandon the bases we have built. That is a step to restoring our national honor. Sen. Clinton has announced a more 'nuanced' triangulation that is unworthy of trust.

[mouselion]

Is a soured business relationship between Haliburton and an Iranian oild developer in the '90's behind the push for war drumbeat for Iran with this administration? Might Iraq be part of the ulterior motive, a kill several birds with one stone approach? http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/2-halliburton-charged-with-selling-nuclear-technologies-to-iran/

[couch2000]

Vote Clinton or Mcain, please, if Obama gets it could you imagine Wright for secretary of state and Jesse Jackson as Defense Secretary? man wouldnt Ben Ladins dream come true, it may not be those guys but i garentee it will be someone that holds there same views, God Help us if that happens.

[shockmagog]

You're just being silly.

Oh, and, shhhhh....there's no God.

[JohnTalbutt]

You seem haunted by things that will never happen. Get a friend you trust and talk with him or her.

[mouselion]

With that kind of veiled racist drivel, you're living up to your tag: ready for the couch. McCain will only allow Dick Haliburton to have is his way in the world. Clinton? Possibly, but maybe not. Obama? No. Dud's vice prez is such dirty and sleazy operative in the world, it is amazing how MS Americans were conned by him for so long.

[mountainmama]

please, couch 2000, retire to thy couch and stop trying to think--it does not become you

[CuriousPerson]

Exactly what views do Rev. Wright hold? No talking points please, show me the comments in full context and let's discuss them.