Newshoggers Comments
Well put...my quarrel with Cordesman et al is the notion that those groups in Iraq who oppose the occupation are by definition (or implication) "the bad guys" (whose views, incidentally, coincide with 75-80% of (non-Kurdish) Iraqis). The indispensable Badger at ArabLinks blog, has been all over the "Battle of Basra" and ancillary skirmishes across southern Iraq and Baghdad, and his readings of the Arab media in and out of Iraq clearly point to a "nationalist/occupationist" divide, exploited by Iran and totally buggered up by the Yanks. The problem for the "nationalists" - both Sunni and Shi'a alike - is the weight of the most powerful militia in Iraq: the US military. There is NO hesitation on its part to bring Luftwaffe-style blitzkreig airpower against Shi'a-dominated urban districts whenever and wherever "anti-government insurgency" breaks out, never mind the minority status of the Da'wa/ISCI faction it seeks to protect. Remove the clueless US military in its entirety tomorrow, and the Iraqis themselves will quickly solve the "government" problem, clearly not without bloodshed, but surely not to the extent promoted and caused by MNF-I, and with the added advantage of being largely - if not exclusively - an IRAQI SOLUTION!
Interpress news has an interesting piece on the Basra fiasco by Gareth Porter;
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?...sp?
idnews=41804
The Americans come off looking clueless.
Another fine example of desperate distortion supporting the "America is a loser" narrative promulgated by the radical left and their allies in the MSM. For a true picture of the current situation in Iraq, read AJStrata's blog.
And I should add that Iran's tyrants have now put themselves have now boxed themselves into a corner, and a devastating US military response is now inevitable. They will soon live (or more accurately die) to regret it.
Hey Nabal, don't get too excited about bombing Iran, you'll get froth on your screen.
How, exactly, do you explain the Dawa and SIIC/Badr Brigades even stronger connections to Iran, btw? AJ Strata doesn't mention them at all, proving he couldn't find the truth in Iraq - or much else - with both hands, a GPS and a map.
Regards, C
Dawa and SIIC/Badr may have had connections with Iran in the past, since the Clinton Administration refused to give them any aid in their fight with Saddam, i.e. the enemy of my enemy business. But now they have cast their lot with us, and it would be an unforgivable betrayal on our part to leave them in the lurch, like Obama and HRC are proposing to do.
From Patrick Langs website;
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/s...emper_tyrannis/
"If it is true that the commander of the IRGC Quds Force mediated the intra-Shia fracas, then the US policy in Iraq of favoring the ISCI/Dawa/Badr dominated Maliki government is in serious trouble.
The role of "Wasit" (intermediary) is highly significant in the Middle East. For the Iraqis to assign that role to the Iranians would indicate an acknowledgement of what they think the situation is going to be in the future".
I wonder who is casting their lot with whom?
Then again, Pat Lang is such a hippie.
It's really easy to understand - content-free insults get deleted.
Edited By Siteowner
Wow Nab --- you really don't know your ass from your elbow on this subject area ---
1) SCIRI, now SIIC and the Badr Brigades were founded and funded by Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. If you are chronologically illiterate, Bill Clinton was governor of a podunk state at the time.
2) DAWA, SCIRI/BADR did very little of the Shi'ite fighting in the 1991 rebellion and took few of the losses --- Fadillah, Marsh Arabs and Sadrists took part in the fighting then.
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