Because it appears that the Pentagon is claiming that the “new Iraq fighting arises from surge’s success“.
Maybe it’s not Kafka. Maybe it’s the Onion. I’m not sure, but it would be nice if the press called Bush and His Evil Minions™ on this heads I win, tails you lose crap.
It appears now that the truce with Moqtada al-Sadr is well and truly over. Even if hasn’t called for a revolt against the Maliki government, he has called for civil disobedience and self defense, and the shooting has begun.
The US blames the latest attacks on rogue Mahdi Army elements tied to Iran, but analysts say the spike in fighting with Shiite militants potentially opens a second front in the war when the American military is still doing battle with the Sunni extremists of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
“The cease-fire is over; we have been told to fight the Americans,” said one Mahdi Army militiaman, who was reached by telephone in Sadr City.
The force most closely linked to Iran is not the Mahdi Army. It is sectarian, but also Iraqi nationalist.
It isn’t helping that out west, the Sunni Militias are going strike because they have not been paid.
It would be comical if it were not for the killing.
The ones in the thrall of Iran, are Maliki’s guys. They fought for Iran in the war, and tortured Iraqi POWs at the request of the Iranians.
The Americans don’t get it. Sadr is not an Iranian puppet, he’s the strongest nationalist Shia out there, though this is not stopping David Petraeus, Bushes Bitch on the Euphrates, from claiming that all the attacks are coming from Iran.
Sir, you are a lying sack of sh%$ and a disgrace to your uniform, the men who serve under you, and the United States of America.
The press coverage on this side of the pond, excepting the Monitor and McClatchy, is universally poor, with claims that the civil disobedience causing the violence.
Eric Martin makes some very good points about how Malicki and the US undermined the truce int he first place.
He notes there has been a crackdown against the Mahdi army and its related political party in advance of provincial elections.
It’s pretty clear that the state security apparatus, and the US military, have been used in an attempt to influence these elections.
It’s hard to say for sure, which of these factors [The surge, the Anbar Awakening, the Sadr ceasfire, or the Completion of ethnic cleansing in most of Baghdad] was the most important. The Bush Administration will tell you it’s all about the troop levels. I’ve tended to believe it’s more of a mix and was most inclined towards the Anbar Awakening and the sectarian cleansing as the important factors. But when you look at the data it really seems to indicate that the Sadr ceasefire may have been the key.
More than anything else, Sadr wants us out.
He may get it before November.
So says John Cole of Balloon Juice.
While it is amusing to read that he finds it, “amazing I could tie my shoes in 2001-2004“, my question is more direct. What the hell are your going to do to fix it?
I’ve wrong on most of my predictions, but I have not pushed policy prescriptions on the basis of those predictions.
You were were more than wrong, you were an accessory to evil, and an enthusiastic one at that.
You contributed to making us less safe, killing in excess of half a million Iraqis, driving more than a million from their homes, and damaged the United States for decades to come economically, diplomatically, and morally.
You cheer led for this evil.
The Julius Streicher, the publisher of Der Stürmer was put to death for his cheer leading, and while your misdeeds are far more milder, simply saying, “oops, sorry”, does not cut it
What Are you going to do to make it right?
OK, my opinion of Benedict has improved a bit, though he is still a reactionary idiot.
The title is not mine though, I whole heatedly approve the hed, and will defend it, but that bon mot is not mine, so I cannot take credit for it.
It appears that Pope Benedict XVI has refused an audience for Condolleza Rice.
She had requested an audience in August (you know, in order to play politics with the conventions and the November election).
The pope has denied this request, ostensibly since it was his August holiday, but really for two reasons:
Condoleeza Rice should not be too upset by this, “Instead of meeting the Pope, Ms Rice had to make do with a telephone conversation with the Vatican’s number two, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was visiting the US during August on other business.”
So, he won’t talk to her, but his number two will talk to her on the phone.
Girlfriend, maybe he just ain’t into you…You know.
David S. Broder just criticised John McCain on Iraq.
When one considers that Broder is a wanker who has approved invasions and killing, all the way back to Nixon, and felt that people who opposed this are dirty f*&%ing hippies, this is significant.
He is , pretty much by definition, the high priest of High Broderism, and the fact that he’s criticizing McCain on Iraq is significant.
OK, I guess “Mr. 100 Years” is trying to find a place where the occupation is more popular than in the good old USA, and this is it.
Cheney cites 'phenomenal' Iraqi security progress as bombing kills 40.
I’m not sure that I can top that headline, courtesy of McClatchy, except to say, “Better that he (Cheney) is there, and not here”.
He’s more circumspect, saying that Iraqi leaders are not making sufficient progress, but it amounts to the same thing.
One wonders if this is some sort of push back against an Iran invasion, or he’s just trying to cover his ass.
Admiral William J. Fallon, the head of Centcom, has been forced out by the Bush and His Evil Minions&trade.
This means we will be seeing air strikes on Iran. My guess would be in September, so as to influence the elections. Wag the dog, baby.
My suggestion for the Democratic candidates, they should make it clear that the AUMF against Iraq does not cover Iran, and as such any order to attack Iran is illegal, even if the order comes from the President.
Furthermore, it should be made clear that there would be courts martial if those illegal orders were executed.
Gee, a lot of people were saying that before the ill conceived, ill planned and disastrous invasion.
Of course, Doug Feith, the stupidest f&^%ing man in the world, thinks that it’s all the CIA’s fault.
Yes, every one’s favorite corrupt government contractor based in the Caymans for tax purposes has been supplying contaminated water to bases in Iraq, sickening troops.
These are the real facts, but it reads like something out of The Onion.
5 U.S. troops killed in suicide blast in Iraq.
They will sat that the surge working and this is just a statistical artifact.
Tell that to the families left without fathers, mothers, or parents.
It turns out that they are avoiding taxes by having a phony headquarters in the Cayman Islands.
They are, of course, the leading contractors in Iraq.
Seriously, these folks couldn’t walk a straight line if you paid them.
Yes, Bush and His Evil Minions™ are asserting that the original authorization to invade Iraq gives him the authority he needs to sign a deal on a permanent military presence.
Seriously, when he gets out, we need to find the laws that these folks have broken, and throw the lot them in gaol for a very very long time for breaking those laws.
Yep, that surge is working, with the members of the Sunni militias leaving over issues of payment, political power, and oh, yes, the Shia police chief in Diyala province who has been running those pesky anti-Sunni death squads.
We have band-aids there and it will get increasingly ugly.
The US Army is now planning to replace the Iraqi Army’s AK-47s M-16s, claiming, among other things, that the M-16 is more reliable.
Yeah, right.
While the M-16 is unquestionably more accurate, reliability and cost are on the AK’s side. Additionally, this will require significant retraining.
This is just a way to get the M-16 into service so that Colt (or maybe FN, when I last checked they made weapons in South Carolina under license) make lots of money.
All I think needs to be said is that if the Republicans want to filibuster this, make them talk.
None of this courtesy stuff. They use it as an excuse to kill everything. Cut the funding on the war and the escalation.
Not good, and the insertion of ground troops into Northern Iraq in pursuit of PKK fighters is likely to destabilize the region, and possibly lead to ethnic reprisals against the local Turkomen.
No surprise. Ever since Bush toadie John Howard was driven out, a withdrawal has been a forgone conclusion.