I reread what I wrote and I can’t find where you think I said there was some sort of bleak outcome to all of this. My point was that Al-Sadr never went away and that the civil unrest is something that still exists despite the surge. I don’t see any reason I should concede my point that you can’t force people to coexist with a build up of foreign troops. I also made positive remarks towards the Iraq government handling the fighting.

Well, darn. I was hoping Sadr would stay peaceful.

It all sounds pessimistic to me:


"Operation Setback...The surge isn't helping...civil war going on..." Sound rather defeatist to me. If I am somehow wrong and you mean this some other way, I don't see it frankly. If you are not trying to downplay the successes we have had recently, then what are you saying? Seems like it is a time to be optimistic about a brighter future for Iraq.

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"We should Invade Their Countries, Kill Their Leaders, and Convert Them to Christianity." Ann Coulter
There is a fine line between a subtle nuance and an extreme dichotomy! - PatriotNews

Does anyone have anything substantive showing its al Sadr himself leading this and not factions within (or used to be part of) his Militia causing the main problem in Basra??




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7314904.stm

__________________
McCain 2008
"We make war that we may live in peace"
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"Oderint dum metuant"
"Inartful: clear and straightforward, lacking the artistry that allows subsequent self-refutation and denial."
http://members.cox.net/neddy/bobhope_kerfuffles.wmv
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RnfflRNpwKA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j-QYIP7o2-A

Well, nothing concrete to post here. I can tell you though that my last 6 months in Iraq were dedicated to taking that rat bastard down. He keeps a close hold on operations of the Mahdi's Army. And he has a long reach, he was able to continue coordinating operations even from safe havens in Iran.

I'm dead certain he's calling the shots here.

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sputterman: "Aiding the enemy? If the truth aids the enemy then we are in the wrong war."

They're clearly not under his control.

But, Sadr clearly isn't helping the situation...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...6/wiraq326.xml



It's everybody's hope that Iraqis would find a way to resolve their differences peacefully, for the good of everybody involved, but things don't look quite as good as some people want us to believe.

Attached Images

wiraq326a.jpg (35.7 KB, 0 views)

Questerr you will have no problems in agreement with me on the idea that al Sadr right now should be a few years dead corpse.
But thats beside the point

__________________
McCain 2008
"We make war that we may live in peace"
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"Oderint dum metuant"
"Inartful: clear and straightforward, lacking the artistry that allows subsequent self-refutation and denial."
http://members.cox.net/neddy/bobhope_kerfuffles.wmv
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RnfflRNpwKA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j-QYIP7o2-A

You guys all repeat the same refrain, the Dems are Unpatriotic, Dems want the U.S. to fail in Iraq, the Dems are upset about War Debt. Do you know who is currently loaning the U.S. money for Bushies arrogant schemes? The Saudis and the Chinese, and you and me and Dems and Bushie boys are going to be paying our tax dollars to Islamists and Communists for the rest of our lives. We don't have money to repair federal hiways or to fund all the programs a "Government of the People" needs. In a country of 300 Million is it really possible for everyone to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps"?
The Dems want to help the people of this country who are largely being ignored by the Bush Admin. We pay taxes, why shouldn't we benefit from the tithe we pay for self government? Why should I continue to support a President who doesn't give a (*)(*)(*)(*) about the people who Pay His Salary?
The president promised to Hunt Down and Bring to Justice the Perpetrator of 9/11, Osama Bin Laden. Why does no one even talk about or remember that this was the objective of the War On Terrorism, to get Bin Laden? It's been six years since we ceased our pursuit of Bin Laden, and where are we? IN the wrong country pursuing the wrong despot, spending a Trillion dollars to achieve a wrong headed objective. And all that with no exit strategy.
This isn't the Wild West, we're not John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, and you can't settle every problem in the world with a gun.

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There is no sin except stupidity. Oscar Wilde
The first casualty when war comes is Truth.
It is best to win without fighting. Chinese Proverb

Sadr himself is in Qom working on his Islamic studies and has been for many months now.

So no, Sadr was not in Basra himself, 'leading the fight'.

Last weeks fight in Basra was all about Maliki and the SIC (SIIC, SIRCI, SICI whichever initials you like) using the Iraqi Army to attempt to remove Sadrists from 'unofficial' control over Basra prior to the October Provincial elections (where Sadr is expected to kick SIC butt, particularly in places like Basra).

The only reason SIC is the largest party in Iraq right now is because the Sunnis and the Sadrists boycotted the 2006 provincial elections, allowing the SIC to gain control of a majority of the Shi'ite provinces of the central and southern region.

With the Sunnis and Sadrists promising to contest the October provincial elections, that will mean the SIC will very likely lose control over most provincial assemblies. Control over these provincial assemblies is considered critically important for mobilizing financing and support for the next round of national elections.

The failure of Maliki's campaign was a failure for the Iraqi government, failure for the Iraqi Army, failure for the SIC and failure for both US and Iran in their attempts to have Iraq ruled by their chosen puppets.

The only winner last week was Sadr and the Medhi Army.

As far as I see the situation in Iraq, Sadr is the only Iraqi political figure that has risen in stature and popularity in Iraq since Saddam was deposed.

Sadr is looking like he is the one guy who just might be able to patch this mess back together again. Naturally, Iran and the USA seem to be allied in an effort to prevent this. Oddly enough, they are failing at that since Sadr is looking bigger, stronger and more popular than ever.