Sunni, Shiite. Aren't they all Iraqis? You mean to tell me that there is a difference? 'Baath Party' is a Saturday night get to gather. Kurds are found in sour milk. Russia, like China, is a really BIG country. Ours too.

Yes, I graduated with dubya!

probably grew up with him too. if you want to know how people feel when their country is taken over by another country "imagine" how you'd fell if this country were taken aover by another. another more wealthy and more powerful. another able to wreak destruction at will and willing to do it, to save us from ourselves. would you fight with them or against us?

I think he has a mish-mash of correct, incorrect and politically incorrect views.

Correct: Fundamentally, the US is occupying Iraq. Of course, we still have the nominal support of the Iraqi government we set up. But the US is an occupying force, and I think we are not welcome.

Correct? I believe that the US invasion and occupation have made al-Qaeda more powerful in Iraq. I never saw a tie between al-Qaeda and 9/11 and Iraq. But I do see a link between the occupation and the rise of the influence of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Incorrect: The Zionists (whoever they may be) would probably love to have the power that al-Mashhadani claims they do. There are a lot of weird things that go on in the US government, but I'll believe this at the same time that someone brings the alien bodies out of Rockwell. al-Mashhadani thinks that he is seeing "Zionist" influence, but he is really just seeing the incompetence of US foreign policy.

Politically incorrect: al-Mashhadani is just over-the-top with the whole Jewish thing. And it's not really smart to talk about the "blue jinn" in public. (Although isn't the US the "red, white and blue jinn?")

There are several regrettable things here. First, al-Mashhadani clearly needs to become more rational about all things Jewish. Second, he will probably lose his job for insulting the US, rather than for any more substantive reason. And worst, he will be castigated as wrong about everything because he was wrong about some things.

Too bad, because we need politicians in Iraq that can say things that the US doesn't want to hear -- who can tell us what Iraqis think and want.

Seemingly the Iraqis are butchering each other for the right to be the most backwards, failed, stupid, blockheaded, violent and retarded. In a thousand years one of them will be last one standing. I can't say as that's an entirely bad thing. We should toss the keys of the shithouse back to them, hop on a truck and leave tomorrow.

Imagine how dangerous al- M is going to be when he gets kicked out. The insurgents, freedom fighters, pissed off ones and so on and so forth, will have a strong, semi intelligent figure to rally around. Can't you just see it as a commercial on Al Jazeera, "Vote for al- M, he stood up to the white devil and told them to kiss his bashtukka!" (I made up the word bashtukka, I think, I hope no one is offended, I don't need a Jihad on my ass right now. I have enough problems.)

More than likely this is what will happen, I think that he is gonna get fired by the Iraquis, thanked for his service by America then popped by whoever gets to him first.

So killing Iraquis hasn't worked, paying them off has only made us more broke and democracy so far is a cruel joke with a terrible punchline. I don't think that there is anything more that we can do. Is it defeatist to say "It will never happen so let's get our shit and get the hell out of here?"

p.s.

Where can i get some of that blue gin, sounds like some good stuff.

Mashhadani see a dark Crusader-Zionist conspiracy behind every suicide bomb, IED, mosque destruction, perfidious "rejectionist" (Shiite), unveiled woman, or liquor store. He cannot admit to any evil within his own camp. However, were Harris or Pew to poll Iraqis at large, might not most display similar views? If 40% of UK Muslims think Crusader-Zionists caused 9/11, and 44% of Americans think the 9/11 hijackers included Iraqis, why should the suffering Iraqis be any more lucid? Chaos engenders all sorts of paranoia and conspiracy theories. Our own leaders, media pundits, and think (sic) tanks are also known to create boogeymen. It would be nice to know a government leader ANYWHERE who does not pander to fears, conflate or invent facts, relish cheap name-calling, or whip up passions and hostilities.

If Mashhadani gets the boot, but his successor is pretty much the same, then what? Another question: is Iraq's government really functioning? Presumably the various ministries and agencies disburse salaries and subsidies. But are police patroling beats? Do utilities provide service? Do courts adjudicate? Do schools function? We hear about the squabbles and posturing in the Green Zone, but get little news, except about violence, elsewhere. What is really going on?

You're doing a hell of a job

looks like a cross between Ming the Merciless and George Takei

Couldn't escape the Mel Gibson reference, could ya! Keep the topic on important figures and forget tabloid b.s.

That moronic retard Bush probably looked into this dude's eyes and saw his "soul" like he did with Putin.

Did it ever occur to anyone in the State Department, Pentagon, or White House that allowing people to meet that idiot Bush only makes our whole country look bad?

Seriously, anyone who gets 10 seconds of face time with that boob has to conclude that he's an obvious fuckwit. How is that good for our foreign policy?

Can't he just choke on a pretzel and die already?

If Israelis are training the Kurdish pesh mrga militia, and Israelis are training US interrogators in Iraq & Afghanistan, and Israelis are investing in new airport construction in Iraqi Kurdistan, and Israelis are helping to operate the phased-array radar site in Iraqi Kurdistan that the US built to monitor Iranian airspace, and Israelis have developed strategic alliances with Barzani and Talabani political parties, these all might just be signs of good business judgment.

But what's so wrong about Iraqis connecting the dots and believing this suggests a conspiracy ? Sure, they may be wrong, but look at what their country has suffered. People need to understand the world around them, and the unifying theory of a Zionist conspiracy helps them make sense of their losses. Also, incidentally, this conspiracy explanation squares well with what they read in their newspapers, what with the US President advocating restoration of Eretz Israel, a key to his plan to force the return of Jesus Christ.

Maybe its not so much a wild-eyed conspiracy theory when it restates the campaign talk of US politicians.