Letters to the Editor
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A transcript from the NewsHour from Wednesday...
Juan Cole and Trudy Rubin (foreign affairs columnist for Philadelphia Inquirer) on the situation in Iraq.
MARGARET WARNER: And to help us understand why this fighting has broken out among Shias and where it may lead, we turn to Juan Cole, a professor of history at the University of Michigan and author of "Sacred Space and Holy War," a book about Iraqi Shiites.
And Trudy Rubin, a foreign affairs columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, she last visited Iraq in December, her ninth trip there since 2003.
Welcome to you both.
Professor Cole, most Americans have been under the impression that things have really calmed down in Iraq, security-wise. Why this outbreak now among Shiite factions?
read more:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june08/shia_03-26.html -
Kagan Wins the Kristol Award
Yup. This nitwit must have missed the civil war thats unfolding on the street. Over two hundred dead in one day. Gee thats a peace we can all get behind. I cant recall Kagan EVER making a statement about Iraq or Iran that was fact based or true, hence the Bill Kristol award.
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R.M.P. -- I have no idea what's gone on behind closed doors ...
Is Maliki engineering his own downfall? Al-Sadr is both popular and respected. While our media presents him extremely unfavorably and one-dimensional, for him to not only engage in this ceasefire and -- EVEN MORE SO -- maintain this ceasefire, really demonstrated the power he had over his army (which we have been reporting was splintering, fragmenting, and worse) ...
NYT/AP:
Late Thursday, a senior aide said the cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, has called for a political solution to the standoff. In a statement relayed by close aide Hazem al-Aaraji, al-Sadr said he wants ''everyone to pursue political solutions and peaceful protests and a stop to the shedding of Iraqi blood.''
fwiw, I have seen Al-Sadr act wisely and judiciously in the past ... he's not the country bumpkin our press (and ali Sistani) portrays him to be and/or he has great advisors.
Where is Sistani?
It is Maliki who is refusing to negotiate ... it sounds as if people are furious (it's not like he's ever been popular or effective).
What do "we" do after Maliki is dead and gone ... and unmourned ... I have no freaking idea.
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Does anyone understand?
Fred Kagan is demonstrably and profoundly wrong, but he is not an idiot. None of these pro-war think tank intelligentsia are stupid. In fact, they have so far been able to successfully undertake and perpetuate one of the greatest con jobs in the history of our nation.
Since "both sides are shrill", the truth must be somewhere in the middle, right? And if one side is saying Iraq is a hopeless clusterfuck, and the other says the strife is "over", well the truth must be somewhere in between, correct? Sure the facts clearly point in one side's favor, but anything can be spun. Couple that with unlimited media access and collusion, and you've got a situation that's got a lot of hope! Yay us!
Of course the most critical factor is relying on the all-too dependable gullibility and ignorance of the average American.
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Prime example
In this story on generals telling Bush the armed forces are strained, the only non-government spokesman quoted is Fred Kagan:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-03-26-bush-iraq_N.htm?csp=34
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What civil war?
In Freddie's mind, there couldn't be a civil war in Iraq, since it's only Iraqis butchering Iraqis. His Glorious Leader doesn't consider Iraqis kiling Iraqis as a civil war either, since the Glorious Surge was supposed to prevent a civil war, and Glorious Leader and little Freddie have already declared the surge a huge success. Glorious leader and John McBush have already declared Iraq a "mission accomplished" and "indisputable success", which is all Freddie needs to know.
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Silash
Somewhat disingenuous
Not that I want to defend Fred Kagan, but I believe he was describing the Shia/Sunni civil war being over.
Is that what you "believe"? Do you have any basis for believing that? Did you listen to his AEI presentation?
The civil war that is breaking out now is an intra-Shia war. Allegedly, Iran is encouraging members of al-Sadr's Mahdi army to defect and continue the violence. And we all know that Iran is Shia, not Sunni.
We all know everything bad in the world is Iran's fault. Did the supreme Iraq expert Fred Kagan anticipate that this would happen?
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@Derbig Mooser
The most incredible thing about neocons is they along with Bush-Cheney and Rumsfeld knew so little about Iraq and military operations that they truly believed invading Iraq would be a shock and awe cakewalk. All kinds of experts, Including Cheney in 1992 on TV, knew what a quagmire Iraq was and Bush-Cheney did it anyway. How any Americans are still listening to these thugs and oil barons is a reflection on how far ignorance, arrogance and greed can take you.
Training a new Iraqi Army from the ground up is far from easy. Another big reason for how long it is taking is why would the Iraqi government want to take our job away from us until they are really ready to dominate Iraq and its oil. Who wouldn’t want our dumb, sick president to keep pouring trillions into Iraq? You can be sure that a good sum of money is filling Iraqi politicians pockets.
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Boy...
One moment there is no civil war, and the next moment it's over.
Gosh durn it, the world moves so fast...
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a.b.c.
a. Yes, that's what I saw coming out of my tv the other night. Scared the bejesus woo't out of me.
b. You missed some the best parts, Glenn. They, esp. Mr. Pollack, Do Have a very good command of Military ...uh, lingo. It's weirdly impressive [from my perspective] how they can 'put' the most insidious ideas forward in such official-sounding ways.
c. wrong. it could a) And b).
hi bop/baa bye bop.
spring in my steps,
bah.
psst. William. who the hell is this Mooser! He doth hath a sharp tongue, i must say. :
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@ susan sunflower
All good points and questions. I am not enough of an expert to pretend I can answer them and if I were an Iraqi living through this nightmare in Iraq, I wouldn’t have all the answers either. The complexities and machinations are too unbelievable for our culture to fully understand because there is so much history between all players. The only real answer was to have been intelligent and humane enough to have never gotten involved.