Try again Turkana...there is a difference.
Everywhere you look on the net today you will see headlines such as: Sadr's Mahdi Army Battles in Four Cities or Basra Scene of Sadr Militia Fighting Iraqi Troops. The problem with that is that it isn't primarily Mookie's army that is waging battle, it is Hezbollah's entrant into the Iraq War, namely Hizballah Brigades of Iraq. The fact of the matter is that the Hizballah Brigades and Sadr's bunch of militia misfits are aligned but don't be fooled, this latest wave of violence and attacks is Hezbollah's doing.
If members of the Hizballah Brigades of Iraq are captured and confess to their base of operations being Hezbollah in Lebanon, then we have every right to go after Lebanon operations. It's my view that the U.S. has always been lacking a direct damning reason to be able to attack Hamas or Hezbollah - we have always had to defer somewhat to Israel as they have been the target. Now, WE are the target of Hezbollah and it's time to lower the boom on these clowns.
Posted by peter at March 25, 2008 03:54 PMfunny, peter. everyone's reporting the mahdi army. no one's reporting hezbollah.
Posted by Turkana at March 25, 2008 04:34 PMCNN, pardon me Pastor Otis Mills, RNN reported several times today, the problems in Basra were with people not under the control of Sadr. With people not willing to honor anything Sadr decreed.
Posted by peter at March 25, 2008 04:41 PMA perfect opportunity to kill Muqtada al Sadr and destroy the "Mahdi Army."
Guess what: this is what is going to happen.
Posted by Bagley at March 25, 2008 04:47 PMi have long believed that the sudden quiet in iraq over the last 4-6 months was due to some sort of pay-off by the united states, aka, the bush administration.
recent reports suggest this may have been the case, at least in specific areas of the country.
one guess about this particular sudden command from m.m. sadir is that either he hasn't been paid either,
or others who will pay him more are suddenly upping the ante on the u.s.
corruption and democracy have a hard time co-existing, cf. the u.s. from 2001 thru 2008.
Posted by orionATL at March 25, 2008 05:38 PM"A perfect opportunity to kill Muqtada al Sadr and destroy the "Mahdi Army.""
to bagless bagley and the rest of the right-wing trolls: FUCK YOU unless you're posting from Iraq, you pack of yellow curs. If you want to kill Sadr then get out of mommy's basement and join the Army.
Posted by gay veteran at March 25, 2008 05:53 PMg-v,
I take that your early posting here indicates that the bathhouse closed early this evening?
How's the harmonica: still one note, huh? Maybe you should take lessons.
"FUCK YOU..."
Why, I appreciate that you find me attractive, but I am happily married and not inclined to your peculiarity. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)
"...unless you're posting from Iraq..."
I'm not. But I do remember the first Gulf War: I was there for that one. Unfortunately, I am not-just-a-little-to-old to return to active duty (I looked into it after 9/11).
Care to play that note again?
Posted by Bagley at March 25, 2008 06:00 PMbagley,
cut the gay-bashing. you get one warning.
Posted by Turkana at March 25, 2008 06:03 PMOne way street, Bagley.
Posted by at March 25, 2008 06:05 PMTurkana, let bagless bagley keep braying, I love it when ReThugs show their inner bigot
"I'm not. But I do remember the first Gulf War: I was there for that one. Unfortunately, I am not-just-a-little-to-old to return to active duty (I looked into it after 9/11)."
sorry bagless bagley, even if I believed your little tale you don't have to join the military to serve Dear Leader, there are plenty of diplomatic or contractor slots in Iraq. But nah, easier for you let others serve while you wank off to war porn in mommy's basement.
Yellow curs like you and pants pissing peter are willing to personally sacrifice NOTHING.
Posted by gay veteran at March 25, 2008 06:11 PM"... gay-bashing...?"
Ok, if that is your perception.
Perhaps I will limit myself to "observations" concerning Christians: such observations seem to be fashionable here at TLC.
Perhaps, I should limit myself to simple invective (e.g. F**k Y*u). This appears to be acceptable here at TLC as well.
Maybe I should just cast aspersions at the United States. I think that this would be applauded by the majority of denizens here at TLC.
And, if I can roll all of these observations and writings into a single post while chanting ChimpyBushMcHitlerBurton and disparaging members of the US Armed Forces, why....why I could become a contributor!
"One way street, Bagley."
Hello anonymous. Care to come out of the shadows?
P.S. This post probably to be deleted in 4...3...2...
Posted by Bagley at March 25, 2008 06:16 PMHey, Turkana, I wondered if you'd noticed the link!
A "crackdown" in Basra? There was air support, and supposedly, al Maliki went there to direct the frikkin' military operation. And the Green Zone is being "pounded" by "barrages of mortars," for the last two days? It's not getting ready to explode, Iraq is in the process of exploding. Not good at all.
Posted by iamcoyote at March 25, 2008 06:29 PMA perfect opportunity to kill Muqtada al Sadr and destroy the "Mahdi Army."
Let me see. Where have I seen similar sentiments? Why, I know! Something about stopping Al Qaeda in Afghanistan! That worked well for you incompetents, didn't it?
Why, I appreciate that you find me attractive, but I am happily married and not inclined to your peculiarity.
Being a Broke Back Mountain Hollywood left coast liberal bone smoking faggot myself, thinking about you in any sexual relationship makes me really queasy.
Perhaps I will limit myself to "observations" concerning Christians:
Okay. Whose preschool would Jesus bomb?
Perhaps, I should limit myself to simple invective (e.g. F**k Y*u).
Works for me.
Maybe I should just cast aspersions at the United States.
You're a neo-con and a conservative. Every breath you draw shits on the United States and what it stands for. You people need to have your names listed for the public to see, like sex offenders, except it would be denigrating to sex offenders to possibly be considered as neo-cons or conservatives.
...while chanting ChimpyBushMcHitlerBurton and disparaging members of the US Armed Forces...
Beats the hell out of shouting Sieg Heil at the president gasman while bathing in the blood of the troops you so enjoy seeing die. Yet I've never seen anyone in the military disparaged here except those like Bush's pet Raeus. They, and you, are so deserving of it.
This post probably to be deleted in 4...3...2...
Nah. Some stupidity deserves to be displayed.
Posted by phidipides at March 25, 2008 06:47 PMLet's see, we've got our light at the end of the tunnel, the situation isn't a bit fragile, and we've turned several corners. And now the enemy all of a sudden pops up out of the woodwork in at least two of Iraq's biggest cities, and a growing list of smaller ones and whacks our puppet government and our own military up side the head. Sound familiar? Can you say "Tet"? History may not repeat itself, but it seems to be doing a heck of a job trying.
Posted by RAM at March 25, 2008 07:03 PMHello phidipides.
Posted by Bagley at March 25, 2008 07:04 PMHad to laugh at an article from Time.com;newspapers and news magazines are losing readers to the Internet.
Lessee, Time has always been owned by cruddy Repugthugs, neo-cons and corporatus masturbators and major dailies only report information they want us lumpen proles to know.
It's not for nothin' America spends money on education and gets results, i.e., the wonderful news sites we have on HAL.
Education and the American Spirit will always endure in spite of Faggot Bush and his pimp Cheney. We will never become like Germany, ever! No fascist servitude for us! The USA is fuckin' bigger than Germany and populated with too many independent minded people.
Thank you Left Coaster for all of the wonderful work you do. And bless all of your contributers, except Turkana and Seven of Six.
Posted by tonyf at March 25, 2008 07:07 PMTurkana,
If in the future I should quote phidipides: "Being a Broke Back Mountain Hollywood left coast liberal bone smoking faggot..."
Well, will you think that I am "gay-bashing?"
Can I use this description of specific sub-cultures here in the US without attribution?
Is this an "observation," or a fact?
More importantly, may I use the fragment "...bone smoking faggot..." freely in future posts?
I mean, truly Turkana, these will not be my words, but the words of a self-described "...bone-smoking faggot."
What do you think?
P.S. Thanks, phidipides, great line. LOL!
Posted by Bagley at March 25, 2008 07:22 PMWhat you don't seem to understand is that the only possible way the Americans will EVER leave Iraq will be if the Iraqis keep fighting against them. I'm not happy to see more destruction and carnage, but the resistance must continue.
Or do you want Iraq and its oil to be part of the American empire?
Posted by Shirin at March 25, 2008 08:12 PM...except Turkana and Seven of Six.
GAWD DAMN AMERICA!!
Jeez, Turkana I'm in some company now!
But seriously, we must keep track of the chronological order or things in case Iran is bombed.
1.) Fallon resigns.
2.) Cheney visits the Kingdom and other middle east countries (goes deep sea fishing on the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq w/the Sultan, in Oman).
3.) A mortar attack in the Green Zone this past weekend.
4.) Dahr Jamail claims on the Thom Hartmann show that Saudi Arabia issued a warning (picked up by a German wire service) on what to do in case of nuclear fallout.
5.) The latest attack, with claims the weapons used by Sadr's militia came from Iran.
Sounds like "The Perfect Storm".
Posted by Seven of Six at March 25, 2008 08:21 PMWhat most people also fail to realize is that Muqtada Sadr is dangerous to the Americans primarily because he is an anti-collaborationist nationalist who opposes any and all foreign intervention and whose goal is a unified Iraq. In those things he is opposed to the current puppet government. Therefore, the the Americans support the collaborationist forces that are closely allied with Iran. Better that than allow a nationalist to gain power in Iraq.
Posted by Shirin at March 25, 2008 08:31 PMSoS, you are exactly right.
I heard that on Hartmann this morning as well and I have been poking around to see what else I could find about Cheney's trip.
This link is particularly frightening.
And Marjorie Cohn reminds us that Lieberman cannot wait to attack Iran. I have to wonder what, besides correcting McCain's gaffes, he was doing in the mid-east.
The many, many times that McCain brought Iran into the picture just increased my fears.
I believe that the Admin is using all of the BS chaos - and non-stop distraction in the media and the blogs - around the crazy primary, to ramp up the move towards the attack. Not to mention that Bush is sure that he is "the only president wonderful enough to attack Iran" and that he needs to do it before he leaves office.
I think that an attack is imminent.
Sure makes the petty crap in the primaries seem even more petty.
Posted by Anjha at March 25, 2008 09:10 PMGood points Anjha.
I guess I should change #1: Iran switches to Euro for Oil instead of Dollar.
the Truce has been notable for the time it gave all militias to train and arm. We are coming into a new and even more dangerous period with larger unit actions.
Posted by Rolfyboy6 at March 25, 2008 09:50 PMChronology of Bush years:
1) August 6, 2001 PDB warning of imminent al Qaeda attack inside the United States. Nothing to be concerned about. George W. Bush is on top of the situation. What's the worst that could happen? (9/11)
2) Mid-2002 through mid-March 2003. Nothing to be concerned about. George W. Bush is on top of the situation. What's the worst that could happen? (Diversion of U.S. war effort from hunt-for-al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to prepare for war in Iraq)
3) End of March 2003 to present. Nothing to be concerned about. George W. Bush is on top of the situation. What's the worst that could happen? (Just finished watching PBS's excellent "Bush's War" documentary).
And a flashback. Late 2000. Supreme Court butts into the Florida recount. Nothing to be concerned about. Five partisan Republican justices are on top of the situation. What's the worst that could happen? (Oh. The most foul and duplicitous administration in American history).
Posted by The Oracle at March 26, 2008 02:23 AMSo much for those troop "drawdowns", but the Surge Worked and We Won as McClown informs us.
We'll see how the US military can effectively triple the amount of territory it occupies in order to "pacify" the Shi'ite south and the huge city of Basra. Can't be done with our "force structure", nor will any allies be sending more troops. Fighting in Basra (Iraq's oil port) won't help the oil markets, either, but nothing does.
It will be interesting to see how this shi'ite nationalist uprising can be spun to support an attack on Iran, which actually supports the shi'ite government. Cheney: "Where there's a will there's a way, I always say!"
Posted by euzoius at March 26, 2008 08:05 AMIt will be interesting to see how this shi'ite nationalist uprising can be spun to support an attack on Iran
Gak! Here we go again...let's see...Silber and Floyd squealing about imminent attack yet again, everyone's seeing the baby jesus in a cheeto and the new moon is on April 4 - whoops, sorry. No can do. Battlestar Galactica returns that night. Gonna have to wait until the May new moon, then June, then July... Deja vu all over again. I'm thinking it's about time for another Lieberman-Kyl Hillary Hoedown, aren't you? And...Go!
Posted by iamcoyote at March 26, 2008 08:43 AMWhere exactly was that baby jesus/cheeto found?
Just ignore whatever you might see regarding perceived developments or insane claims about Iran that our various national leaders say, Coyote (such as McOld's recent repeated claims that Iran harbors and supports al qaeda)---you'll feel better.
Nuthin' to worry about---Cheney's in charge!
Posted by euzoius at March 26, 2008 08:52 AMWho said I was ignoring it, euzoius? I'm just not gonna believe in the cheeto baby jesus until the dang thing turns my water to wine and heals the sick. Same with the hysterics from the Silber/Floyd camp seeing imminent attacks behind every new moon.
Posted by iamcoyote at March 26, 2008 09:35 AMphidipides: "You're a neo-con and a conservative. Every breath you draw shits on the United States and what it stands for. You people need to have your names listed for the public to see, like sex offenders, except it would be denigrating to sex offenders to possibly be considered as neo-cons or conservatives."
I agree, at least child molesters don't screw over the entire country like the right-wing war criminals have.
hey bagless bagley, "...bone smoking faggot..." also applied to closeted ReThugs like yourself.
Posted by gay veteran at March 26, 2008 02:39 PMyeah iamcoyote, Bush would NEVER do anything stupid like attack Iran
Posted by gay veteran at March 26, 2008 02:42 PMPeter, I have a difficult time believing that Hizbollah, the former military arm of the Dawa Party and close ally of the Dawa Party over decades, would attack the Dawa Party-led Iraqi Government headed by Dawa Member and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki.
It should be noted for the record that the Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon was the work of that very same Dawa Party and its military wing which became Hizbollah.
Hizbollah attacking a Dawa-led Iraq would be like the Brown Shirts attacking the Nazis, Peter, not too likely.
Just because you read some unbelievable garbage on Debka doesn't make it true.
On the other hand, I don't have a hard time believing that Sadr's folks and the rest of the Shi'ite parties -- Dawa, SCIRI and Badr -- are brawling against each other in Basra. Sadr's always been the odd man out on that, the one with the support of the poor but no relations with the U.S. and few with Iran, while Dawa, SCIRI and Badr get all the support from the U.S. and Iran. It's even possible Iran's stirring up crap with Sadr -- seriously, it is possible. But Hizbollah against a Dawa-led government? My ass.
By the same token, I could see Bush and Cheney and the neo-cons using this as an excuse to hit Iran, Syria or Lebanon, whether or not any of them have anything to do with it.
Posted by Brian Bell at March 27, 2008 12:03 AM