Thanks for using the broader "militias" Turkana.
Posted by peter at March 27, 2008 10:04 AMIf they don't stop, will invade and overthrow their government!
Posted by myiq2xu at March 27, 2008 10:19 AM...overthrow their government, and shut off their electricity for the half-hour it is now on each day.
Posted by Meteor Blades at March 27, 2008 10:21 AMKing George will have a temper tantrum.
Posted by Judith at March 27, 2008 10:32 AM....or we'll kill your women and rape your men!
What else is there?
Posted by snark at March 27, 2008 10:38 AMOh this is great...their government wants to take action and gets mocked for it. You want to leave them and yet when they get a spine, let's make fun of them.
I'd say the Iraqi's are going to take action against them. The Brits were supposed to care of this area. PM Brown gave it back too soon.
Posted by peter at March 27, 2008 10:51 AMpeter, I believe the Brits WERE taking care of this area. Then Bush decided to "surge" Baghdad and a lot of the troublemakers in Baghdad moved to Basra.
But, the "surge" worked, according to Bush. (for a while, in a few neighborhoods in Baghdad, and the trouble moved to Basra). Another example of poor planning on the part of the Bush administration.
/It's a lucky thing they didn't get the chance to "reform" Social Security! Everybody over 65 would be living on the street!
Posted by Moon at March 27, 2008 11:00 AMOh this is great...their government wants to take action and gets mocked for it. You want to leave them and yet when they get a spine, let's make fun of them.
The shits gonna hit the fan whether we're there or not peter. Personally, I'd prefer we not be there.
I'd say the Iraqi's are going to take action against them.
How bold, as Bush would say. Gonna "take action" are they. Hmmmmmm. Well that answers the "or what?" question pretty clearly.
The Brits were supposed to care of this area. PM Brown gave it back too soon.
That's right, it's the Brit's fault. Allllll the Brit's fault. Got that everyone?
Posted by snark at March 27, 2008 11:03 AMisn't pants pissing peter supposed to be reporting from Falujah about the races?
Posted by Gay Veteran at March 27, 2008 11:09 AMFallujah?
Posted by bob h at March 27, 2008 11:48 AMFor an excellent, and authoritative analysis of the situation in Basra - and one that will run quite counter to most of what you THINK is going on - - NOW!
FYI, Reidar Visser, who is cited in the above piece, is as good as an authority gets when it comes to southern Iraq in particular. He is a far more reliable and astute analyst than, for example, Juan Cole, who is NOT specifically an Iraq expert, despite the fact that he is often touted as one in the media (and I mean no disrespect to Juan).
Posted by Shirin at March 27, 2008 11:51 AMWhat else is there?
Occupy your land for 5 years... without a stable government to provide help for the people... unable to provide drinkable, non-diseased water.
Blackwater fever... The deadly disease, never before seen in Iraq on at least this scale, seems to be spreading across the country. And Iraq lacks medicines, hospitals, and doctors to lead a campaign to fight the disease... Patients seem unaware of the seriousness of the disease, though doctors tell them it is essential to buy medicines from private pharmacies because they are not available at general hospitals... "We know it is a deadly disease, but what can we do about it? We have no government to refer to, and everyone in the Green Zone (the government district of Baghdad) is too busy preparing to escape with their share of the money they stole from us."
Posted by Seven of Six at March 27, 2008 11:55 AM
Shirin, check your link.
Posted by Seven of Six at March 27, 2008 11:57 AMThey shall taunt them a second time?
Posted by norbizness at March 27, 2008 11:59 AMSorry - not sure what happened to my link:
Try this for an analysis that actually accurately describes and makes sense of the Basra situation.
1. What is happening in Basra is NOT - got it, NOT - "sectarian violence". It is three Shi`a political factions who are fighting, and has nothing whatever to do with anything sectarian.
2. One of the three factions that is fighting in Basra just happens to be the militia affiliated with, and wearing the uniform of, the Iraqi so-called "government". It is the Badr militia from Al Hakim's Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which is, if anything, more tightly allied to Iran than Maliki is, and upon which Maliki is completely, and very willingly, dependent.
With those key points in mind, please read the article.
Posted by Shirin at March 27, 2008 12:02 PMShirin, Thanks for the link.
Posted by Pvt. Keepout at March 27, 2008 12:09 PMShirin, I've read...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.
Do you have any input Shirin?
Posted by peter at March 27, 2008 12:14 PMif pants pissing peter wants us to attack Hezbollah then he needs to march down to his local Army recruting center
...sound of crickets chirping...
yeah, that's what I thought, chickenhawk
Posted by Gay Veteran at March 27, 2008 12:28 PMPeter, you are so fully of horseshit, you stink up my monitor whenever you post something.
That's my input.
Posted by Shirin at March 27, 2008 12:32 PMPerhaps I was too harsh on poor, delusional Peter. Let me restate:
Peter, you have a very active, and astonishingly creative imagination.
Posted by Shirin at March 27, 2008 12:37 PMPerhaps I was too harsh on poor, delusional Peter.
Not at all. I think you were too nice. You paid attention to him, and that's what he's here for. Sadly, too many people give the idiot just what he wants, even though he's proven himself an idiot over and over. Still, I guess everyone needs a dog to kick, so it's nice that petey has volunteered to be the dog...
Posted by iamcoyote at March 27, 2008 12:47 PMPeter, it is not about what is or is not to my liking, it is about what is or is not connected to reality.
But, of course, reality is a concept that is quite foreign to you, I am sure.
Posted by Shirin at March 27, 2008 01:00 PMJust so we are all clear, Peter just made a case without any given sources whatsoever that Hizbollah is now fighting in Iraq against the U.S.-backed government and maybe U.S. soldiers. Then Peter gave us two links to two articles which tell the real story, which is that the U.S.-backed government is the one with ties to Iran and the U.S.-backed government is the organization most akin to Hizbollah in how it's being used by Iran. Neither article states Hizbollah is in Iraq. I think, Peter, you ought to actually read the things you give us links to, unless you're trying to disprove your own points.
I said this yesterday in another thread, and I'm repeating it for Peter's benefit, that he might learn a couple things.
Peter, 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. Keep in mind, too, it is George Bush that has decided to support Dawa. I keep wondering when Americans are going to start understanding who exactly it is we are trying to prop-up in Iraq, which is an Iranian and American puppet government led by Dawa and SCIRI.
Anyway, 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, Peter.
On the other hand, I don't have a hard time believing that Sadr's disorganized 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 01:18 PMAnd yet the Black Shirts took the Brown Shirts out in 1933/34, Ernst Rohm and all.
Posted by peter at March 27, 2008 01:22 PMBrian, I hope you will read the article I linked to.
Posted by Shirin at March 27, 2008 01:25 PMBad analogy on your part, Peter.
Like I said, "Hizbollah attacking a Dawa-led Iraq would be like the Brown Shirts attacking the Nazis, Peter, not too likely."
I never mentioned the Night of the Long Knives, which was the exact opposite of the example I gave. That's the party attacking its militia, not the other way around. Moreover, the Night of the Long Knives were arrests and murders of leadership, the masses of brown shirts remained for too long, and it was not full-fledged combat in the streets, which is what's going on in Basra. Technically, the scum in brown shirts remained, only leaders replaced, for all of whom I shed no tears.
You say Hizzy's in Iraq fighting, then prove it, Peter. Your links showed the exact opposite of what you said. I say it's absurd and likely a neo-con tactic to foster war between the U.S. and Shi-ite countries west and east of Iraq.
Shirin, I did read it, and I TOTALLY agree with this part, especially:
"The traditional media is incapable of reporting what's going on in Southern Iraq."
And this:
"...3. 'Iraqi forces' are, in fact, "Iranian- (and U.S.-) backed Shiite militias...."
And this:
"...It has always been the great irony of the occupation of Iraq that 'our' man in Baghdad is also Tehran's....
I sometimes wonder how much our government really understands, if Bush and Cheney and the neo-cons really even get this? I sometimes think they don't. It's like, attack Iran? And get shot in the back by our "allies" in Iraq, those would be our "allies" (Dawa specifically) who killed 238 U.S. Marines in Lebanon, right? Some "friends" we got there. Jesus, I think the average con's head would explode from the cognitive dissonance if they dwell upon it too long.
Posted by Brian Bell at March 27, 2008 04:08 PM7 of 6, Blackwater fever? Isn't that the plan? Rid Iraq of Iraqis by spreading disease. Sounds like a plan to me.
By-the-way, I am using JudithOne since another Judith has been posting the last couple of months.
Posted by JudithOne at March 27, 2008 06:40 PMBrian, I have come to the conclusion, that they are ardent believers in their own P.R., and have absolutely no clue in regard to reality.
I had an appointment with my dermatologist this afternoon, which is always good for a bit of stimulating, if brief, conversation. He is amazingly aware (thanks largely, it seems, to watching Al Jazeera English on the web), so when I gave him a brief rundown of the situation in Basra, etc., he totally got it. I have also succeeded in turning him on to Dahr Jamail and his book, which is an absolute must-read for anyone who really cares about the Iraq reality. (It's available on Amazon, just search on the author's name.)
Posted by Shirin at March 27, 2008 10:42 PMThanks Shirin, timely link and excellent info.
With all taken into consideration, I believe that one of the comments in response to "Five Things You Need to Know to Understand the Latest Violence in Iraq" sums up another wacko facet rising it is ugly head as a direct result of the Iraqi fiasco,
“The reality is that Iraq, the middle east, and the entire world would be better off today if Saddam was still in control of his country and George W. Bush wasn't in control of ours.”
PAZ
Or or or we will EXTEND the deadline!
Posted by me at March 28, 2008 10:36 AM“The reality is that Iraq, the middle east, and the entire world would be better off today if Saddam was still in control of his country and George W. Bush wasn't in control of ours.”
Funny, but I've been saying that since March 19, 2003. Funnier still, when I say it these days it is not getting the same derisive response it was getting back then.
Posted by Shirin at March 28, 2008 12:07 PM