It can't get worse than the political leaders of Iraq dictating what our troops can do. We all are told by big bro 43 that we must trust Petraeus, but the Iraqis are ordering our troops to stand down in a fight Petraeus tells us we must finish.
The article "Iraqi Political Leaders Protest US Siege of Sadr City" at http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042808J.shtml states "About 50 leaders representing a variety of Iraqi political blocs took to Baghdad's Sadr City on Sunday, a stronghold of fiery religious leader Muqtada al Sadr, to protest the U.S.-led siege of that area."
We always think of ourselves as the super-power, the sophisticated group, but these Iraqis are playing us.
The article continues "The leaders promised to work together with Sadrists to remove insurgents and weapons in the area. But they also had six other demands of the government, including that it immediately suspend military activity in the city, supply basic services to residents and prioritize peaceful solutions over military conflicts. "Whatever point the crisis reaches we will keep our efforts to put an end to it," said Ahmed Radhi, a member of the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni Muslim bloc. Radhi said the leaders formed a committee to meet with Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to solve problems plaguing Sadr City. "We have a delegation meeting with Maliki to let him know the real situation going on in the city," said Nassar al Rubaie, a Sadrist. "We have lawmakers from different blocs and parties to come and watch the situation on the ground." Lawmakers representing the Iraqi National Accord, the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue and the Kurdish alliance also were present. The leaders said they were moved by pictures of civilian casualties as well as the health crisis plaguing residents in Sadr City. The protest came just days after Sadr instructed his Mahdi Army militia to stop fighting the mostly Shiite Iraqi security forces in Sadr City and the southern port city of Basra. The U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have continually battled with insurgents in both areas since Maliki led a siege of Basra at the end of March."
Why are we in the middle of fights between one group of Shiites and others especially when whenever Maliki's Shiite government tells us to stop we do? How can this be furthering US interests in the region?
These non-Sadrist Iraqis have something up their sleeves as the article "Militia crackdown pays off for al-Maliki" at click here describes "The fortunes of Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have received an unexpected boost from his initially botched offensive against militias in Basra, which has turned into a standoff between al-Maliki and the Shiite Mahdi Army militia. The showdown is recalibrating the political balance in Iraq in ways that could help break the deadlock that has stalled progress on key measures including a new oil law and the broader issue of national reconciliation. Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds have rallied behind al-Maliki's insistence that the Mahdi Army loyal to hardline cleric Muqtada al-Sadr must disarm, creating a rare consensus among most of the factions constituting Iraq's fractious parliament. The main Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accord Front is now saying it will return to the government, lending hope that Iraq's malfunctioning government can finally get to work. The bloc had pulled out nine months ago, complaining about al-Maliki's performance. "It was a very bold step of Maliki's to take on these militias, so we have to say he's doing a good job," said Salim Abdullah, the spokesman for the Sunni bloc, which blames the Mahdi Army for many of the sectarian killings of Sunnis in recent years. The only group left outside the consensus is the Sadrists, whose 32 parliamentarians were instrumental in securing al-Maliki's election as prime minister in 2006. The perception that al-Maliki was beholden to the Sadrists underpinned much of the mistrust that has blocked political progress in Iraq. Holding the balance of power in parliament and backed by the muscle of their militia on the streets, the Sadrists had become the group no one dared to offend. That is why al-Maliki's decision to move against them has proved so transformational, said independent parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi. No one had expected al-Maliki to confront the Sadrists, but once he did, the aura of invincibility surrounding them evaporated."
McCain will proclaim that he has worked with Democrats to pass legislation that has benefited the majority of the US, but that is just a lie. He's as phony as Maliki as is. He'd have to be as he is in league with Maliki's US sponsor big bro 43 and any legislation McCain passed with Democrats had a secret GOP benefit in it as no one in that morally bankrupt group does a humanitarian activity without "hidden agendas" being attached.
McCain's signature legislation is campaign financing. Isn't McCain's use of his wife's airplane a campaign financing violation? If the "Straight Talk Express" can't be straight in its primary policy what can you expect in other areas?
On 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Monday, April 28 at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24369344/ Olbermann and MSNBC political analyst Rachel Maddow were discussing McCain being, as Olbermann said "This issue of being in touch with the poor; McCain was he on his wife's air bud plane when he said that? To which Maddow replied "Who has the foresight to write into campaign finance legislation a loophole that exempts your personal family corporate jet from campaign loopholes? I don't know that this puts him more in touch with the poor. It does establish his rich guy cajones like nothing else I have seen."
An analogy with McCain and equally corrupt GOP operatives and Iraqi politicians is obvious. In Iraq when Maliki shafts Sadr the inhabitants in Sadr city get starved to death and killed in the crossfire between US soldiers and people in the same sect as their own, but who follow Maliki or al-Hakim. McCain's policies also will result in innocents' deaths if he follows through on his plan to keep US soldiers in Iraq. Even if they are in protected areas, as the US troops in Korea are, won't McCain have the GOP urge to expand the war into Iran? "Tricky Dick" couldn't fight the temptation. Why will McCain be able to do so?
One of the greatest examples of this is the Iraqi reconstruction. Big bro 43's CEO chums in the reconstruction business pose as do-gooders. They've bilked us out of hundreds of billions of dollars for uncompleted work.
The article "Investigators: Millions in Iraq contracts never finished" at click here states "Millions of dollars of lucrative Iraq reconstruction contracts were never finished because of excessive delays, poor performance or other factors, including failed projects that are being falsely described by the U.S. government as complete, federal investigators say. The audit released Sunday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, provides the latest snapshot of an uneven reconstruction effort that has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion. It also comes as several lawmakers have said they want the Iraqis to pick up more of the cost of reconstruction. The special IG's review of 47,321 reconstruction projects worth billions of dollars found that at least 855 contracts were terminated by U.S. officials before their completion, primarily because of unforeseen factors such as violence and excessive costs. About 112 of those agreements were ended specifically because of the contractors' actual or anticipated poor performance. In addition, the audit said many reconstruction projects were being described as complete or otherwise successful when they were not. In one case, the U.S. Agency for International Development contracted with Bechtel Corp. in 2004 to construct a $50 million children's hospital in Basra, only to "essentially terminate" the project in 2006 because of monthslong delays. But rather than terminate the project, U.S. officials modified the contract to change the scope of the work. As a result, a U.S. database of Iraq reconstruction contracts shows the project as complete "when in fact the hospital was only 35 percent complete when work was stopped," said investigators in describing the practice of "descoping" as frequent."
We can't go on paying the Halliburtons of the world forever, even the congressional GOP members realizes this as the article continues "The audit comes amid renewed focus in recent months on potential abuse in contracting government-wide, such as Iraq reconstruction. Last year, congressional investigators said as much as $10 billion - or one in six dollars - charged by U.S. contractors for Iraq reconstruction were questionable or unsupported, and warned that significantly more taxpayer money was at risk."
Fighting against Sadr has never gone well for the US.
The article "Surge in Iraq violence kills more US troops" at click here shows how our troops are being sucked into the absolutely the worst situation yet in this hellish urban guerrilla warfare.
The article states "Four US soldiers have been killed along with scores of militants following two days of fighting in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City and rocket fire elsewhere in the capital. The latest casualties, announced yesterday, make April the deadliest month in Iraq for the US military since last September, with at least 44 soldiers dying, according to a toll by the Associated Press. Casualties had declined in recent months in line with a sharp drop in violence. But attack levels have rebounded slightly in the past few weeks as Iraqi and US forces push into the Shia militia strongholds of Sadr City in Baghdad and Basra in the south of the country.... US forces are pushing into Sadr City, from where many of the rockets directed at the Green Zone are launched, to prevent militants from launching the missiles. Thirty Iraqi lawmakers from various political parties yesterday however urged Mr Maliki to end the month-long confrontation, saying innocent civilians and children were the main victims of the fighting. "Yes, you can do it if you remember your own children," said a joint statement read by Mustafa al-Heeti, a Sunni Member of Parliament. "Your people are demanding of you to intervene and solve the crisis peacefully."
We are helping the al-quedas of the world to recruit when our occupation kills children.
The article "U.S. Role Deepens in Sadr City -- Fierce Battle Against Shiite Militiamen Echoes First Years of War" at click here describes the devastating unintended consequences the US has incurred as a result of following big bro 43's weak, Iraqi, Shiite, stooge, Maliki, into a battle against another Iraqi, Sadr, who is Shiite, but anything but weak.
Winston is an ex-Social Worker, burnt out by too much indifference regading our weak and weary who had too little interest in politics until the illegal Iraq War started.
Without a doubt! We need to get out with the money, bring it back and build up U.S. infrastructure--before we lose the money to oil price hikes that will make a run on the dollar.
by
ALONE (130 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 283 comments)
on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 11:54:15 AM
2 comments
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