Sunday, November 26, 2006

The melt down

If you want to know how it is on the ground in Iraq, listen to Michael Ware.

Rook cites Mercury News:
"With Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki relegated to the sidelines, brazen Sunni-Shiite attacks continue unchecked despite a 24-hour curfew over Baghdad. Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia now controls wide swaths of the capital, his politicians are the backbone of the Cabinet, and his followers deeply entrenched in the Iraqi security forces. Sectarian violence has spun so rapidly out of control since the Sadr City blasts, however, that it's not clear whether even al-Sadr has the authority - or the will - to stop the cycle of bloodshed."

Garbled information about casualities, the burning alive of civilians.

Josh Marshall quotes the NYTimes saying that:
"....one of the secret report's more surprising conclusions, according to The Times, is "that terrorist and insurgent groups in Iraq may have surplus funds with which to support other terrorist organizations outside of Iraq.” It seems counterintuitive that the armed Shiite and Sunni militias battling for control of Iraq would be financing terrorists outside of Iraq while the battle inside of Iraq still hangs in the balance.

In fairness, The Times makes clear that the secret report may be flawed: "Some terrorism experts outside the government who were given an outline of the report by The Times, criticized it for a lack of precision and a reliance on speculation."

The overwhelming impression I'm left with from the piece is that more than three and half years after ostensibly seizing control of Iraq, the U.S. government is still largely ignorant of the armed groups arrayed against its efforts there."


Everyone seems to be hoping the Baker-Hamilton Commission's report will give us some way out of Iraq, but apparently Bush wants options, like never having to say he's sorry.

Glenn Greenwald
notes the bizarre first condition of the Commission:
"There is nothing "centrist" about a Commission which decides in advance that it will not remove our troops from a war which is an unmitigated disaster and getting worse every day. It just goes without saying that if you invade and occupy a country and are achieving nothing good by staying, withdrawal must be one of the primary options considered when deciding what to do about the disaster.

Even if that is not the option ultimately chosen, a categorical refusal in advance to consider that option -- or to listen to experts who advocate it -- is not the work of a "centrist" body devoted to finding a solution to this war. If the Commission begins with the premise that we have to stay in Iraq and then only considers proposals for how to modify our strategy on the margins, that is anything but centrist. To the contrary, that is a close-minded -- and rather extremist -- commitment to the continuation of a war which most Americans have come to despise and want to see brought to an end."

Some are not impressed:
"Today on CNN, Former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski issued a strong, preemptive criticism of the Baker Commission studying alternatives for Iraq. Brzezinski said that while the commission “will probably come out with some sound advice on dealing with the neighborhood,” it essentially “will offer some procrastination ideas for dealing with the crisis.”"

NTodd spells it out to an idiot thinking it would be good for us to bring back Saddam:
"I'll explain: it's not fucking up to us.

No, really, the Iraqis want us out--they don't want us to put Saddam or anybody else in power. They know we fucked things up for them and they still just want us to get the hell out of their country and stop helping further destroy it.

The Iraqis' destiny was always really in their own hands even before we decided to take on the mantle of White Man's Burden and "liberate" them. Now that we've been so gracious as to get rid of their old murderous thug so a thousand new murderous thugs can bloom, it's time for us to make a gracious exit.

So long and thanks for all the IEDs. Sorry about the mess. Send the cleaning bill to us--we're good for it."

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