W0rd

An editorial which gets to the heart of things in Iraq

The Bush administration disputes the "civil war" moniker. And it's not a semantic argument. Just Tuesday, The New York Times reported that "the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah had been training members of the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi Shiite militias led by Moktada al-Sadr." It's not the only outside influence.


Such a proxy war is not a civil war. Neither is it unreasonable or naive to believe that sans those proxies, Iraq might not be the hellhole it now is. Nonetheless, this remains a matter for the Iraqis to settle.

And yet we want IRAN to help us stop the conflict

and here is another

Such advice is worse than wrong-headed, it is a denial of reality. Iran and Syria have one primary interest — U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and ultimately out of the entire Middle East. So much is clear from the daily pronouncements of the Terhran Mullahs, led by the Iranian strongman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the long-standing refusal of the Baathist regime controlling Syria to stop expediting the inflow of foreign fighters to Iraq to kill Americans and foment civil unrest between Iraq’s Sunni minority and the Shiite majority. The only stability Iran seeks in Iraq is the kind made possible by the sort of puppet regime Ahmadinejad wants in Baghdad. This is why Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told Iraq’s President Jalal Talibani yesterday that Iran will send troops if requested to do so by Iraq.

There is another crucially important denial of reality akin to the “managing defeat” syndrome. Evidence is rapidly accumulating that major Western media organizations are being had on a daily basis by the propaganda efforts of the Jihadist insurgency. A frequently appearing source in Iraq stories from AP, Reuters and other mainline news organizations is “Capt. Jemil Hussein” of the Iraqi police. Hussein was the main source in the Nov. 24 story claiming six Iraqi civilians were burned alive by insurgents outside a mosque. Hussein is one of 14 questionable sources with Middle Eastern names identified by the U.S. military in news stories from Baghdad reporting growing chaos and allegations of U.S. atrocities.

and we expect Iran and Syria to help us.

And some folks expect media accuracy

So will Bush sell out the Iraqi people?

Passing the International Test?

We here a lot of folks saying we need more International support for our actions in Iraq. Well Al-Reuters shows us why that might not be such a good idea

Nov 26 (Reuters) - NATO commanders in Afghanistan say the battle against Taliban insurgents is being held back by restrictions placed by alliance nations on what their troops can do on the ground........

GEOGRAPHICAL CAVEATS - Germany, Italy, Spain and others declined calls in September by NATO to move troops based in calm areas to the violent south to help with fighting. Berlin has insisted the parliamentary mandate covering its 2,900 troops stipulates they remain in the north, apart from one-off forays.

Another example concerns troops based in districts around the capital Kabul. Alliance sources complain that some refuse to go outside their assigned patches, reducing ISAF's ability to respond to incidents on the ground.

CONSULTATIONS - Most national forces can only do certain tasks after consultation with their capitals -- a process that slows down reaction times. At least one government insists on being consulted before its troops are despatched to within one km (half a mile) of the restive border with Pakistan.

OPERATIONAL RESTRICTIONS - National contingents may refuse to carry out operations above a specified altitude because they are not properly equipped: some helicopters, for example, cannot be used above a certain height; another's troops have limits on what tasks they can perform at night; one NATO source said some south European nations unused to tough Afghan winter conditions have a caveat against fighting in snow, while others ban theirs from riot control operations.

FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS - Nations have deployed aircraft to help NATO operations but in reality keep a tight grip on how such valuable assets are used, allied sources complain. An ally may pledge to allot a given number of hours per month to ISAF operations "subject to availability"; when alliance commanders seek to draw on that resource, they are all too frequently told the aircraft are not available, runs the complaint. At least one nation will not let troops from other nations travel in its aircraft, according to another alliance source.

Now next time you hear that we are on the cusp of losing afghanistan... here is part of the problem. And when you skim through old Iraq stories I want you to ask yourself this question: How, if NATO a unified organization can't operate security in Afghanistan could a lack of organization, a coalition of the willing, do it in Iraq without common organizational backbone.

I might go dig some of the posts and news articles I saw pointing to the problems of our allies. But I think in this age our country may stand alone at the gate.... though truthfully I am not certain we won't run either

Ok......this is odd

got this in the email from a HIGHLY dubious source but if true it puts a weird wrinkle in things going on in Iraq

note I say its HIGHLY dubious

Palestinians must leave in 72 hour
Roads to Iraq



Quds Press reported that Shiite militias threat Palestinian families living in Baghdad, a 72 hour to leave ” or to be subjected to burning and killing.”

Residents in the “Shia” neighborhood said that leaflets were distributed on the Palestinians homes, threaten them with death and burning unless they leave Baghdad within 72 hours. Sources confirmed that these leaflets distributed in curfew time, which was imposed on Baghdad since Friday evening until Sunday morning.

Also confirmed that these militias used for the first time, loudspeakers mounted on governmental cars, the Palestinians and threatens to kill them unless they leave Baghdad. reminding them that their fate would have been the fate of their fellow citizens in the municipalities located east of Baghdad.

According to the official statistics, the numbers of Palestinians who have been killed in Iraq by a Shiite militia are about 172 Palestinians, in addition to the tens of abductees and prisoners

Ok this has Cajones

Seems the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran has found a way to get good media coverage fir his side of the case

... "Let in the tourists"

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran’s hard-line president has ordered nuclear facilities opened to foreign tourists to prove that the nation’s disputed atomic program is peaceful, state-run television reported on Wednesday.

“After an order by the president ... foreign tourists can visit Iran’s nuclear facilities,” the head of Iran’s tourism division, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, was quoted as saying.

Mashai said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued the order to show that Iran’s nuclear program it aims to generate fuel, not weapons.

Oh Honey... Lets go see the Nuclear Reactors in Iran.....

funny dodge of the issue, but not an effective ploy for long