Comments on: Mahdi Army Says “Thank You for Helping…

By: Kevin H

Kevin H — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 20:47:47 +0000

If this really is the case, which it seems it is, the way forwards seems clear, if difficult. We must arrest al-Sadr. It would be a divcieve move which would bring his supporters out of the woodwork so to speak. It would certainly add a considerable ammount of time that we would need to stay in Iraq to clean up the mess, and probably bring about a large ammount of international outrage, but if we really wish to bring a US friendly regieme to Iraq it has to be done.

Otherwise, we might as well give up and let Iran and Saudi Arabia/Egypt fight over the country.

By: truflo

truflo — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:34:57 +0000

If the post-war plan would have been any good, this could have been prevented,

Michael, Lt General William Odom, who recently gave testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would beg to differ. At the hearing he said the following:

‘Many critics argue that, had the invasion been done ‘right,’ such as sending in much larger forces for re-establishing security and government services, the war would have been a success. This argument is not convincing. Such actions might have delayed a civil war but could not have prevented it’.

His point is the invasion itself made civil war inevitable and nothing American troops can do now will change this reality. Our continued presence, he goes on to say, has paralyzed the US militarily and strategically.

By: mikkel

mikkel — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:59:13 +0000

“So while Iraq’s other main Shiite militia, the Badr Brigade, concentrated in 2005 on packing Iraqi intelligence bureaus with high-level officers who could coordinate sectarian assassinations, al-Sadr went after the rank and file.”

Badr is the militia of the largest party and is closest to Iran, so even if we take out al-Sadr through military force, we still have a hostile secret police. I read a report that estimated Badr Brigade was responsible for most of the sectarian killing before the Golden Dome bombing — they were just better at staying out of the news.

By: Michael van der Galien

Michael van der Galien — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:36:11 +0000

Yes Gray good quote. Good of you to point that out.

Lets face it: this war has been lost in every possible respect.

By: Gray

Gray — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:48:27 +0000

You left out an important part:
“Etienne was on patrol one day when he saw Iraqi soldiers eating fresh vegetables and meat. The afternoon before, the same soldiers had complained that they had only scraps of food left. Who’d brought them their meal? It had come courtesy of Muqtada al-Sadr.”

Wonder why al-Sadr has a solid backbone in the troops? Why, they simply follow who’s feeding them. And remember those 2003 reports about Saddam’s army being undernourished, at the edge of starving? Nothing has changed under US influence. This is beyond pathetic. Who is responsible inside the Pentagon for this massive screw-up and incredible show of incompetence?