[antimedia] antimedia: Iraq is falling apart, civil war is breaking out, ....

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Posted by antimedia:
Iraq is falling apart, civil war is breaking out,....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1156475248.shtml


   ....it's only a matter of time before the entire collapses in on
   itself. We should get out now, right?
   Well.....[1]maybe not.

     Iraqi army forces conducted simultaneous, precision raids on three
     objectives in southern Baghdad on August 20, capturing two key
     insurgent leaders as part of the Together Forward security
     operation in Baghdad.

   No, really, [2]maybe not.

     Baghdad Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry
     Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
     discovered a munitions cache while on a dismounted patrol northwest
     of Baghdad Sunday night.
     The cache consisted of 20 120mm rounds and a 155mm round.
     An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team performed a controlled
     detonation of the munitions.
     In a separate incident earlier in the day, Iraqi army soldiers from
     5th Special Troops Company, 9th Iraqi Army Division, detained five
     suspected terrorists and seized weapons and munitions during a
     permissive entry of the Al Fadly Mosque in Bob al Shaam north of
     Baghdad.
     A tip from a concerned citizen led the soldiers to the weapons,
     which included seven AK-47 assault rifles, two PKC machine guns,
     two pistols, 20 fully-loaded magazines of 7.62mm ammunition, three
     handheld radios rigged as bomb detonators and a set of body armor.

   As a matter of fact, probably not.

     HH: Can you begin, General, by giving us an overview of the
     situation in Iraq as of mid-August, 2006?
     JA: The situation in Iraq right now, as you've seen, of course,
     there's an awful lot of sectarian violence, particularly in the
     Baghdad area. We've found it necessary to move additional troops
     down into the Baghdad area by extending some forces that we were
     going to redeploy to help shore up some of the work that the Iraqi
     Security Forces are doing. We're putting additional Iraqi Security
     Forces in the field there as well. It's very clear to all of us
     that have been serving in this region that Baghdad's the key to
     Iraq, and that we've got to get the levels of sectarian violence
     down in order for Iraq to stabilize. We're confident it can be
     done. We've seen some changes already that are somewhat positive.
     It's still too early to say, but the combination of Iraqi Security
     Forces and our forces, along with some measures being taken by the
     new government, we're confident can, over time, move Baghdad in the
     right direction.
     HH: General Abizaid, are you confident as well that victory is
     possible in Iraq ? And what will that look like?
     JA: Yeah, no, I'm very confident that victory's possible, not only
     in Iraq, but in the broader Middle East, if you consider victory
     being a Middle East where extremism is not tolerated, and doesn't
     have a chance of going mainstream in the region. I certainly think
     that in Iraq , there'll be violence after the time that American
     forces depart. I think that the sectarian issues are deep, but they
     don't need to be fatal. I believe that over time, as you build
     institutional capacity and the Iraqi government, and especially in
     the Iraqi armed forces, that Iraqis will be able to do more and
     more of the day to day security work. And as that happens, we'll be
     able to bring our forces down. A lot of people...
     HH: Do you have enough troops, General, to do the mission, to
     achieve that stability and victory?
     JA: Yeah, Hugh. We have over 200,000 American troops in the Middle
     East . That's down from a high of 375,000 back in '03. But more
     importantly, there's over 275,000 Iraqi troops, 70,000 Afghan
     troops that are fighting directly with us, and then you go to
     places like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan , where they're fighting
     against the extremists with quite a few troops as well, and
     througout the region as well. So if it was my opinion that the
     people in the region weren't willing to fight against the
     extremists on their own, then I would have a different conclusion
     than what I just gave you. But all indications are that the people
     out here are not interested in having their countries turn into
     Taliban-like states. But on the other hand, Shiia extremism and
     Sunni extremism in the region are very strong, and we need to help
     the states help themselves against this. And at the same time,
     we've got to keep the flow of natural resources moving through the
     Straits of Hormuz, the Suez Canal , and the Babel Mandeb, which
     take an awful lot of air and naval power.

   Scratch that. [3]Definitely not.

     Seeking a unified province free from terrorism and sectarian
     violence, leaders of groups in Babil came together Aug. 20 in Al
     Hillah to reconcile and denounce sectarian violence.
     Iraqi Security Force leadership, representatives of the Iraqi
     national government, local government officials, social leaders,
     tribal sheik leaders and religious leaders, joined together at the
     Iraqi police academy convention hall to map out a strategic plan to
     shape Babilâs peaceful future.
     âThis was Iraqi generated, Iraqi led,â said Col. John Tully,
     commander, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, an
     invited guest of the ISF leadership present at the conference âThey
     are clearly trying to come to grips with the issues their society
     is facing.â
     The meeting was orchestrated by Maj. Gen. Qais Hamza, Babil
     provincial police chief, to bring representatives of every facet of
     Babil culture to the conference and provide them a forum to speak.
     It is hoped the meeting would signify the commencement of a new era
     in the region and the end of terrorism in southern Iraq, said a
     sheik in attendance.
     âWe have Sunnis, Shias, women, children â that is a miracle in this
     day of age,â he said. âEverybody knows what needs to be done, but
     Gen. Qais is the person who decided that it was time to quit
     talking and start acting.â
     The idea came in coordination with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al
     Malikiâs 24-point national reconciliation initiative plan he
     outlined to the Iraqi National Council of Representatives in June.
     Sectarian violence has plagued Iraq for much of the year, and
     leaders of Babil said they wanted to lead the rest of the nation in
     heeding al Malikiâs words.
     [......]
     âWe are not Sunni or Shiite, Kurdish or Christians,â one sheik
     said. âWe are Iraqis, and we intend to secure Iraq. The people who
     are fighting the old regime and each other are the same people that
     have lived together for over a thousand years and have drank from
     these two rivers.â

   Don't believe what the media tells you about Iraq. They're lying. Just
   like they lied about Lebanon.

References

   1. http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom1/Lists/Press%20Releases/DispForm.aspx?ID=3660
   2. http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom1/Lists/Press%20Releases/DispForm.aspx?ID=3666
   3. http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom1/Lists/Press%20Releases/DispForm.aspx?ID=3668&Source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecentcom%2Emil%2Fsites%2Fuscentcom1%2FLists%2FPress%2520Releases%2FCurrent%2520Releases%2Easpx