Dave Price: “Every Year Is Worse Than The Previous Year” In Iraq

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
“Every Year Is Worse Than The Previous Year” In Iraq
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1147232687.shtml


   Pelosi, Kennedy or Dean raging at the wrongheadedness of Bushâs
   actions? Disgruntled former generals criticizing Rumsfeldâs strategy?
   Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore, or a Kos diarist bemoaning the debacle
   American foreign policy has become? A NYT or Guardian editorial,
   perhaps?
   No, this is from [1]an internal al Qaeda memo lamenting the terrorist
   group's Mesopotamian misfortunes, which also complains the jihadists
   are âexhaustedâ and barely amount to an âannoyanceâ to Iraqâs
   democratically elected government and its 250,000-strong-and-growing
   cadre of ever-more-capable security forces. The memo also notes, with
   some despair, al Qaeda's increasing unpopularity among even Sunni
   Iraqis, who have been their mainstay, and who (much to al Qaeda's
   consternation) are joining the political process and enlisting in
   government security forces.
   It hasnât been a good week for al Qaeda; it was only a few days ago
   their Fearless Leader was caught on a [2]blooper reel fumbling around
   trying to operate a very simple light machine gun, before handing it
   off to a flunky who comically burns his hand grabbing the hot barrel.
   Not exactly striking fear into the hearts of the infidel with the
   Abbott and Costello routines, guys.
   But as auspicious as all this is, its importance shouldnât be
   overplayed. Al Qaeda in Iraq is very nasty and noisy and deadly but
   (partly for those reasons) essentially a fringe player now. While this
   is certainly [3]progress, it does not mean the end of the insurgency;
   enervating the societal pathology of violent tribalism to the point
   that Iraq meets Western standards of peaceful society is certainly
   going to take years, and may be a generational task, one the Iraqis
   will shortly start shouldering mostly on their own. It should be
   recognized, though, that the task is somewhat limited in scope: the
   problems are predominantly confined to only a third of the country (if
   the most populous third): the South, while not exactly a beacon of
   liberty, is relatively peaceful and free by Mideast standards and
   [4]Kurdish northern Iraq could almost be mistaken for a (very
   pro-American) European country: if there is any kind of beacon in
   Iraq, the north is where itâs shining.
   In other progress of note, Al-Maliki is [5]reportedly very close to
   finishing the negotiations over the makeup of his government. There
   are conflicting reports about the Interior Ministry; with some secret
   sources claiming Jabr is keeping the job despite allegations he has
   allowed Shia death squads to operate with impunity, and al-Maliki
   openly stating no one associated with militias will be allowed to run
   Defense or Interior. I guess we'll find out whether Maliki or the
   anonymous sources are more trustworthy.
   Rumors also abound of a new plan to secure Baghdad and nine other
   cities, to be implemented shortly after Maliki's government takes
   office. They certainly have a quite a bit more native manpower to
   throw around now, offering a qualitatively different force perhaps
   [6]more suited to the task of counterinsurgency than the coalition
   troops, and [7]others have also suggested such a security move would
   be beneficial.

     Can you imagine what things will be like when Baghdad becomes a
     safe place where diplomats are not afraid to come, businessmen are
     not afraid to invest their money, people are not afraid to go to
     work, passenger flights are not afraid to land like they do in
     other airports in this world?
     I can, and it's a vision of beauty that can become a reality.

References

   1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_zarqawi_s_strategy
   2. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060504/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_zarqawi_1;_ylt=AgemsZkkFau_R4KhYulafLNX6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
   3. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-05-08-car-bombs_x.htm?csp=34
   4. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001126.html
   5. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060509/ts_nm/iraq_dc_16;_ylt=Am2XfP6QrjNcVMxUcLqKH59X6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
   6. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-general9may09,1,1795096.story?coll=la-headlines-world
   7. http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2006/05/battle-for-baghdad.html