[Dean's World] Dave Price: Victory Has A Thousand Fathers

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Posted by Dave Price:
Victory Has A Thousand Fathers
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1197149385.shtml


   And a lot of them [1]adopt late:

     There are two stories here: 1) A formerly anti-war general flips on
     supporting the war, and now believes Petraeus has the right
     strategy; and 2) Batiste has left VoteVets.org, and the antiwar
     movement, and joined up with the pro-troop, pro-surge, pro-victory
     Vets for Freedom.

   If that weren't shocking enough, there's an LAT piece claiming
   [2]Moqtada Al-Sadr is cleaning up his act, apparently looking to play
   politician rather than warlord:

     Sadr, whose Mahdi Army has as many as 60,000 members, has been
     trying to make his movement a viable political factor, and more
     appealing to his hundreds of thousands of followers. In late
     August, he declared a six-month freeze in hostilities to rein in
     lawless elements after deadly clashes with a rival Shiite militia.
     If Sadr succeeds, it could lead to a much more stable Iraq -- at
     least in the short term. U.S. commanders say they are optimistic so
     far. But it is not yet clear whether Sadr can control even the men
     such as Abu Maha on whom he is depending to establish order.

   As the article notes, his methods leave a lot to be desired, but if he
   really is giving up on armed insurrection that could go a long way
   toward stablizing Shia areas of Baghdad.

References

   1. http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/12/another_surge_convert.asp
   2. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sadr7dec07,1,3761168.story?coll=la-headlines-world