Who Is Running Iraq?

[babylonsister]

http://www.oliverwillis.com/index.php/2008/03/30/who-is-running-iraq/


Who Is Running Iraq?
Published March 30, 2008 in Iraq. 1 Comment

It’s not us, and its not the elected Iraqi government. It is the people who control when the fighting stops and starts.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr offered Sunday to pull his fighters off the streets of Basra and other cities if the government halts raids against his followers and releases prisoners held without charge.

The offer was contained in a nine-point statement issued by his headquarters in Najaf.

An Iraqi government spokesman welcomed al-Sadr’s order, saying it was “positive and responsive.”

The Republican mantra and the beliefs of the foreign policy establishment and the mainstream media has been: “the surge is working”. We need to amend that strongly.

The surge is working… when Muqtada al-Sadr allows it to — which means it ain’t working.

[YDogg]

1. george walker bush

[MichiganVote]

2. Whoever is getting a bigger share of our tax paid money.

[panader0]

3. Hunter Thompson? Wait, how about his Doonesbury counterpart?

[bemildred]

4. I thought we had definitively proven that Iraq doesn't need to be run anymore. nt

[babylonsister]

5. I imagine that's what Petraeus will be saying. nt

[Bobbieo]

7. Doesn't the Shite cleric ,al-Sadr, have strong ties to Iran?

[bemildred]

9. He's an Iraqi religious-nationalist.

It's the al Hakim militia that has strong ties to Iran.

[stevedeshazer]

6. Apparently, Muqtada al-Sadr is.

Everyone is falling over each other to say what a great thing it is that he's stopping the violence...for now.

So basically, we took Iraq out of the hands of the Sunnis and put the Shia in charge. Exactly the opposite of the intended result.

[babylonsister]

8. As hamfisted as this whole occupation has been run, why doesn't

this surprise me? How McCain will justify this is beyond me.

[pinto]

10. It's a militia street fight, as far as I can discern. All of them fighting for a role,

from Sunni factions to Shia factions to the nominal government factions to US forces...

[uppityperson]

11. The question is the answer.

Is anyone running Iraq?

[spanone]

12. dick chenee