From CNN:
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, are in Baghdad for a previously unannounced visit aimed at jump-starting the process of forming a national unity government.Rice and Straw -- who flew into the Iraqi capital Sunday from northwest England -- were meeting with Sunni, Shia and Kurdish politicians, who have been stalled in their efforts to form a government following the December 15 parliamentary elections.
"It should be very clear to everyone that the time has come for these negotiations to produce a government of national unity," according to Rice, who spoke to reporters aboard the plane. "I think we both understand how hard it is, but the Iraqi people need their government and their leaders."
Straw said that when he visited Iraq five weeks ago, he was assured that a new government would be put together quickly.
"Sadly ... this coalition formation has taken much longer," he said, and cited "significant international concerns" about the delay.
The slow pace of negotiations is believed to be fueling much of Iraq's sectarian violence, and security concerns most likely will be discussed...
We hate to burst the learned Secretaries' bubble, but the Sunni Shia troubles go back a few years before the Iraq invasion...about 1350 years actually.
A major stumbling block to the formation of a new government is the choice of a prime minister who can unify the country...Opposition to al-Jaafari has been growing, and the Shiite coalition is being pressured to reconsider its decision. Political leaders are trying to agree on an acceptable candidate before a legislative vote is taken.
Rice praised Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most influential Shiite cleric in Iraq, calling him "a voice of reason at difficult times for the Iraqi people, someone who has urged unity in the country."
Asked whether the United States and Britain are losing patience with the Iraqis, Straw cited the huge financial investment and loss of lives by both countries in trying trying to mold a democratic Iraq.
"We're committed to Iraq," Straw said. "Very committed. But we need to see progress. While Rice declined to set a deadline for Iraqis to form a government, she said, "the fact that we're going out to have these discussions with the leadership is a sign of the urgency which we attach to a need for a government."...
How irresponsible for Jack & Condi to not have educated themselves on Islam and its history.
Condi, especially. Didn't she study Russian history? How can one be awarded a degree in that field and not have at least a rudimentary understanding of Moslems and how they behave?
But, apparently having graduated an ignoramus, she definitely shoulda started educating herself when she took the National Security Advisor post. I don't know what Jack did before this job, I assume he worked the rest stop scene or somesuch.
But both are derelict in their willful ignorance, and are letting their nations, and our shared civiliation, down in the most terrible way.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, are in Baghdad for a previously unannounced visit aimed at jump-starting the process of forming a national unity government.
It must be their collective energy that will fix the whole mess. Nothing else is working; but frankly, I think when my fairy (expletive deleted)godmother, waves her magic (expletive deleted)wand -- it would work just as well as those two.
So, Miss Rice, this is "a voice of reason", the man who said, "Sodomites should be killed in the worst manner possible"
Do you think that reasonable, Miss Rice? Because I don't. It is - quite literally - unreasonable to seek to kill where one cannot persuade.
On the political front, notice that Sistani has made four demands, including:
Do you still not realize what this means, Miss Rice? This is not "a voice of reason" it is the voice of a totalitarian belief-system.
The disjunct between the rhetoric of Western politicians and the reality on the ground is getting more and more absurd. It difficult to know whether ignorance or dishonesty is more to blame. As Mark Steyn points out, it is virtually only Australian politicians who make any attempt to tell the truth.
"Jump-starting." "Process." "National unity government." "The Iraqi people." "Very clear." "The time has come." "Concerns." "Urgency." "Need to see Progress."
"Committed to Iraq."
"Very committed."
The Sunday Mirror [good for football ;-)]has done quite a good p.take on this very odd couple.
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16892449%26method=full%26siteid=62484%26headline=jack%2d4%2dcondi-name_page.html
Unfortunately on-line they omit the true romance photos with bubbles.
J "Your hands are so soft, so silky, so smooth"
C "Sorry, I'm feeling a lot more shock than awe."
Granny,
There was a photograph of Miss Rice walking across the road, smiling and at ease. Behind her the Man of Straw, brow creased with worry, hovered, an arm thrown to either side of her body. It really looked as if her were trying to shield her with his body, as if her feared the embarrassment of an attempt on her life while she was his guest.
Maybe I'm being fanciful, but that's what it looked like.
I saw it in the news.
That idiot grin for the cameras starts to haunt me...
What did we do to deserve this?
OT, but perhaps a bit of amusement for everyone:
http://www.deviantart.com/view/31221750/
Jack is just as dhimmi as Condi and just as stupid. Wasn't Jack some kind of beatnik goofy liberal in his youth? Now his voters' profile is increasingly Muslim and the suckup has been on for years. Such a good dhimmi.
I can't say it is true, but I suspect Condi's exposure to Islam 'study' has been a John Esposito cribsheet. The Qu'ran, which she has not read, is crap. All these apologists advising our government. I've got their number - traitor. Every other verse in the Koranic Krap decries, condescends, dismisses, accuses, debases, or urges deadly agression against infidels, nonbelievers, idol worshippers, Christians, Jews or kafirs. That's 50% and here's the proof -
Islam on Trial: The Prosecution’s Case against Islam
Too bad you can't inject IQ. I would chip in for a couple of hits for Condi and Jack. They sure need it.
AN UNPOPULAR OCCUPATION
The British occupation of Iraq drew heavy criticism at home almost from its inception. In 1920, a large-scale Shiite insurgency cost the British more than 2,000 casualties, and domestic pressure to withdraw from Iraq began to build. In the revolt's aftermath, the war hero T. E. Lawrence led a chorus of critics in the press and Parliament denouncing London's decision to continue the costly occupation. "The people of England," Lawrence wrote, have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. ... Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our imperial record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are to-day not far from a disaster....
Sound familiar,
This was the 1920s British attempt at occupying Iraq for imperial purposes.
To Add to the Previous Post, I think it has to be said that America is doing its best and certainly with more of an honorable goal than did the British in the 1920s.
The Briish are closet racists and Xenaphobic, Straw has minimal understanding of the outside world. He comes with the typical British attitude towards foreigners, in that every problem in the world is due to them (foreigners)
The reality is that every place you visit outside Europe has been previously visited or should I say or invaded, by Britain, France, Spain, and/or Germany, and yes lets not forget the Dutch and the Russians.
I feel sorry for Rice, as she is probably wondering how the situation could have gotten so bad in Iraq with Shiite fighting Sunni.
In the future she probably needs to check if the Europeans (probably the British) have been there before, certainly before thinking about trying to change their regime.
"Opposition to al-Jaafari has been growing, and the Shiite coalition is being pressured to reconsider its decision. Political leaders are trying to agree on an acceptable candidate before a legislative vote is taken."
This is a key decision. Al-Jaafari is very devisive. He only won the internal Shiite balloting with the support of Moktada al-Sadr.
The Sunnis and Kurds will not accept him.
Al
"Rice praised Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most influential Shiite cleric in Iraq, calling him "a voice of reason at difficult times for the Iraqi people, someone who has urged unity in the country."
I suppose by the standard in that region he is somewhat 'moderate' (compared to the likes of Ayatollah Khomeini), but "reasonable"?? That's a poor description for someone who depends on one book for every answer.
AL
Why, oh, why? I ask myself, do "we the people" understand the Islamic threat while those who rule and govern us do not. These people have education, world experience. I just don't get it. We need leaders to lead us to freedom. Where are our William Wallace's to fight against this oppresion which is Islam?
Watcher: no, "we the people" do not. The anti-Islam movement is still restricted to bloggers and internet addicts; it has little or no mainstream presence outside places such as www.townhall.com, and even there you can find your Larry Kudrows and other supporters of business as usual. That is why I find it heartening to see signs of discontent and anger at the popular level, from the rise of Sweden's maligned Democrat party and Norway's equally ignorantly insulted Progressives (both mendaciously described as "far right") to the silencing of dhimmi left Italian politicians by their own constituents. Politicians only say what is convenient; if they find that their electors really do not like Islam, they will not wait long to start criticizing it. But do not look to professional politicians for guidance; they only lead in the sense that the prow of a ship leads it.
Another piece on this Miss Rice and Mr. Straw in Iraq:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4869328.stm
A YouGov survey carried out in the UK shows that a "substantial majority [of those polled] wants troops to be withdrawn, either immediately or within 12 months, regardless of conditions on the ground".
Paolo:
I'm not completely convinced, Paolo. In defence of what you say, I have to say that before I started reading here and got some of the suggested background reading in, I had no idea. Oh, I "knew" that something called "Islamism" was a problem and had done for some time. (This is the kind of notion one would pick up from, for example, John Gray's book on Al Qaeda.) But I was not really aware of the extent to which mainstream Islamic teachings were the problem, even though I was, to say the least, suspicious of Islam. At first, I actually thought Robert and Hugh were exaggerating.
On the other hand, against your rather pessimistic view there, I will also say that I talk to many ordinary people and I often find their views radically at odds with the official line of the politicians. I really do believe there is a much greater degree of scepticism about Islam among the public in my country than among politicians - even allowing for the fact that the politicians are probably less than honest about what they really think. Ordinary people often trust the evidence of their eyes and ears in a way that "intellectuals" do not.
I'm not completely in agreement with this, either:
I certainly think that is true up to a point of at least some politicians. However, I also believe that some politicians - and some others (e.g., many in the MSM) - are trapped in what Serge Trifkovic referred to as a "morbid" state of mind.
Condi, especially. Didn't she study Russian history? How can one be awarded a degree in that field and not have at least a rudimentary understanding of Moslems and how they behave?
Simple, Affirmative actions.
"Too bad you can't inject IQ."
Someone should set up an IQ test on the Internet, to test for "Islamic Quotient", with the [politically in]correct answers (including full citations from Qur'an and Hadiths, as well as from news sources, and historical studies) appearing at the end along with the participant's score.
The IQ could be broken down into three sections:
1) Islamic doctrine
2) Islam in current events (9/11/01 to the present)
3) Islam in history
a) recent history (Islam Redivivus: post-WWII to 9/11/01)
b) modern history (the Decline and Fall of Islam from the 17th century to the 20th)
c) classical Islam (Mohammed to the Siege of Vienna in 1683)
From a posting above:
"...Why, oh, why? I ask myself, do "we the people" understand the Islamic threat while those who rule and govern us do not. These people have education, world experience. .."
Education? World experience? Who?
Bush? That grain of Rice and that man of Straw?
No way. They are the problem, not the solution...