The proliferation of local militias will amount to another nail in the coffin of the Iraqi national unity dream that US policymakers continue to chase. Could the Iraqi Shi'ites be emboldened by the utter lack of accountability (not to mention its survivial in the first place) that Hizballah has enjoyed thus far? From AFP:
NAJAF, Iraq - The deputy governor of Iraq’s Shia province of Najaf said Tuesday that local militias will boost the region’s security after a recent suicide bomb attack killed 35 people.
"We started today forming a committee in Najaf to choose individuals who will control security in their neighbourhoods and keep an eye on all suspect movements in their areas," deputy governor Abdul Hussain Abtan told AFP.
It becomes clearer later in the article that "committee" is a euphemism for "militia."
"This will be done in collaboration with security forces in the city and is the first step in activating popular committees."
Abtan belongs to powerful Shia party, the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), whose chief Abdel Aziz Al Hakim had called for setting up such committees after the bombing on Thursday.
Last week, Aziz demanded the right to inaugurate the rule of popular committees in areas to give people a chance to defend themselves. His demand was echoed by the movement of Shia radical leader Moqtada Sadr.
Both groups want to form Shia self-defence committees, a move that would undermine the authority of Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki, who has vowed to disarm militias.
That gives the "Neighborhood Watch" idea a whole new meaning.
Fine. Keep it up. Now Sunni groups must do the same in Basra, and both Sunnis and Shi'a do the same in Baghdad. Don't let the Americans stop you. They're Infidels. What do they know?
i think with a divided Iraq will help keep muslims busy killing each other. someone is making a ton of money selling arms to those idoits. wonder how long it will take before numbers get down enough to take over?
Civil war is alive and well in Iraq. mos killing mos. 1,000 per month in Bagdad. These numbers will soon explode.
you can take mos to the water trough of freedom, but you can not force them to drink and understand for freedom is not known in the cult of islam.
Texican' freedom is not for all peoples, most Americans want a paycheck first. And cheap gas. But will not get off their butt to save their own Country? Well, that would take work.
Texican said
I heard the other day the technical explanation why Iraq is "not" in a civil war: according to established military doctrine, as long as there is a viable and operative central government, it is not considered a civil war.
Does this make sense? I didn't think so either. Abraham Lincoln seemed to have a pretty viable government throughout the U.S. Civil War. And right now the leaders of Afghanistan and Iraq are essentially mayors of their respective capitol cities, and not much more.
The Administration is clinging to reeds in a raging river at this point, if their Iraq strategy consists of redefining commonly used phrases.
Dust off the "Mission Accomplished" banner in the storage locker, hang it up behind GWB declaring victory again, and this time get our troops the h*ll out of there.
AMartinez,
You are so right. But remember only about 10-12% of Colonials were directly involved in the American Revolution. A little bit goes a long way.
Also, cannon fodder should have been mook todar al sarder. His demise would be hasten none too soon.
Also, cannon fodder should have been mook todar al sarder. His demise would be hasten none too soon.
Also, cannon fodder should have been mook todar al sarder. His demise would be hasten none too soon.
Sorry for the 3 pete, don't know what happened.
Looking around on the web, here is a link to an article from the BBC on the topic of whether Iraq fits the definition of a "civil war".
It still seems to be an open-ended question in their mind.
The first atomic weapon, yielded by the Insidious Americans, was procreated at a cost of 2 billion. Granted that was long ago, and far away, but it ended the second God foresaken war imposed by Germany. Now we spend 430 billion, a year, with Iraq. That much money spent towards alternative fuels, solar, wind, off shore drilling, would have made the middle east a non-component. Turn the God awful waste of space which is called Iraq, or Babylon, into the Quagmire that it has always been. Troops out! Leave the confusion of Islam to it's own camp.
Someone said earlier, "You can lead the mohammedans to the trough of freedom, but you can't make them drink." How true, since they prefer to drink from the cesspool of the quran and base their system on the law of mohammed. All of the bombs and diplomacy we have won't change anything. Even if the militias were disarmed, we would also have to remove every stick and rock in the country. Chaos and tyranny rule wherever islam exists. 1400 years of history tell us so. †
zooboomafoo wrote: "That much money spent towards alternative fuels, solar, wind, off shore drilling, would have made the middle east a non-component."
Amen! I've thought that from the beginning! We could be accomplishing 3 things: Making the Mid East and its stark raving mad Muslims irrelevant, keeping money within Western countries and out of terrorists' hands, and slowing/halting the damage we're doing to the environment through CO2 emissions, oil spills, etc. In the 21st century, he who controls energy controls the world.
It's never too late to start, though what do you think the chances are of our leaders encouraging that?
You are so right on with your points, Zoo. But that shoulda been started in 1975. The research timelines now are long. I was in Princeton doing science deals in the 80s when Reagan shut down the massive fusion research project going on at SDI at that time. 2,000 physicists, mathemeticians, and chemists unemployed overnight.
That would be one of my three criticisms of Reagan. The other two being 1) the extra-governmental funding of the Contras by cocaine dealing thru Bill Clinton's airport in Arkansas and, 2) the fact that no general took responsibility for the Marines who were put into that high rise hotel in Beirut and promptly murdered by Koran-wielding Jihadists.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
It looks like they have been studying our Constitution. Perhaps they could be future NRA members.
Wilypagan-- Hmm. The absence of a jihad element makes a difference there (the "well-regulated" part, for starters):
The only time I can think of that two states' National Guards almost came to blows was when the governors of Ohio and Michigan (still a territory then) got into a dispute (1835-6) over which state Toledo belonged in.
The Ohio history textbooks never made mention of international involvement (like Iran aiding the Iraqi Shi'ites), death squads or Michigan trying to institute Sharia law.
Granted, those were earlier, more carefree days in Dearborn...
I see no problem with leaving small arms in the Country after the 'raging river' has its way with the reeds.
Keep the airbase in Kurdistan though...
Here's a good one from MIT about how Missiles are leveling the playing field between the good guys and bad guys:
http://www.techreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17314&ch=biztech
So now what do we do?
Isolate, harass, and loosen the rules of engagement in Middle Eastern conflicts.
Establish and broadcast a national doctrine that attacks on population centers will be responded to with disproportional attacks on the same.
Stop scrapping our nuclear submarines (these can take out surface-to-surface missiles and would be useful if China decided to extend its influence).
Spend less on manned aircraft and more on UAVs and special forces. The fighter-pilot lobby is huge in the Pentagon, but the reality is that humans are the weak link in a warplane (G-force limited) and that UAVs will be able to shoot down manned aircraft 10 times out of 10 in the near future. They're also much cheaper.
Watch the next Iran-Iraq war from a distance.
(Above responding to sanman's question referencing a good MIT article on missiles)...
O.T.
BBC reporter caught lying.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=22119&only
"BBC reporter caught lying."
-- from a posting above by an admirer of Kurosawa
Dog bites man.
UAVs are smaller , harder to detect, can stay on target for 24 hours or more,and can carry a variety of weapons. They are the future of aerial warfare. They are satellite guided and can send back real time photography to aid the commanders in making decisions. They are easily replaceable and require a minimum of maintenance as compared to an F18 or F22 or B2. They have proven to be effective in attacking tanks, convoys, cars, buildings, troops on the ground and a wide variety of other targets.
Some of the UAVs for reconnaisance are so small they are rarely seen. If flown at low altitudes the constant sound of their small engines drives the enemy crazy, they can hear them but cannot see them. The terrorists know they are being watched when they hear the buzz of the small engine.
The UAVs can be used as a forward observation position for targeting for larger weapons to be used.
I like UAVs.
BBC -- Barely Believable Correspondence.
Like most main stream media entities, the Beeb gave up objectivity years ago.
Like all the rest, the BBC is more interested in making news than reporting it.
Like the idiots at the weather channel during hurricanes, correspondents placing themselves in danger think that their reporting will be seen as unbiased and credible because they risked so much.
They carry their bias and prejudices with them and it shows.
CNN paved the way for this garbage, mainly because being a 24 hr news organization left a lot of time to fill, so we are left with the dregs of reporting.
Doctoring photos, parading dead babies around like trophies, and staging fake pathos and anguish, is the logical progression in a world hungering for increasingly more purient reporting.
The ultimate reality show--war! Who cares what lies are told as long as we get to see real dead bodies.
Society is sick and the sickos are getting the most press
Sgt; One more for the list... Develop a silent UAV engine.
tHE SILENT UAV is in the works, Just imagine the surprize the terrorist gets who thinks he is well hidden when suddenly, with no warning, a missile with pin point accuracy hits. He will have no idea he has been observed for many hours or days.
You can run but you cannot hide.
I have seen real time scans on our computerized control screen showing dozens of the UAVs flying at the same time, criss crossing areas of coverage. Every square inch of ground is photograph with film and infra red detection devises (even well camoflaged things are seen).
The commander has only to decide which target he wants to destroy and by what means he chooses to use.
Death to the enemy is certain.
Funny how Alarmed Pig Farmer, has mentioned 1975, which was the year that I was born, and with that, spawned my lineage. I have said many stupid things in frustration about this whole Islam thing, but sometimes I hit the nail on the head, and appreciate acknowledgement of said hit, and misses.