The former blue-thumbed Iraqi Jeffersonians have lost their luster. Of course, this just underscores what we have pointed out here for years: that the Shi'ites were not really enthusiastic proponents of democracy. They just saw one-man-one-vote as a chance for them to take power in Iraq. Now the U.S. has awakened to just how much this helps Iran, and are trying to reverse it. But how ultimately will American officials distinguish "biased" Shi'ites from "impartial" ones?
By Pauline Jelinek for Associated Press (thanks to Andrew Bostom):
WASHINGTON - More than a third of Iraq's national police battalion commanders are now Sunni after a purge of Shiites who had a sectarian bias, a U.S. general said Monday.Despite improvements, he predicted it will still be years before Iraqi forces are capable of securing the country by themselves.
Speaking to Pentagon reporters from Iraq, Army Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard said he had been saddened to see the destruction in one province where the number of U.S. forces had been reduced too soon.
"We cannot be in a hurry to withdraw our coalition forces," he said, using Diyala province north of Baghdad as an example.
[...]
"The growth of the Iraqi security forces over the past couple of years has really been quite dramatic in many ways," he said by video conference. Among improvements: Iraqi officials have recruited Sunnis to the national police command, a group that a year ago was almost entirely Shia. The national police have been known for their ties to Shiite militia.
Pittard said that since October, officials had removed seven of nine brigade commanders — five because of sectarian bias. One of two division commanders is now Sunni, as are four of nine brigade commanders and 9 or 10 of the 27 battalion commanders, he said.
And the Sunnis, I suppose, are free of "sectarian bias."
But he warned against being "in a hurry" to hand over responsibility for Iraq security to local soldiers and police — a handover U.S. officials have said is key to bringing American forces home.[...]
Asked if Iraqis will be able to move fairly soon to take control of areas now being cleared out, Pittard said, "We've really got to be careful."
"A lesson learned is ... do not draw down too quickly when we think there's a glimmer of success," he said. "It will take time, it will take time for the Iraqi security forces to be able to take over from our forces."
The No. 2 commander in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, said last week that the current operation should last through the summer and he won't be able to determine until then how much of the follow-on work U.S. forces will have to do themselves.
Pittard noted that Iraqi security forces are taking the lead in some places, such as in Maysan in the south, the province of Muthanna, and in Irbil in the north.
"I think it'll take a couple of years before the Iraqi security forces are going to be able to fully take control of the security situation in Iraq," he said.
Meanwhile, a think tank led by John Podesta, President Clinton's former chief of staff, recommended Monday that the U.S. immediately stop arming the Iraqis and redeploy U.S. troops within a year.
"Spending billions to arm Iraq's security forces without political consensus among Iraq's leaders carries significant risks — the largest of which is arming faction-ridden national Iraqi units before a unified national government exists that these armed forces will loyally support," wrote the Center for America Progress in Washington.
Officials at the center downplayed the possibility that such an approach would lead to a genocide or a takeover by neighboring countries.
Iraq's neighbors "have an interest in not seeing things get even worse," said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the center.
Indeed they do. But their vision of how to do that might not be identical to that of Katulis.
...it is near impossible to straighten out 1400 years of incompetence, mahem, and secterian violence....The Middle East is a cesspool fit only for those violent enough to kill all who strive to change it....Islam is for losers...
If Powell's Pottery Barn rules apply, Saddam broke it first, we tried to fix it, they broke it again and don't want to fix it.
When I see the news reports that the Iraqis follow our troops to plant bombs behind them, it makes me wonder if these people were ever as 'civilized' as we were led to believe. For, if we were ever going to succeed in Iraq we would have needed at least the tacit cooperation of these people.
Such is the light unto the world that is called Islam.
But how ultimately will American officials distinguish "biased" Shi'ites from "impartial" ones?
Probably the same way they distinguish "peaceful" Muslims from the jihadists.
John Podesta's point about arming factions was prescient. Isn't that what we did in the Palestinian area? We favored and funded Fatah but the money went to buy weapons for Hamas.
off-topic:
My suggestion for the Jihad Watch Soundtrack.
Artist: Roy Harper
Song: The Black Cloud of Islam
Album: Once
Published: 1990
Lyrics:
http://www.elyrics.net/read/r/roy-harper-lyrics/the-black-cloud-of-islam-lyrics.html
Re: "Now the U.S. has awakened to just how much this helps Iran, and are trying to reverse it. But how ultimately will American officials distinguish "biased" Shi'ites from "impartial" ones"?
In a democratic society public opinion matters, minority opinion is protected (1st amendment style) and usually given limited political power until they can persuade the majority to their point of view. Such societies have periodic civil wars at the ballot box. The problem here is that the minority wants to impose its will on the majority and the majority does not desire to protect the minority's rights. A democratic society is impossible under such circumstances. What we see as obvious is impossible to see in just about every Muslim country.
Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Vern Law once said, "experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first and then we learn the lesson". Have we learned yet?
How will the US tell the difference? Probably through the same detailed exhaustive vetting procedure used to clear Iraqi police - a literacy test.
Unfortunately, whatever clownish vetting procedure the Green Zone comes up with will probably be used on the refugees coming here.
How will the US tell the difference? Probably through the same detailed exhaustive vetting procedure used to clear Iraqi police - a literacy test.
Unfortunately, whatever clownish vetting procedure the Green Zone comes up with will probably be used on the refugees coming here.
How could a body of people be so stupid as to assume that one sect ( shi'a ) is 'sectarian' while the other sect (sunni) isn't?
Remember what the Sunni Ba'athists did to shi'a and kurd? Why do we think it was only the leaders of the Sunni clique and not every goddamned officer in the thugocracy that contributed to what came before?
Our leadership has been operating under the wrong assumptions about civilizations, culture, religion, history and human nature since President Bush had his 'Mission Accomplished' speech on the deck of the carrier. After that the mission expanded and morphed into nationbuilding for a people that neither asked for or wanted to build it.
The people of Iraq and all over the Islamic world, from Sudan to Bangledesh have neither the skills nor desire to build anything we'd recognize as 'good', but yet we continue to
make the same mistakes and willfully ignore the signs that it's not working while we willfully clamp our hands over our ears and repeat the same tired happy-clappy phrases to ourselves. That's not the force of will that is going to change things.
What would? A serious ass-kicking and dissembling of those nations that insist on fighting us. A force of will resembling the occupation of Japan and Germany post-war with highlights like the destruction of the cult of the Sun-Emperor and the denazication of Germany. Establishing the governments of those nations without allowing them to corrupt their constitutuions with things like 'the Emperor's word shall be the fundamental law of the land and nothing in this constitution shall contradict it' as we allowed Afghanistan and Iraq to enshrine the Qur'an as the ultimate law. The only reason things like this happen is a lack of understanding. Our people in power misunderstand the essence of OUR CIVILIZATION and are ignorant of Islamic Civilization, either by negligence or willful design.
Until we give up being stupid we'll continue to be 'surprised' and 'disappointed' in this global war against jihad. Making the change in mind will require a huge sacrifice in blood and treasure on the part of the military and our civilians. A huge price will be paid by we civilians if the administration insists on keeping its hands clamped over its eyes and ears. Unfortunately this blood sacrifice seems to be the only way that things will change before 2008 and may be required even past 2008, since most likely some other willfully stupid administration will come in from the Democrats. We will all pay a terrible price for our refusal as this time the fight comes to US real estate.
Iran needs to be dealt with unequivocally and the mullahs have to go. This change may be enough to put the jihad movement into remission for a time. Maybe that's the best we can hope for because I don't see the West going far enough to permanently change the world. It just isn't going to happen with our current 'reality' map.
It is not only the most primitive Sunnis of the al-Zarqawi variety muttering darkly about "Rafidite dogs," who worry about the Shi'a. For example, the most advanced, presumably best educated, most familiar with the non-Muslim West, Sunnis who also worry about the Shi'a and their treacherous ways.
Look, for example, at the request for a fatwa made by members of the Cambridge University Islamic Society, at one well-known fatwa-dispensing website:
"Fatwa # 15327 from United Kingdom
Question: We are in a very difficult position in Cambridge University Islamic Society. Shias came into our Islamic Society (Isoc) last year, claiming to want to work in 'unity' and they have been voted into our committee this year, although not for positions of President or Vice President. We are not certain from which branches of Shi'ism they are from. We have fears they may be voted in for positions of President and Vice President at the next AGM.
Essentially our question boils down to two options:
A - Should sunnis and shias stay together in Cambridge Isoc? Sunnis are in charge at the moment (President, Vice President). But there is a strong possibility that if we carry on running as we are (sunnis and shias together) that a shia may be voted in as President at the next AGM and hence shias will have control of Cambridge University Islamic Society.
B - Whilst we are still in control, we tell the shias to go back to their own society - Cambridge Ahlel Bayt Society (CABS). They already have that society running but since last year they have also infiltrated our Isoc.
In option A there is a possiblity the could get voted in as President. They can then operate under the recognised 'Islamic Society' banner and many would not know that the information provided/speakers invited are from a shia background. This is where our concern lies.
If we are to remain together - should we allow them to invite shia speakers and run shia events under the banner of 'Islamic Society'?
We would very much appreciate it if you could provide an answer on the basis of this information, as many muslims - and many sunnis sadly - are simply grasping at fatwas of 'we are all Muslim' and have not hesitated in giving their support to the shias.
Answer: In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh
You should be extremely cautious of the Shias. It is virtually impossible for both the groups to unite and work together because the gulf between us (in terms of our fundamental beliefs) is exceptionally wide. As far as possible, you should endeavour to block their infiltration into your sunni society. Make their agenda known to your sunni colleagues. Enlighten your members of the fundamental differences between the sects.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Mufti M. Kadwa
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah"
This does not accord, one realizes, with any of the dreamy assumptons of Bush, or Rice, or others who think this Sunni-Shi'a business can so easily be overcome.
It can't. And instead of deploring this, those who make policy should welcome, and plan ways to exploit, all the pre-existing fissures within Islam, instead of ignoring or minimizing them or, still worse, attempting to heal whatever rifts within Islam already exist -- that between Sunni and Shi'a, that between Arab and increasingly resentful non-Arab Muslim.
Intelligent makers of policy, having recognizing that Jihad is a permanent, not temporary duty, and a duty not tangential but central, the duty to spread Islam until it everywhere dominates. For once all barriers put up by Infidels to the spread of Islam are removed, then dominance by Islam, and rule by Muslims, will become inevitable. It has happened, Muslims realize, before.
The failure of Western leaders to see this, to allow themselves to see it, and their disturbing ability to deny, and then what is worse, to hide from those whom they have a duty to instruct and protect, unpleasant truths about Islam that are better learned now rather than in 20 years, or ten, or five, and might, even better, never have been forgotten in the Western world, or at least re-learned some thirty or forty years ago, before the mass migration of Muslims into the West began, slowly at first, to become the nightmare that everyone obscurely or clearly senses, but no one, apparently, has the wit to begin to deal with as is necessary.
Withdraw the Coalition forces to guard the oil fields and Kurdistan and the Iranian and Syrian borders, and then let the Iraqis do their own damned internal work.
They have had too much time to get their shi'ite together.
"Step up and defend your own country, Iraqis" is all these generals should be saying from now on.
This sounds like an episode on a TV show 'Commish' several years ago, where a Cop was entrusted with the job of distinguishing real psychics from fakes.
What an assignment!