Sunnis refuse to accept Shi'ite hegemony. Rice says they're going to have to overcome this, but will they be able to? Will they even be able to try? "Iraq's largest Sunni bloc steps out of gov't," from AP (thanks to Andrew Bostom):
Iraq's largest Sunni Arab bloc said Wednesday it has suspended its membership in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government, dealing a new setback to the Shiite leader's efforts to achieve national reconciliation.The Iraqi Accordance Front, which has six Cabinet members as well as 44 of parliament's 275 seats, said it was giving al-Maliki a week to meet their demands or it would quit his 14-month-old Cabinet altogether.
"Iraq's largest Sunni bloc steps out of gov't"
-- from the article above
An odd locution: "Steps out of government." And no doubt Nouri al-Maliki, and so many others wanted on the line by Bush and Cheney and Petraeus, have just "stepped away" from their American-taxpayer-funded desks.
"Steps out of government" also puts one in inadvertent mind of the lyrics of that Irving Berlin song, with the voice of Fred Astaire, first inaudible, and now turned up, on the sound-stage of the mind:
"I'm/Steppin' out with my baby
Can't go wrong 'cause I'm in right
It's for sure, not for maybe
That I'm all dressed up tonight
Steppin' out with my honey
Can't be bad to feel so good
Never felt quite so sunny
And I keep on knockin' wood
There'll be smooth sailin' 'cause I'm trimmin' my sails
With a bright shine on my shoes and on my nails
[alternate line: In my top hat and my white tie and my tails]
Steppin' out with my baby
Can't go wrong 'cause I'm in right
Ask me when will the day be
The big day may be tonight."
It's a long way from dour and humorless Sunnis who "step out" from the boring government of endlessly unfascinating Iraq, to irresistible Fred Astaire.
Condolezza Rice Wages War on Bad Guys
Al Qaeda in Iraq (bad guys) are in now Iraq and are associated with Al Qaeda (really bad guys) who are taking orders from Bin Laden (the baddest guy of all). Ninety percent of new infrastructure built for the Iraqis (good guys) lies in disrepair because of the extremists (bad guys). The Iraqis (good guys) are expressing their appreciation for the sacrifices the American people (cows to be milked) have made by establishing a human smuggling ring to bring large numbers of Middle Easterners (moms and dads seeking a better life) into the American southwest.
Al Qaeda (really bad guys) are holed up in northern Pakistan (our friend and ally) and sheltered by tribal groups (some bad guys but mostly women and children, who can’t be bad guys). Musharraf (good guy) is battling to keep his power in the midst of Pakistanis (see above) while he proceeds to bring on line a new nuclear reactor that will produce enough fuel to create fifty new fission weapons each year.
Hamas (bad guys) are kept in check by sending the better part of a billion dollars annually in food, housing, education, and medical benefits to support their rapidly expanding population. Despite this Hamas (bad guys) waged war on Fatah (good guys) and took all of the weapons that Condi sent them. Tens of millions of dollars of additional weapons are being sent to Fatah (good guys) so that Hamas (bad guys) don’t take them.
Ahmedinejad (bad guy) moves closer to his nuclear ambitions and threatens to wipe Israel (cause of Middle East problems) off the map. Ahmedinejad (bad guy) sends engineered weapons into Iraq (good guys) in order to kill Western forces. The Iranian people (good guys) are unwilling or unable to object to Ahmedinejad (bad guy). They are waiting for us to stand up against their Persian/Islamic heritage so they can welcome us with open arms.
With the final goal being: keep the game going for eighteen more months so that the whole thing blows up on your successor’s watch. The losses are acceptable.
Greetings:
Forget the Irving Berlin, it's "the worms (Shi-ite) crawl in and the worms (Sunni) crawl out.
Well hand me down my cane, and hand me down my walking shoes.
Well they cant walk too far, or they miss out on the pogey.
They can be late, but dont be late in calling them for dinner.
It's just how the carrot dangles.
For an islam that exchews the arts, they sure produce constant sustained theatre of the absurd.
Now if we could televise it for profitable home viewing......bet it could beat the Sopranos.
Watching the Iraqi government is like watching that reality show where they put a bunch of losers in a house together so the rest of us can watch them meltdown. I think it's called Big Brother, Baghdad.
Hmmm...so...
The frying pan & the fire refuse to get along.
I'd say we have an opportunity here...
1) Put the Brits in Kuwait, and our forces 1/2 in Kuwait, 1/2 in Kurdistan & western border with syria where few live at all...
2) let them kill each other
3) position troops to poise against any outside interference from iran, syria & the other states aiding and abetting the islamofascists within.
If they get involved, it's showtime (iran would know we're in a position to counterattack them since we'd be disengaged from the sunni-shi'iteheads and could easily do so), daring them to get involved.
If syria invades, damascus is fair game
If syria-hezbollah attacks Israel, they're toast
If iran invades, it's oil refineries are fair game
Jordan can't do a damned thing
Saudis can't do a damned thing
Egypt can't do a damned thing
Lebanon & Pakistan have their own problem.
The arab league can't do a damned thing.
After all, it's "an internal affair"
(throwing their own words back in their faces)
Russia can't do a damned thing either, and especially CHINA WON'T do a damned thing,
(short of nukes, they can't do anything)
since it would tip their own hand in their involvement behind this asymmetric warfare they wrote the book on, and continue to provide weapons for...and have all along, in their Unrestricted Warfare" scenario. They'd kiss their propaganda piece called the Olympics goodbye & they can't afford that-they're too far along to just dump it.
It would put iran & syria at a HUGELY distinct disadvantage...if they move, they lose the face they've painted, if they don't move, they also lose the illusion of strength they've also painted.
Either way...the unholy alliance loses...BIG.
ALL...OF...THEM
;-)
The biggest problem with the loose affiliation of thieves known as the Iraqi government, is that is was successfully modeled after the American Congress.
So now what we have is a bunch of petulent, pampered, venal children charged with the awesome task of running a government.
When they go out for morning recess, line the playground with claymores and start over. This time, don't give the jobs to those who want them - pick people off the street. explain the responsibilities - and the claymores - and turn them loose.
It could hardly be worse and actually may uncover some nationalistic patriots who really want the best for their country.
When are we going to stop babysitting those morons?
Dan Pipes has a good article on Iraq in jpost.com:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185379003671&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
When collaborators, aka, political correctness brownshirts in elected office are removed, and the PC nomenclature is purged forever from reality...but not much chance of that happening soon.
The only thing that'll save the Iraqi government, is when it finds the meanest bastard they can find in the officer corps, promote him to absolute command of the Iraqi army, with instructions to shoot any officer or enlisted man, from general on down, who doesn't do his duty as ordered. If any unit breaks in a combat situation, every officer in the unit should be hanged.
Once every man in the army understood the consequences of disobedience, and failure to do ones duty, It wouldn't take long before the Iraqi army was perfectly capable of doing the job Americans are now doing.
Training is important to any army, but it is a poor second to dicipline and obedience in a military unit. Without them, you have nothing but a mob.
I no sooner got it out of my mouth about collaborators, the enemy within, aiding and abetting the enemy, treason, and this shows up...lol
It would be a HUGE start by hanging THIS SOB!
http://insight-report.com/2007/070724/waxman.html
Yeah, THAT henry "I refuse to convict...no matter what" waxman.
Watch the msm completely ignore this blatant treason...birds of a feather.
What a traitor! Where's the state department?
Where's the Attorney General? Where's our system of justice?! Waxman and his seditionist buddies are dying to be dhimmis.