Wordless Wednesday

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Soldiers manning a checkpoint near Baghdad stopped a wedding convoy to find that the purported bride and groom were wanted terror suspects, an Iraqi Defense Ministry official said Monday.

He’s back…

Shiite Cleric Resurfaces With Anti-U.S. Sermon

By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: May 25, 2007

BAGHDAD, May 25 — The populist Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr appeared in public for the first time in months on Friday, delivering a fiercely anti-American sermon and offering himself in a new guise as a nationalist intent on bridging the divide between Iraq’s warring communities of Shiites and Sunnis.

“No, no, no to Satan! No, no, no to America! No, no, no to occupation! No, no, no to Israel!” Mr. Sadr told about 1,000 worshippers, frequently mopping his brow in the 110-degree heat of Iraq’s early summer.

According to American officials familiar with intelligence reports, Mr. Sadr fled Iraq in January for sanctuary in Iran, which has been a major source of arms and finance for the Mahdi Army.

Read full article here. 

maryt

Globetrotters meet the troops

Harlem Globetrotter Jermaine Brown gives an impromptu slam dunk demonstration to a group of troops on a dusty outdoor basketball court at Camp Warrior on December 2,

2006 in Kirkuk, Iraq. Navy Entertainment and Armed Forces Entertainment organized the Globetrotters trip to visit troops during a 21-day tour of the Middle East that included 12 different United States military bases located in five different countries.

Photo: David S. Holloway/Getty Images

While celebrating their 81st consecutive season, the Harlem Globetrotters toured 12 different United States military bases in five different countries. This trip marks the third consecutive year the Globetrotters have held a holiday military entertainment tour to visit United States troops overseas. On the tour, the team visited Iraq for the first time and also spent three days aboard the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

maryt

Leaving a Power Vacuum in Iraq

I can’t remember where I heard it but someone yesterday said (I’m pretty sure it was a news program on cable) that if the US pulls out of Iraq before time a terrible “power vacuum” will be left for other Middle East countries, think, Iran, Syria, or the terrorists, to fill.

That’s something I hadn’t thought about. I’ve been in favor of getting out of Iraq as quickly as possible (okay a phased withdrawal, but a fast one). But the thought of a “power vacuum” left by the United States pulling out of Iraq that Iran might fill is a scary proposition.

I did find a quote from The State News:

As the war rages on, terrorism has become a near-daily occurrence, and the Iraq war has done nothing but serve as a recruitment tool for terrorism and create a power vacuum in the region [bolding, mine] that, despite our feeble stabs to establish a democracy, remains a target for various radical groups.

So while I don’t know what the answer is (I don’t want us in Iraq forever), we do have to be careful to leave the country in a position to rule itself. We have to leave the country powerful enough to solve their sectarian problems on their own. We have to leave the country able to function well so that the terrorists, or Iran, or Syria, don’t see their way clear to take over the country.

The Baker commission, or General Abazaid, or the Democrats have to consider this. And maybe they are. I know I am considering it. And taking it very seriously.

maryt.

Condi’s visit to Iraq

Here’s a very strong reaction to Condi’s visit to Iraq this week. I couldn’t have said it better! maryt

From DAILY KOS

Hello Condi, Welcome To Hell
by georgia10
Fri Oct 06, 2006 at 07:46:10 AM PDT
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a “surprise” visit to Iraq this week. As Juan Cole points out, it had to be a “surprise” visit because otherwise she would be killed. President Bush, who has been vehemently denying his administration has been lying about the progress in Iraq, sent Rice to the region, probably hoping that photo ops with the local government in the Green Zone would knock the chaos out of the news for a day.Big mistake.

In sending Rice to the hell borne out of his administration’s incompetence, President Bush provided the most complete rebuttal to his arguments that Iraq is making steady progress towards peace.

In sending Rice to the hell borne out of his administration’s incompetence, President Bush provided the most complete rebuttal to his arguments that Iraq is making steady progress towards peace. Reality, you see, has a pesky way of making itself known when the cameras are rolling:

[S]igns of progress were not much in evidence in the first hours of her visit.

It began inauspiciously when the military transport plane that brought her to Baghdad was forced to circle the city for about 40 minutes because of what a State Department spokesman later said was either mortar fire or rockets at the airport.

On Thursday evening, during her meeting with President Jalal Talabani, the lights went out, forcing Rice to continue the discussion in the dark. It was a reminder of the city’s erratic — and sometimes nonexistent — electrical service.

She arrived in the midst of an especially bloody few days for American troops. At least 21 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Saturday, most in Baghdad. Two car bombings in the city Thursday left at least four Iraqi civilians dead.

You don’t need an NIE to tell you that Iraq is a failed state. The evidence simply can’t be concealed any longer.

Read full article