[Ninong]

The Goals of the Surge Are Not Being Met

The Bush administration laid out 18 goals that it said must be achieved by the Iraqi government. President Bush told us the purpose of the surge was to allow time for the Iraqis to achieve these necessary goals.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the White House hailed the passage by the Iraqi Parliament of a weakened, watered down version of a bill intended to give the provincial governments more power, along with the passage of a budget.

Well, not so fast there hotshot.

Iraqi leaders veto law Bush administration hailed as political breakthrough

BAGHDAD — Iraq's three-man presidency council Wednesday announced that it's vetoed legislation that U.S. officials two weeks ago hailed as significant political progress.

Also Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he hoped that Turkey's incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels would last a "week or two" but "not months." (Good luck with that idea.)

Turkish news agencies reported that as many as 77 guerrillas were killed the night before in the most violent night of the week-old incursion on Iraq's northern border. A rebel spokesman said fighters for the Kurdish Workers Party, known as the PKK, had killed 18 Turkish soldiers.

The rejected bill, which sets out the political structure for Iraq's provincial governments and establishes a basis for elections in October, was only the second of 18 U.S.-set political benchmarks that the war-tore nation needs to reach.

Parliament considered it in a bundle with two other bills, a general amnesty and a budget, and approved it on Feb. 12 in what was welcomed in Washington as an example of good government, compromise and progress toward national unity.

You can read the rest here.

P.S. -- So much for "good government, compromise and progress toward national unity."

I don't know why we still refuse to believe them when they tell us that they have no intention of compromising and that national unity of the sort that we would like to see is not going to happen. The Shiites who dominate the government have repeatedly told us in very clear terms that they will NOT compromise with the Sunnis. And the Kurds have made it very clear that their only goal is autonomy, leading to eventual independence.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Also Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he hoped that Turkey's incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels would last a "week or two" but "not months." (Good luck with that idea.)

Speaking after meeting with Gates earlier, Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul refused to give a timetable for a pull-out.

"Turkey will remain in northern Iraq as long as necessary" and the troops will return home once PKK hideouts are destroyed, he told reporters.

"There is no need for us to stay there after we finish (off) the terrorist infrastructure... We have no intention to interfere in (Iraqi) domestic politics, no intention to occupy any area," he said.

Gates had said Tuesday the offensive should last no longer than "a week or two" but Turkish army chief Yasar Buyukanit made it clear that Ankara would not be constrained by deadlines.

"A short time is a relative term. Sometimes this can mean one day and sometimes one year," he said after talks with Gates, adding that the United States has been fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan "for years."

[Ninong]

Conservative darling Matt Drudge aids the Taliban!

The Taliban has promised to kidnap or kill Prince Harry should he ever show up in Afghanistan. He has been there for the past 10 weeks fighting the Taliban with frontline British troops. The British press and the American press agreed to a news blackout until after Harry's tour in Afghanistan was finished and he had safely left the country. If the Taliban knew his whereabouts, it would endanger him and his men.

Well, now they know, thanks to darling Drudge.

Prince's cover in Afghanistan blown by Drudge Report

An American website, the Drudge Report, broke a news blackout yesterday by revealing that Prince Harry has been serving in Afghanistan for more than two months.

To the fury of the Ministry of Defence and condemnation from the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, the website announced a "world exclusive" and proclaimed: "They're calling him 'Harry the Hero!".

The article brought to an end an agreement with the media that the Prince's deployment to Helmand be kept quiet in the interests of his safety and that of the soldiers with him.

[Ninong]

British Army to Evacuate Prince Harry After Outing by Drudge

Army commanders were making frantic arrangements last night to bring Prince Harry back from Afghanistan after an American website disclosed that he had been serving with other British troops fighting the Taliban.

The prince, who is 10 weeks into a 14-week tour, was believed to still be in the country last night among British soldiers in the southern Helmand province.

The lid was blown on Harry's deployment yesterday afternoon by the Drudge Report, a US political blog, ending a voluntary agreement by the British media to keep it secret until he had returned. His job in Afghanistan was to monitor Taliban fighters' movements transmitted on to screens nicknamed 'Kill TV'.

[SPasse]

Ninong,

That report by Drudge was really inexcusable. Drudge would not discretion if it bit him on the butt.

I think that it is cool the Prince Harry wanted to serve. Too bad Drudge screwed it up.

Regards,

Scott

[Ninong]

Turkey Pulled Troops Out of Kurdistan

They claim they achieved their objective. That's not true. They said when they went in that they wouldn't leave until they had completely eliminated the PKK. That hasn't happened.

Here.

[Ninong]

Our Dear Friends and Allies, the Al-Maliki Government, Laugh at the Rule of Law!

Haha! You stupid American infidels, you think we pay any attention to your stupid "goals." We will not prosecute our own officials for killing scores of the Sunnis because they deserved to die. You Americans are so stupid!

BAGHDAD, March 3 -- Two former high-ranking Shiite government officials charged with kidnapping and killing scores of Sunnis were ordered released Monday after prosecutors dropped the case. The abrupt move renewed concerns about the willingness of Iraq's leaders to act against sectarianism and cast doubts on U.S. efforts to build an independent judiciary.

The collapse of the trial stunned American and Iraqi officials who had spent more than a year assembling the case, which they said included a wide array of evidence.

"This shows that the judicial system in Iraq is horribly broken," said a U.S. legal adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly. "And it sends a terrible signal: If you are Shia, then no worries; you can do whatever you want and nothing is going to happen to you."

Here


_______________________________________________

"And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq." -- George W. Bush, meeting with Gen. Ray Odierno, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008.

[Ninong]

Oops! Missed Again...

We bombed Somalia again. This time we killed three cows and a calf. Six civilians were injured. This is our fourth known strike inside Somalia aimed at taking out Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan.

[Ninong]

The Rumors Were True

Instead of firing him, Bush allowed Adm. William Fallon, CENTCOM commander, to retire.

Adm. Fallon has been outspoken in his opposition to the Cheney-Bush plan to attack Iran and one thing we know for sure about this administration is that they will fire any military brass that refuse to go along with their plans. At least Adm. Fallon, so far at least, hasn't been publicly ridiculed like poor Gen. Eric Shinseki was for telling Congress in advance of our ill-conceived invasion of Iraq that it would take "several hundred thousand troops for a successful invasion and occupation of Iraq."

Bush did the same thing when his generals disagreed with him on the "surge." He had Gen. Abizaid retire early and he moved Gen. Casey out of Iraq. Adm. Fallon makes the second CENTCOM commander in a row to be forced into early retirement for being uncooperative with the Cheney-Bush administration's plans for the region. Of course, based on some of the hysterical xenophobic statements coming from the rightwing of the Republican Party about Barack Obama's middle name, maybe Gen. Abizaid was removed from his command because he was considered a risk based on his Arabic surname?

[Ninong]

Update on Adm. Fallon

Apparently the final straw was not his oppostion to bombing Iran but his desire to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq now. Adm. Fallon is convinced that our continued presence in Iraq is not leading to political reconciliation between the parties and we should begin to pull out now while Moqtada al-Sadr is honoring a truce and we have the Sunni insurgents fighting al-Qaida instead of us. We're paying 88,000 Sunni irregulars $300/month to chase al-Qaida instead of our guys.

Adm. Fallon wanted to take advantage of this lull in the action to get the hell out of there. The Bush-McCain people want to stay in Iraq indefinitely. Secretary Gates is sort of caught up in the middle. What Gates is proposing is a "pause" right now. He doesn't want to withdraw any more troops than we already have while we reassess the situation and see how things progress politically. This could go on forever.

P.S. -- March 19th will mark five years in Iraq.

[Ninong]

Another Walk in the Park

WALNUTS! is in Baghdad today. He is accompanied on this trip by Senators Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham must have told Lieberman about the great bargains he got last time on rugs.

Evidently Indiana Rep. Mike Pence couldn't make it this time. Pence was the guy who said that walking through the Shorja marketplace in Baghdad accompanied by 100 American soldiers, rooftop snipers, three Blackhawk helicopters and two Apache gunships, reminded him of a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime. Who knew Indiana was such a hell hole? Reminds me of when Tom DeLay told us that Baghdad was just as safe as Houston.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

The Goals of the Surge Are Not Being Met

The Bush administration laid out 18 goals that it said must be achieved by the Iraqi government. President Bush told us the purpose of the surge was to allow time for the Iraqis to achieve these necessary goals.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the White House hailed the passage by the Iraqi Parliament of a weakened, watered down version of a bill intended to give the provincial governments more power, along with the passage of a budget.

Well, not so fast there hotshot.

Iraqi leaders veto law Bush administration hailed as political breakthrough

BAGHDAD — Iraq's three-man presidency council Wednesday announced that it's vetoed legislation that U.S. officials two weeks ago hailed as significant political progress.

The rejected bill, which sets out the political structure for Iraq's provincial governments and establishes a basis for elections in October, was only the second of 18 U.S.-set political benchmarks that the war-tore nation needs to reach.

Parliament considered it in a bundle with two other bills, a general amnesty and a budget, and approved it on Feb. 12 in what was welcomed in Washington as an example of good government, compromise and progress toward national unity.

You can read the rest here.

P.S. -- So much for "good government, compromise and progress toward national unity."

I don't know why we still refuse to believe them when they tell us that they have no intention of compromising and that national unity of the sort that we would like to see is not going to happen. The Shiites who dominate the government have repeatedly told us in very clear terms that they will NOT compromise with the Sunnis. And the Kurds have made it very clear that their only goal is autonomy, leading to eventual independence.

Pravda on the Potomac Interviews Petraeus on the Surge

In this March 14 article the Washington Post quotes Gen. David Petraeus as saying "Iraqi leaders are not making sufficient progress." The headline could just as well have read, "Surge Not Working." President Bush told us in December 2006 that the purpose of this "temporary" surge was to allow time for the Iraqis to achieve political reconciliation. They have not done that, ergo the surge is not working.

This next paragraph in particular is disturbingly misleading because the three laws in question were passed by the parliament but blocked by the three-man presidency two weeks later as I pointed out in my post quoted above. Barr makes no mention of that fact in this March 14 article, merely quoting what Gen. Petraeus said when the three bills originally cleared parliament.

The general's comments appeared to be his sternest to date on Iraqis' failure to achieve political reconciliation. In February, following the passage of laws on the budget, provincial elections and an amnesty for certain detainees, Petraeus was more encouraging. "The passage of the three laws today showed that the Iraqi leaders are now taking advantage of the opportunity that coalition and Iraqi troopers fought so hard to provide," he said at the time.

This is interesting:

While violence has declined dramatically since late 2006, when thousands of Iraqis were being killed each month, U.S. military data show that attacks on U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians have leveled off or risen slightly in the early part of 2008. "I don't see an enormous uptick projected right now," Petraeus said, speaking in his windowless office in the U.S. Embassy, which is housed in Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace. "What you have seen is some sensational attacks, there's no question about that."

Petraeus said several factors may account for the recent violence, including increased U.S. and Iraqi operations against insurgents in the northern city of Mosul -- which has lately become one of Iraq's most dangerous -- and insurgent efforts to reestablish some of their havens in Baghdad. And Petraeus said U.S. commanders could not discount the possibility that insurgents "know the April testimony is coming up."

The additional forces sent to Iraq last year have begun to depart and will be gone by midsummer, leaving in place a baseline U.S. presence of about 130,000 troops. Petraeus said it would increasingly fall to Iraqi security forces and neighborhood patrols funded by the United States to help keep violence down.

Petraeus also said the United States would temporarily freeze further reductions in its troop presence to allow for a "period of consolidation and evaluation after reducing our ground combat forces by over a quarter." He said he would discuss the length and timing of what the military terms an "operational pause" during his testimony.

Petraeus credited both the mainly Sunni neighborhood patrols known as the Awakening and a cease-fire called by Shiite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr with helping to bring down violence. The Awakening fighters include former insurgents who say they have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq, a largely homegrown Sunni group that Petraeus said is in communication with al-Qaeda leaders abroad. The United States is now paying 88,000 members of the Awakening $300 a month to take part in the neighborhood patrols.

Gen. Petraeus is admitting that the cease-fire called by Moqtada al-Sadr and the decision to hire the Sunni insurgents to fight on our side are major factors contributing to the reduction in violence.

Sadr issued his cease-fire in August 2007 and renewed it last month in an attempt to increase his control over his Mahdi Army militia and expel renegade fighters. U.S. military commanders who once saw Sadr and his forces as enemies now speak deferentially of the cleric, who has maintained his insistence that the U.S. occupation must end.

In the interview, Petraeus conceded that some elements of both the Awakening movement and the Mahdi Army may be standing down in order to prepare for the day when the U.S. presence is diminished. "Some of them may be keeping their powder dry," Petraeus said of Mahdi Army members. "Obviously you would expect some of that to happen.

[...]

Petraeus said he and U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker had "repeatedly noted that it's crucial that the Iraqis exploit the opportunities that we and our Iraqi counterparts have fought so hard to provide them."

Yes, both Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker have repeatedly called on the Iraqis to kiss and make up and they have repeatedly laughed in our faces and told us in no uncertain terms that political reconciliation is not going to happen.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Another Walk in the Park

WALNUTS! is in Baghdad today. He is accompanied on this trip by Senators Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham must have told Lieberman about the great bargains he got last time on rugs.

Evidently Indiana Rep. Mike Pence couldn't make it this time. Pence was the guy who said that walking through the Shorja marketplace in Baghdad accompanied by 100 American soldiers, rooftop snipers, three Blackhawk helicopters and two Apache gunships, reminded him of a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime. Who knew Indiana was such a hell hole? Reminds me of when Tom DeLay told us that Baghdad was just as safe as Houston.

The McSurge Triplets Couldn't Visit Shorja Market Again Because It's Not Safe Now for Americans

Maybe Lindsey Graham will give Little Joe Lieberman one of the "five rugs he bought for five dollars" on his last photo-op visit to Baghdad because they were not allowed to go there today.



Today, CNN reported that they tried to visit the Shorja market, but it was too unsafe and they were unable to go:

We got close to that marketplace today, Jim, but our own security advisers here in Iraq did not want us to go there. They didn’t believe it was safe for an American to be in that area. We were in a thriving marketplace nearby.

But when you show up, the local Iraqis, while it is clear security is better on the street — it is clear there are more markets open, just the traffic jams alone tell you that things are better on the streets of Baghdad — it’s also a very sensitive potential neighborhoods.

That one marketplace, as a matter of fact, you do see Iraqi police, you do see the Iraqi army, but in truth, that area is controlled by the radical cleric Moqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi army.

You can watch the video clip here.

P.S. -- McCain and his two campaign workers, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman, will visit Israel, Paris and London. In London, a British lord is hosting a $1,000.00 a plate fundraiser for McCain. It's against the law for McCain to accept money from foreigners, so all of the paying guests will have to be U.S. citizens. Sen. McCain's campaign announced that we will be reimbursed for the "fundraising" portion of his trip, the rest of the photo-op tour is considered "official business."

[Ninong]

Red Cross says Iraqis still lack basic services

Hospitals lack beds, doctors; families spend a third of their income on water

They must be buying it from Halliburton.

[Ninong]

Cheney Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq

Dick Cheney and John McCain are both in Iraq right now, where they are no doubt being greeted as liberators.

How can the Iraqis greet them as liberators if they keep sneaking in and out on these surprise visits without giving the Iraqis advance notice so that they can plan the parade?

[Ninong]

[Ninong]

March 19, 2003 - March 19, 2008: Five Years War, So Far

Five years down, 95 to go! Happy fifth anniversary of the Cheney-Bush-McCain invasion of Iraq, where there were no weapons of mass destruction and no al-Qaida. Al-Qaida was in Afghanistan but we invaded Iraq.

Oh, well. Hope you're having a nice day, because Vice President Cheney certainly is. He's fishing in the Gulf of Oman today on the sultan's 60-foot royal yacht, the Kingfish I. Sounds like a name you would find in Louisiana.

The Vice President had a special fifth anniversary message for Americans this morning. Informed during a Good Morning America interview broadcast Wednesday that two-thirds of Americans now think the war was not worth fighting, Cheney said: "So?"

[Ninong]

Cheney Wins One, Loses One

Two days after Cheney's visit to Baghdad, Iraq's presidential council approved a law Wednesday that paves the way for provincial elections, giving a major boost to U.S.-backed efforts to promote national reconciliation on the fifth anniversary of the war. This is a law that had passed parliament but then two weeks later was vetoed by the three-man presidential council.

On the other hand:


The Sunnis and two Shiite parties refused to attend the Reconciliation Conference yesterday. That's because they're still not interested in reconciliation.

BAGHDAD — It was billed as a national “dialogue” that would bring Iraq's disparate and warring factions together to discuss their differences and emerge with a blueprint for peaceful coexistence.

But if the national reconciliation conference held here on Tuesday revealed anything, it was that the deep political and religious fissures that run through this battered country are nowhere close to healing.

Three of the most important political blocs boycotted the conference

.

[Ninong]

The Two Johns: Iraqi Oil Edition

Here.

[Ninong]

Shia on Shia action getting worse!

The mainstream media isn't really paying much attention to this right now but the situation in Iraq has taken a sudden turn for the worse. Either Moqtada al-Sadr has called off the truce or he is unable to control certain elements of his Mahdi Army. The Mahdi Army militia is now attacking Iraqi and U.S. forces in Baghdad and they have taken control of Basra.

As a quick refresher, the reduced violence we have seen over the past several months has been the result of a combination of the following: (1) Moqtada al-Sadr called a truce and instructed his Mahdi Army militia to cease hostilities. (2) Gen. Petraeus decided to hire the Sunni insurgents in al-Anbar and pay them -- all 88,000 of them -- $300/month each to be our new best buddies and stop killing our troops. (3) Ethnic cleansing had already resulted in separation of Sunni and Shia and there were few people left in the various neighborhoods who belonged to the wrong sect.

This was supposed to result in political reconciliation. It hasn't. Quite the contrary, the various factions still hate each other's guts and still intend to beat the crap out of each other as soon as we get out of the way. The general assumption has always been that the Sunnis, who comprise about 15-20% of the population, would fight against the Shia-dominated government. The Shia make up about 60% of the population. Kurds make up the rest but they just want to be left along, as long as they get Kirkuk in the bargain.

Now, all of a sudden, all hell has broken loose between the various Shia factions. This is not Shia on Sunni violence, it's Shia on Shia violence! It looks like certain elements of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army are taking on the other Shia political parties: The Badr Corps militia of the ISCI and Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party. In this fight, Iran will back the groups that the Mahdi Army is fighting against. In fact, Iran has always favored the Badr Corps over the Mahdi Army.

It doesn't make much sense because I don't see how it benefits Moqtada al-Sadr to make a military move for power at this time. He has a better chance of gaining power politically. He already has 30 seats in parliament and he's more popular with the Shia populace than Nouri al-Maliki. A military takeover while U.S. forces are still in the country seems like a losing proposition, especially if Iran supports the current Iraqi government.