Apr 11 2008
Sadr Told To Disarm By Shiite VP
I love cruising the terrorist supporting sites when they put up pure propaganda and think it is going to convince anyone with two brain cells to rub together (and that probably excludes the SurrenderMedia which were duped on the Sadr-Mahdi Militia issue from day one). For example we have this pro-terrorist site saying Sadr simply wants all militias treated the same:
“The Sadrist movement does not reject the announced disarming campaign provided that it includes all militias” said a VP office statement received by Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).
A delegation of Al-Sadr main office led by Hazim al-Araji and Muhanad al-Azzawi visited VP Tareq al-Hashemi to hand a letter sent by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr about the current situation.
The announcement pointed out “VP al-Hashemi urged the Sadrist movement to show the restraint and to allow the government to confiscate the unauthorized weapons and to arrest the suspects”.
All this says is Hashemi told Sadr to disarm and his response was a lame comment about treating all the militias the same. But the other militias have been treated the same and have been absorbed into Iraqi security forces or disarmed of weapons like mortars, etc. The Mahdi Army has refused to follow their lead and is now paying the price.
My guess is Sadr has no control of the Mahdi Army now, the Iranians do. And the Mahdi-Iranian thugs are actually threatening Sadr to toe the line or face a deadly coup d’etat:
Militants in Iraq on Friday killed the brother-in- law of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the city of Najaf, some 180 kilometres south of the capital Baghdad, Sadrist sources said.
Sources in al-Sadr’s office told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Riyad al-Nuri, one of al-Sadr’s closest aides, was killed by militants in front of his house north of Najaf.
Sources added that militants driving an identified vehicle targeted al-Nuri, who was married to al-Sadr’s sister, after he had finished the Friday Muslim prayers.
Sadr is isolated politically, and now being threatened by the thugs he armed and gave to Iranian operatives to use against Iraq. This chess match is far from over, but Sadr and his minions are on the ropes with big old targets painted on their foreheads for the Iraqi forces to target.
AJ: I want to email you somethign but I can’t find an address for you.
Can you email me? Vincep1974
at
comcast dot net
Meanwhile, the President of the Yewnited States is considered such a war criminal that the Pope won’t break bread with him:
The White House has scheduled a dinner in honor of Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the United States, but the pope won’t be attending:
There are no competing events listed on the pope’s schedule, and the White House was unable to explain Benedict’s absence from the dinner other than the Pope is expected to touch on issues upon which he and President Bush disagree during the visit, especially the Iraq war. At the United Nations, the Pope will address “the false notion that might makes right,” according to a Vatican representative.
Looks like we can add anti-semitism to Truthy’s growing list of character flaws.
Truth2 said:
No less replusive than an armchair American poster who pronounces the “war is lost” or determines the winning side prematurely.
Last I looked, it’s still an ongoing battle between Iraq’s elected govt and the jihad militants and mafias in their country. They’re tackling battles on their own at first onset. Which is the “stepping up to the plate” demanded by so many in the past. Progress. From not stepping up, to stepping up with a lesser performance, then it will be stepping up with better performance. Finally, they will have the pride in the performance they need to sustain themselves. You crawl before you walk.
Yet that effort to defend themselves still doesn’t satisfy the naysayers here in the states. Citizens who suffer very little (to nothing) by the American military’s battle helping the Iraqis and Afghans on foreign soil. There’s no rationing or food lines. It’s an all volunteer army. What, pray tell Truth, has affected your life as a sacrifice? Been put on a terrorist list? Have you been wiretapped and hauled into interrogations? Give me a break.
And speak not of the economy. The Iraq war and military defense budget is 3% of the GDP. There’s more budget spent on Health and Human services for various nanny welfare programs… bad ones. Programs where funds get siphoned off before they get to the intended recipients. So spare us linking the military budget to economic woes. It’s a drop in the bucket.
I’m from the old school where the fed’s primary expenditure *should* be the safety and security of our borders… not funding safety nets for individual citizens who’d rather collect govt money than work. So if there are cuts to be made, I’d rather see them clean up the govt wasteful spending in welfare programs than cutting the military budget.
I guess my question is, who gave you the “end game buzzer button” to push in the war against the global Islamic jihad movements, Truth? It ain’t over. Nor are you in the intel possession (or possess the credentials) to be such a spokesman. It’s your opinion. Nothing more. You’re entitled to it. However do not elevate yourself to a higher position than you are entitled.
Fact is, how Iraq evolves over time will determine historic perspective on the wisdom of helping Iraq form a country without a murderous despot at the helm. Only time will prove you right, or wrong… and that time ain’t now. The game hasn’t even hit the last quarter, so pry your fingers off the end game buzzer.
Truth,
“You Jewish, 75? Talk like one of the settler fanatics.”
Left by truthhard2take on April 11th, 2008
You Muslim Truthy?
I don’t think anyone knows the “exact” number of actual core members of Mahdi “militia”. The only “armies” in Iraq are those of the national gov of Iraq and coalition forces . The Iranians also have a large role in command and control of Mahdi in Iraq. That’s “how” a mlitia was able to coordinate a country-wide simultaneous attack. I can assure you, that wasn’t done with pigeons for command and control, but by direction, command and control of Quds forces inside Iraq. (a couple of dozen of which were killed in the fighting).
But guesstimates are, that the number Mahdi militia is somewhere around 20,000. That includes a small percentage of people whos loyalty was either coerced or temporarily held via payments from Iran. The Iraq gov army now stands at just over 200,000 and is growing continously. Even though the Quds forces and Iranian equipped and trained elements are a tough foe indeed, the basic mahdi army, ski-masked, AK shooter is pretty much canon fodder in any fight—as evidenced by their loses in comparison. That’s despite the initial assult by Maliki being ill-planned and devised and cost more of their soliders than it should have. There are some very well trained/equipped Mahdi militia units, (mostly paid, equiipped and led by Quds) but there are exponentially more Iraqi gov army units which are just as well trained and equpped (if not more). When faced with such units, in a well planned assult, the Mahdi units mostly run or are just killed in bulk. The Quds trained units…fight to the last man, to the death. In an earlier Sadr Basra uprising, when Sadrs fearless milita took hostages and hid inside a mosque, the Quds units were in the cemetary firing, with media elements waitingfor us to step foot in the cemetary to send message that US solders were desecrating muslim grave sites.
Our young soliders fought hand to hand in that cemetary to clear it, rather than blowing it up. When Sistani had his people march on that mosque and demand the keys, Quds had some people fire into the crowd to try and make them think it was Americans and to cause a riot. It failed. When they entered the mosque, the back room had a pile of heads in it and the entire place was a weapons cache. A mosque. Go figure.
In the same way, this latest “uprising” in Basra also appears to have been a coordinated assult that had much larger intention/designs than just Sadr seeking to maintain control of Basra—which he already had. There is plenty of speculation around about it that I won’t repeat…given whatever it was…it failed. As with any number of such examples, these militias have no chance of defeating the much larger military forces that the Gov of Iraq has available to bring to bare against them, nor is that the point of the tactics used by such militias and rogue elments. Their tactics are devised and employed for political and propeganda purposes mainly. It doesn’t matter that they loose, or run from the battled field, or get picked off by the dozens. It’s the attack itself, and the media coverage/message that follows that is what is important here.
Their “secret” weapon is the media and how easily their are influenced and driven. Of course, it’s become less of a secret as more and more of this is exposed. It still doesn’t matter. Its much harder to reverse a story once it gets rolling down hill. At that point, the retractions (if they even come these days in the back pages) are lost. They even simultaneously keep pushing the knowingly false story forward, by simply using anon sourced quotes and absolving themselves from any objective responsiblity for what is said or the opinions they are expressing based on them, as they retract the initial basis underlying the story on back pages.
That’s how, the North Viets could be utterly defeated militarliy and logistically on the battled field during Tet, effectively destroying their military capability in the south, and have it all be declared a great victory for them. Because the goal wasn’t to win anything militarily. It was to have people like “Truthie” win it for them right here at home. It was laughable at the time to see how badly those people were being manipulated and just soaked it all up.
In a later interview, General Giap laughed about it. He of course was grateful, but also laughed out loud about how easy it was to manipulate the media and masses here, or more accurately..he was suprised at how willingly they accepted whatever they put out. Thats why the lesson from that war was….that the most important training/office/dept you have in fighting such a war is your propeganda office. It can work magic. It can turn a slaughtering bunch of thugs into idealist and heros who gain sympathy, money and support from others. It can turn utter defeat into a rousing victory. That’s why even AlQueda has a well organized (or I should say had) propeganda office. Now days, all that is needed is toss AP or Reuters a photo, a story line off the record, and its on page 1 the following day with 2,000 hits on goggle news.
I would also add that the woodstock generation of people..is the very one …right now….that has taken the reigns of companies, markets, etc. who have taken over neighborhoods, gutted the buildings and built condos, and built walmarts and CVSs, etc., who has morphed into the “me first”/ “screw you” generation and raised an entire lot of “me first”/”screw you” kids who threaten to have their dad sue you if you if you get in their way. For those who don’t get it at home…the schools are completely full of them. Some of them angry for having missed out on their piece of the pie, who instead of taking their share and saying screw you, teach kids a sense of entitlement to demand things from those who do have it—socialist policies being one way to get it.
To them, their idea of experiencing communism was sharing your pot and a VW van. And having done so, felt it was quite pleasant and should be readily expanded to everything. And took every opportunity to adorn themsevles with it’s symbols and soak it up in every way they could. As they studied and learned the methods of dictators and some of the most brutal, oppressive regimes in the world, they envision that they had somehow experienced it as a great awkening, great hordes of care-free people sharing their pot, in an orgy of free love, in a care-free world of peace. The only intrusion into that (or the enemy) was need of a job, dictated by capitlist society, and unenlightend people, who also served as the great groove buster of peace in the world.
Of course, the great irony is…you have to be free in the first place to even have such an experience. Not to mention, just how many of those “hippies” sharing free love…transformed into corporate america. Even…gulp…republicans LOL.
Mata, do we even know Truthy is an American?
I have no doubt that he is. He’s probably still in a University , or closely tied to one.
Okay, group… eliminate the “American” from the “no less repulsive an an American poster…” comment. No clue where Truth2 calls home… perhaps space, the final frontier?
Certainly is behind in his current events homework. Needs to update those 2004 polls in his bookmarks, too. Time marches on. Nothing is stagant.
He reminds me of those pretend libertarians who think steel doesn’t melt, building 7 was imploded, and Ron Paul can telekinetically free the world with his mind.
More Truth2 stuff: Any of you realize how large the Mahdi Army is? Probably the same ones who believe it can be extinguished are the same fools who believed Bush when he was making noises about eliminating Hezbollah in Lebanon a few years ago.
Oh I dunno specific numbers, Truth… take a wild guess yourself, as the numbers morph over time. When you get your rough guess of memberships as of today, why not divide that by the 24 mil Iraq residents and let us know the percentage of the population we and the Iraqi govt should be paying such homage and fear to.
No one in WH admin or military has ever suggested elimination of the Madhi – they can disband, but still be “mahdi” in ideology. Same with al Qaeda as a blanket name for the real enemy, the global Islamic jihad movement… not all of which carry AQ membership cards, but happily work in tandem.
The point is not elimination of the enemy, but control of jihadists and violent Arab mafias. You may as well try to eliminate cockroaches from the planet.
AQI manpower is down to 15% of what it was a year ago and Truthy would have us believe they are actually growing in strength.
You know you’ve got a fool on your hands when the lying fool just keeps escalating the scale of his lies.
As for eliminating cockroaches…I think “eliminating” Truthy is a little over the top and I’m appalled, Mata. 😉
guess I’m being moderated now. Hmmm. Ok. Sorry for the length of the post AJ. You can edit for brevity…or delete it. Whatever.
If you’re being moderated then why can see you complain about it?
What happened is you probably have some word taht is triggering a spam filter.
Sorry for the delayed moderation DC,
Was busy yesterday and did not check into the site! Fair warning on sunny weekend days – it may be a while before I moderate posts.
Hope you had a good day.
Vince, I think it was the length of it that caused it. Hard to tell how much you’ve written in these little windows. That’s why I apologized for it. Didn’t mean to be such a wind bag, just had a lot on my mind.
Thanks AJ. I didn’t mean for that to sound like I was complaining about it.
DC: Nothing is worse than writing a giant comment that is simply the best comment ever made on any blog and then have it get lost by the blog software.
I try to make a habit of keeping Notepad running and copy and pasting any comment I make into there in case the web browser dies.
Vince, it is not lost. Scroll up!
I was just speaking in general.
I want to email you something but I cant find an address for you.
ajstrata@strata-sphere.com