BAGHDAD (AP) - Followers of hardline cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raised the stakes Sunday in the showdown with Iraq’s government, refusing to disband their militia as the U.S. military reported an “uptick” of fighting in the Iraqi capital.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, assured visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he will not back down in his confrontation with Shiite militias, even as mortar shells fired from Shiite areas struck the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

In a sign of that resolve, Iraqi soldiers took control Sunday of the last stronghold of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia in the southern city of Basra, where an Iraqi offensive last month triggered the current wave of Shiite fighting.

Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has demanded that al-Sadr disband his Mahdi Army, the country’s biggest Shiite militia, or his followers will not be allowed to run in provincial elections this fall.

Full Story Here:
al-Sadr’s followers refuse to disband militia in Iraq

I am going to say this in language so simple that even a raghead loving, bleeding heart, liberal Canadian crybaby with a NO AUTHORITY nothing little blog can understand every word, and have NO problem figuring out the EXACT meaning of every word, al-Sadr and his bunch of moonbats are the major reason for, and the primary perpetrators of the insurgency in Iraq…

Kill them, kill as many of them as is humanly possible, they have been given every opportunity to become a part of a working Iraqi government but all they have done is continue to mount guerrilla type operations against our military and the Iraqi forces…

KILL THEM, crush them like the useless infestation they are, because all they are is a waste of good oxygen, this world would be much better off with them gone, and the violence in Iraq would be substantially lessened by their demise…

How hard can that be to comprehend?? You would think that IF our president seriously wanted to attain Victory in Iraq, as he and his Bush Bot supporters have claimed, he’d figure this out for himself…

Maybe not…

Trackback URL:
http://texasfred.net/archives/1087/trackback/

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) — The 101st Airborne Division took command of American forces in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, helping to boost U.S. troop levels in the country to their highest number since the 2001 invasion.

Marching in step, paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne retired the unit’s flag during a ceremony under a light rain beside the main runway at Bagram Air Field. Then 101st paratroopers unfurled their flag, officially marking the start of their 15-month tour.

The 101st has 7,200 troops in Afghanistan, several hundred more than the 82nd. Its arrival, coupled with the deployment of some 3,500 Marines to the country’s south, has pushed the total number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to over 32,000, part of a steady rise in force levels as violence has increased over the last two years.

The top American commander in Afghanistan has requested three more brigades — about 7,500 more troops — and the Pentagon has promised that more troops will be sent next year.

Following the 2001 ouster of the Taliban, the U.S. had fewer than 10,000 troops in the country, and no real presence in the volatile south.

Full Story Here:
Troop levels reach record high in Afghanistan

Pay special attention to that last line, “Following the 2001 ouster of the Taliban, the U.S. had fewer than 10,000 troops in the country, and no real presence in the volatile south.” because the next line is the payoff, “What has become clear as the insurgency has picked up steam over the last year or two is that an increasing number of forces are needed to clear and hold territory,” said Seth Jones, an analyst who follows Afghanistan for the RAND Corp. “In fact, I think a significant number more are needed. I would like to see those U.S. numbers come up.”…

In my opinion George W. Bush, and his desire to traipse off to Iraq and take on Saddam is the very reason that Afghanistan has escalated once again, we didn’t complete the job we needed to in Afghanistan, we hit the Taliban and we hurt them, but we didn’t destroy them and their capability to wage guerrilla warfare, and all the while the Bush Bots continued to chirp that al-Qaida IS in Iraq, well, YES, they are, NOW, because WE went there and they came to fight US, they were NOT in Iraq before Saddam was deposed…

The Bush Bots cry that al-Qaida IS the reason we went TO Iraq, forgetting that the Senate, Congress and the Defense Department have ALL published reports on their studies that have determined that Saddam had nothing to do with the attacks of 9-11 nor any serious association with al-Qaida or the Taliban…

So, here we go again, we have to go back and do a job all over again, and this time it’s not because the Iraqi army couldn’t hold a position, it’s all because our illustrious leader has the attention span of a 3 year old, and he is NOT smarter than a 5th grader…

Don’t take this the wrong way, I am glad to see our troop buildup in Afghanistan, I was terribly disappointed when troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan to be re-tasked to The Debacle in Iraq, maybe this time our guys will be allowed to do the job they were sent to do, maybe they will be ordered to wipe out the Taliban and al-Qaida once and for all…

Yeah, I know, but a guy can dream can’t he??

Trackback URL:
http://texasfred.net/archives/1066/trackback/

BAGHDAD (AP) - Anti-American Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers Saturday to defy government orders to surrender their weapons, as U.S. jets struck Shiite extremists near Basra to bolster a faltering Iraqi offensive against gunmen in the city.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki acknowledged he may have miscalculated by failing to foresee the strong backlash that his offensive, which began Tuesday, provoked in areas of Baghdad and other cities where Shiite militias wield power.

So, al-Maliki thinks he may have miscalculated the strong backlash by the insurgents? I hate to say ‘I told you so’, but, I told you so, the Iraqis have NO idea of what to do or how to do it, even after over 5 years of American and British leadership and training, if the Americans and the Brits don’t win this battle against the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi forces will get their asses handed to them on a platter.

And that’s the way this Debacle in Iraq will continue to go for as long as ANY kind of insurgency can be maintained, we’ll do the biggest part of the fighting and dying and the Iraqis will keep on doing what Iraqis do best, just enough to get by.

Despite the mounting crisis, al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, vowed to remain in Basra until government forces wrest control from militias, including al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army. He called the fight for control of Basra “a decisive and final battle.”

British ground troops, who controlled the city until handing it over to the Iraqis last December, also joined the battle for Basra, firing artillery Saturday for the first time in support of Iraqi forces.

2 days ago I made a blog post that asked, “Would that push be led, in force, by the Iraqis, of is this another U.S. mission that will bear a striking resemblance to missions in Vietnam, missions where U.S. troops fought and died to take positions and then turned them over to ARVN troops only to see them give it back to the NVA/VC and then U.S. troops have to go back, fight and die once again, all to re-take that very same useless position, and do it over and over, all within a very short period of time?”, al-Maliki and al-Sadr both rattle their sabres and I am even more convinced that this is exactly the scenario we will be seeing as the Debacle in Iraq heats up once again, and as of right now it’s the Brits that are having to save the Iraqis in Basra, after they, the Brits, had secured Basra and then turned it over to the Iraqis, and the Iraqis failed to hold a secure position.

I don’t know about my younger readers, but to me, and many of the older readers, those of us that can and do remember Vietnam, in vivid, full color memories, what we are seeing right now is exactly the same drive and determination to win from the Iraqi Army as we saw from the ARVN troops during that war, we’d take it, hand it over to the ARVN’s and they would promptly hand it right back to the NVA and/or VC, and in the process, surrendering weapons and munitions to those that would turn them on American troops.

Oh, but the Bush Bots say that just can’t be happening in Iraq, Bush and the American military are loved by all in Iraq, and to the Bots I say, loud and clear, BULL SHIT! The Iraqis are Muslims, they are loyal to their religion, their sects, and even that has warring factions, the Iraqis, for the most part, don’t give a damn for us or what Bush claims to be doing for their benefit.

The growing turmoil threatens to undermine White House efforts to convince a skeptical Congress and the American public that the Iraqis are making progress toward managing their own security without the presence of U.S. troops.With the Shiite militiamen defiant, a group of police in the Mahdi Army’s Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City abandoned their posts and handed over their weapons to al-Sadr’s local office. Police forces in Baghdad are believed to be heavily influenced or infiltrated by Mahdi militiamen.

“We can’t fight our brothers in the Mahdi Army, so we came here to submit our weapons,” one policeman said on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

He said about 40 policemen had defected to the Mahdi Army. The figure could not be confirmed, but AP Television News footage showed about a dozen uniformed police, their faces covered with masks to shield their identity, being met by Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, al-Sadr’s chief representative in Sadr City.

When I began writing this commentary I started it off by saying “I hate to say I told you so“, but you know, I really DON’T, because I, and a few other Conservative bloggers have been trying to tell folks that this was how it was going to be, we’ve been trying to get it across to the Bush Bots for a long time, and all we got for our efforts was the label ‘TRAITOR‘ and Bush Hater, but ya know, I just can’t argue with the Bush Hater thing, at least that part IS true.

Here’s the bottom line folks, if U.S. and British forces don’t pursue this offensive through to a definitive solution, it will not happen, the Iraqis are basically a useless lot when it comes to warfighting and in my not so humble opinion, the entire nation of Iraq is not worth the death or wounding of so much as one more U.S. soldier, sailor or airman.

WHY should we have to defend these gutless backstabbers that can’t wait to get an American in their sights?? If the Iraqis can’t stand on their own, after several years of intense training, an unlimited supply of weapons, munitions and logistics, not to mention some fantastic support from American and British forces, if it can’t happen NOW, if they can’t defeat a rag-tag bunch like the Mahdi army, I have to ask, WHEN??

When will the Iraqis be capable of standing and fighting in defense of their nation? And do so without us being forced into doing the fighting for them as they continue to give up, turn weapons over TO the Mahdi army and slam the door in OUR face?

Is that a people we should be dying for?

Full and Complete Story Here:
Shiite Leader Al-Sadr Defies Iraq Gov’t

Trackback URL:
http://texasfred.net/archives/1046/trackback/

BAGHDAD (AP) - A U.S. helicopter fired a Hellfire missile during fighting in a Shiite militia stronghold of Baghdad Friday, killing at least four people as deadly clashes broke out in Iraq’s oil-rich south for the fourth day.

American jets also dropped bombs overnight in Basra in the first use of U.S. air power in the southern oil port since the Iraqi government launched a crackdown against Shiite militias there earlier this week.

Defying a curfew in Baghdad, extremists also lobbed more rockets or mortars against the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

At least two rounds struck the nearby offices of Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, killing two guards and wounding four, his daughter Lubna said.

If it’s war al-Sadr and his bunch of Little Shiiteheads want, then let it be war they get, let’s see if The Bush and his puppet al-Maliki have the balls to do it right this time, because removing al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army from the face of this earth shouldn’t be that much of an effort if we seriously get with the program and do this thing as it should be done and must be done.

Ground forces called for the airstrike in Sadr City after coming under small-arms fire while clearing a main supply route at 4:10 a.m., U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Stover said.

And THAT is exactly what we should have been doing all along, when you’re the mightiest military nation on earth you use what is available and you use it to win, to hell with PCness and standoffs, KILL the enemy and save OUR troops.

He ( Lt. Col. Steve Stover) said four gunmen were killed, but Iraqi police and hospital officials said five civilians died and four others were wounded in the attack.

And by the time al-Jazeera and the assorted Muslim moonbats of the world gets done with telling this story their way, we will have bombed 3 mosques, an old folks retirement village and 2 children’s hospitals, killing a multitude of innocent Iraqi civilians.

The strikes came as tensions rose among followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr angry over a crackdown that has threatened to unravel a militia cease-fire and spark a new cycle of violence after months of relative calm in Iraq.

Here’s a simple and easy to understand solution, KILL al-Sadr and as many of his followers as you possibly can, that tends to send a message, it says, ‘we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore’.

And it also serves another purpose, it tells ALL the radical Muslims, of all nationalities and all branches of Islam, we’re serious in our War on Terror and if you mess with us again, scores of your people WILL DIE, and that my friends, is the only message, the only action and the only logic that these people understand.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has insisted the fight is targeting criminal gangs in Basra, not al-Sadr’s movement, and he has promised “no retreat.”

It’s statements like this that tend to make me wonder, isn’t al-Sadr’s bunch the “criminal gangs” that are causing all this brouhaha?? I guess al-Maliki is taking his queue from The Bush and going for PCness by using political doublespeak.

Personally, I don’t think al-Maliki has the BALLS to do this thing, I don’t believe he will go to war against his Shiitehead brothers, and al-Sadr IS his religious brother, and I also wonder how long before The Bush reins in our troops as well, it’s just not PC to go around killing your enemies, you might make them angry, and we all know, it’s just not right for us to have enemies that hate us.

What I wouldn’t give to see a real military type leader in the White House, and a entire Corps in the field comprised of nothing but Gen. George S. Patton clones, this Debacle in Iraq would be over in a week or so.

Many folks complain that we must find a way out of Iraq, I am one of them, but I don’t just cry about it, I offer viable solutions to the problem, and the most viable solution that I can present is this, KILL the insurgents, wipe them out and leave their carcasses in the street as a reminder to any that follow, WIN this thing and do it in such a massive and brutal fashion that other radical nations will take pause before they disturb our nation again, and even though I don’t believe that Iraq and Saddam were involved in the attacks of 9-11, we ARE in Iraq, be that action right or wrong, it makes no difference, we’re there, now get it over with and stop playing games.

Full Story Here:
US Airstrike Kills at Least 4 in Baghdad

Trackback URL:
http://texasfred.net/archives/1043/trackback/