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Big military push coming in Baghdad; media readying defeatist narrative
Ed Morissey, "Hot Air" blogIraqi soldiers have begun evacuating families from portions of Sadr City, a sign that a large offensive will start shortly against the Mahdi Army militia that have long controlled the sector of Baghdad. Two stadiums have been secured for sheltering the evacuees as the government of Nouri al-Maliki attempts to break Moqtada al-Sadrs last stronghold and end mortar attacks on the Green Zone. . . . This will likely take weeks to complete. Once the battle starts, expect to read and hear plenty of media reports emphasizing civilian deaths, setbacks in the battle, defections in the Iraqi Army, and statements of defiance from Sadr. What we wont hear is progress by Maliki and the US in finishing off Sadrs forces until it suddenly becomes impossible to ignore it and then we will hear about how inept the Iraqi forces were in achieving victory. Call it the Basra Narrative. Just because it failed in Basra doesnt mean the defeatist media wont use it again, and again, and again. Posted by: Mike 2008-05-08 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=238532 |