#1
Good Lord! The beauty of this delusion is that there's no need for a scintilla of documentaion nor is there a comparison with the toll of the previous Tikriti regime. When Obama acknowledged the recent Iraqi election, he thanked the UN ... everyone but those directly responsible ... the American Armed Forces. Wake me up in twenty years when the real scholarship begins.
#2
They left out the body count of puppies, baby ducks, and unicorns. [Also missing in the count is the large number of muzzie on muzzie killing]. The only surprise here is that it wasn't in the esteemed Lancet. /sarcasm off
#5
How did 1 millions dead create 2 millions of widows and 5 million of orphans?
Iraqi men must be rich so support many more than 2 wives.
The women must be very fertile to average 5 children each before they were killed along with their husbands.
I guess the left gave up trying to do the math on invented numbers, and just pulled conveniently large number out of their arse without calculating any sort of cohesiveness.
#6
Lagom, it is an Islamic country. I suppose if a significant fraction of the dead had their full four wives, there could be a multiple of widows for the dead...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/02/2009 13:36 Comments ||
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#7
"Most independent analysts would say it's too soon to judge the political outcome."
They're waiting until they can give Obama all the credit.
Meanwhile, Iraqi TV reports:
"In the lowest death toll since five years, Iraq Defense, Interior and Health Ministries reported that a total of 191 Iraqis were killed including 140 civilians, 27 soldiers and 24 policemen due to violence marked in January 2009."
WASHINGTON (AFP) President Barack Obama said that the United States is in a position to place more responsibility in the hands of the Iraqis following provincial elections and a reduction in violence there.
As he works to nudge George Bush away from the credit ...
"In conversations that I've had with the joint chiefs, with people, the commanders on the ground, I think that we have a sense now that the Iraqis just had a very significant election, with no significant violence there, that we are in a position to start putting more responsibility on the Iraqis," Obama told NBC television. "And that's good news for not only the troops in the field but their families who are carrying an enormous burden."
Asked about his campaign promise to end the Iraq war and bring combat troops home within 16 months, and whether he could "say that a substantial number of them will be home in time for next Super Bowl Sunday," Obama replied: "Yes."
"We're going to roll out in a very formal fashion what our intentions are in Iraq as well as Afghanistan," he added in the interview which aired just before the start of the Super Bowl.
Obama on Saturday praised the elections as an "important step forward" after millions of Iraqis went to the polls to elect councils in 14 or Iraq's 18 provinces. Saturday's election is seen as a key test of Iraq's steadily improving security and political system as Obama seeks a withdrawal from the country in order to shift more troops to Afghanistan.
Last year, Obama put forward a 16-month timetable for the withdrawal of US combat troops, but he has not restated that commitment since taking office on January 20, when he said the United States would "begin to responsibly leave Iraq."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
Well then you, for one, LH, don't understand much about politics or policy. Or the lightweights and worse now in charge. They won't initiate needed policies, they won't sustain them against unwarranted opposition, and by flip-flopping on all sorts of crucial matters without paying a price they confirm the robustness of the orwellian inversion of information that brought them to power.
We're talking here about their need to instantly jettison ridiculous positions that materially damaged the national interest for years - because of their fear of something going wrong. Being "politically correct" is to be mindless and misinformed, not to mention obsessively self-righteous in embrace of the accepted bigotries. You welcome what is a temporary and superficial boost to the atmospherics, when the threat to the substance is undiminished, and will only grow so long as facts are not faced honestly.
#4
LH, it'll be difficult to credit the mirrorball until he and his minions cut out the prefatory throat-clearings about the evils of the prior administration. Like Cordesman's crap today about Afghanistan, it seems as if they can't address policy questions any more without a ritual denunciation of prior practice - even if the policy to be mooted is just a continuation of the prior policy.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/02/2009 13:04 Comments ||
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An estimated 45,854 displaced persons in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and Kirkuk province have cast ballots in the provincial council elections held yesterday, the head of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Basra's Khour al-Zubeir port on Sunday received two ships with varied cargo, according to the Iraqi ports department's relations & information chief. "Today, Khour al-Zubeir port received two ships from Liberia and Freetown carrying varied cargo," Abdelkareem al-Basri told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Um, why is this news? Is this the *first* dockings at newly-renovated or newly-opened port facilities or something? Because that article doesn't say so, and it would seem that would be something that should be explained if it were the case.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/02/2009 13:06 Comments ||
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The biggest Shiite party in Iraq once appeared to hold all the political sway: control of the heartland, the backing of influential clerics and a foot in the government with ambitions to take full control.
But the days of wide-open horizons could be soon ending for the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, and replaced by important shifts that could be welcomed in Washington and scorned in Tehran.
The signs began to take shape Sunday with hints of the voter mood from provincial elections. The broad message _ built on Iraqi media projections and postelection interviews _ was that the eventual results would punish religious-leaning factions such as the Supreme Council that are blamed for stoking sectarian violence, and reward secular parties seen capable of holding Iraq's relative calm.
The outcome of the provincial races will not directly effect Iraq's national policies or its balance between Washington's global power and Iran's regional muscle. But Shiite political trends are critically important in Iraq, where majority Shiites now hold sway after the fall of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.
"There is a backlash from Iraqis against sectarian and religious politics," said Mustafa al-Ani, an Iraqi political analyst based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Although official results from Saturday's provincial elections are likely still days away, the early outlines are humbling for The Supreme Council. The group had been considered a linchpin in Iraqi politics as a junior partner in the government that had near seamless political control in the Shiite south.
Some forecasts point to widespread losses for the party across the main Shiite provinces. The blows could include embarrassing stumbles in the key city of Basra and the spiritual center of Najaf _ hailed as the future capital in the Supreme Council's dreams for an autonomous Shiite enclave. In their place, the big election winners appear to be allies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, according to projections and interviews with political figures who spoke on condition of anonymity because official results are not posted.
It's a vivid lesson in Iraq's fluid politics.
A year ago, al-Maliki looked to be sinking. Shiite militiamen ruled cities such as Basra and parts of Baghdad and rockets were pouring into the protected Green Zone, which includes the U.S. Embassy and Iraq's parliament.
Al-Maliki _ with apparent little advance coordination with the U.S. military _ struck back. An offensive broke the militia control in Basra and elsewhere in the south. His reputation turned around. And many voters appeared happy to reward his political backers in the elections for seats on provincial councils, which carry significant clout with authority over local business contracts, jobs and local security forces.
"Al-Maliki ended the militiamen's reign of terror," said Faisal Hamadi, 58, after voting in Basra. "For this he deserves our vote."
The Supreme Council, meanwhile, appeared to stagger under the weight of negative baggage. It was accused of failing to deliver improvements to public services in the south. Also, its deep ties to Iran began to rub against Iraqis' nationalist sentiments.
The Supreme Council's leader, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, spent decades in Iran during Saddam's rule and was allowed an office-villa in downtown Tehran. After Saddam's fall, the Supreme Council was Iran's main political conduit into Iraq even though the group also developed ties with Washington.
Iran now could face limits on its influence in the south with the Supreme Council forced into a coalition or second-tier status _ and also confront resistance from a stronger al-Maliki government seeking to curb Tehran's inroads.
A Supreme Council lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, acknowledged the election mood was against them. "We controlled most provinces in the south, so we were blamed for whatever went wrong there," he said. "The elections gave us an indication of what will happen in the general election late this year," said the analyst al-Ani. "Those who lost in this election have nearly a year to learn their lesson and change their strategy. They know now where the Iraqis stand."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Um, last time I checked, al-Maliki is the banner-carrier for a religious Shi'ite party with roots, funding, and a Hussein-era period of exile in Iran. Or is Da'wah now claiming to be secularized? They haven't dropped the name yet ("the Call", a Muslim term of art) and it's called "the Islamic Dawa Party" on al-Maliki's Wiki entry.
Way to toe the party line, dude. But since Da'wah's largely fielded the official armed forces as their "militia", I suppose this particular line of propaganda isn't entirely pernicious. But really, try to garnish the press release with a *little* independent research. I'm a moron on the internet, and I can do better with ten minutes thought, Google & a Wikipedia entry.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/02/2009 13:23 Comments ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Four al-Qaeda in Iraq members on Sunday were arrested in Diala province, according to a local police commander.
"Those arrested are wanted by the judicial authorities," Staff Maj. Gen. Abdelhussein al-Shamri told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The arrests were made during military operations in the neighborhoods of al-Katoun and Bani Saad in Baaquba and Khanaqin (155 km northeast of Baaquba)," Shamri explained. Two arms caches were found in Shanoon village on the Iraqi-Iranian borders, Shamri added, noting that the caches contained four missiles, 20 rockets, 22 hand grenades, five Katyushas and other ammunition.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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Aswat al-Iraq: Four al-Qaeda in Iraq members on Sunday were arrested in Diala province, according to a local police commander.
