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Iraq
Calls for calm as crowd stones [motorcade of] Iraq PM
2006-11-26
Posted by:gorb

#10  So you two are left out in the cold again. :-)
Posted by: gorb   2006-11-26 19:42  

#9  Credit where due, Nimble Spemble. It takes a certain unusual boldness to try to herd this bunch of cats. Besides, that is a nice little summary .com wrote. And since I'm terribly fond of both of you, you're now sitting neatly in the horns of a dillemma: if I'm kissing up to him, I must be to you, also... but ladies don't kiss up, so.... ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-11-26 19:35  

#8  No kissing up to the mods. Their egos are big enough already.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-11-26 18:58  

#7  #1 - what a truly excellent summary of the situation out there.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2006-11-26 18:56  

#6   the Sistani-Iraqi and the Sadr-Persian.

hell, that's what I thought, now I hear that Sadr is the real Iraqi-nationalist Shia groupen.
Posted by: Shipman   2006-11-26 18:11  

#5  NS, I like your hint of machiavellism there.
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-11-26 18:07  

#4  I thought there were at least two styles of Shiites, the Sistani-Iraqi and the Sadr-Persian. Couldn't that be the reason for the stoning of a Shiite? Or perhaps he's an adulterer?

In any case, we are most likely to be playing one group off against another for a while, at least till the General War breaks out; and I don't expect that for at least 5 years. So until then, we do need to care which "wins" so that we can assure that the defeats are spread evenly.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-11-26 17:53  

#3  Maliki is Shiite, no, so are the Sadrists?. Perhaps he's not pro-Persian enuf?
Posted by: Frank G   2006-11-26 17:35  

#2  By removing the coalition check points, al-Maliki has caused the deaths of inummerable civilians, Shia and Sunni alike. He represents exactly what is wrong with reconstructed Iraq and the sooner he stops a bullet the quicker real progress can be made.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-11-26 17:33  

#1  Sadrites stoning Shia PM Malikme. Semi-Boggle. But that's cuz I'm a Westerner.

Here we are. 2006. The Sunni-Shia schism began with Mo's death in 632. They've been at each other's throat ever since. Now, both sides have the oil money and today's weapons are of sufficient lethality that this idiocy endangers the entire world.

Sure, they want to wipe us out and restore some sort of Caliphate, but they hate each other more - and each wants that Caliph to be one of their own.

We're both a target of opportunity and a hindrance in the first modern battlefield where this is playing out. Logically, in Western terms, they should ally against us, truly coordinate with each other, sharing intel and manpower and leadership, but they can't manage it. They're just too fucked up. The hateful treatment each gives the other when in power overrides everything - vengeance, blood libel, ancient hatreds and jealousy.

I happen to think it doesn't make much difference which of them "wins" - they're just different strains of the same pathogen. Equally dangerous, equally fatal, equally deserving of eradication, since they already have the "truth" and there will be no reform or honest brokerage possible. It is written.
Posted by: .com   2006-11-26 17:17  

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