| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraqi insurgency groups declare intention to drop arms |
| 2007-04-01 |
| Iraqi President Jalal Talabani affirmed on Saturday that the leadership was holding continuous contacts with armed groups in a bid to persuade them join the national conciliation political process and renounce usage of arms. Talabani, speaking at a ceremony marking credentials-delivery of the newly-named American Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and the new Japanese ambassador, affirmed that some of the armed groups expressed desire to join the process of normalization in the country. "Some organizations that consider themselves as part of the national resistance have contacted us and expressed readiness to drop the arms and join the political process and we have welcomed them," Talabani said. He praised resolutions of the recently-held Arab summit concerning Iraq, namely the decisions that denounce terrorism, call for setting debts and backing the national conciliation process. The Arab summit, concerning Iraq, was successful and all Iraqi proposals and demands were me -- unanimously, the president said. On status of the (Shiite) Mahdi militia, Talabani said that he assured Crocker that the group was no longer significantly effective and that the top leadership has recently received no new complaints about activities of this militia from local Sunni quarters. The government is bent on clamping down on terrorism and cooperating with the Multi-National Forces, he said. He praised stand of Sunni tribes, namely Al-Zuwbaa' tribe, in confronting armed terrorists and elements of Al-Qaeda organization, west of the Iraqi capital. Armed Sunni tribes have engaged in fierce clashes and fighting with Al-Qaeda followers in the region. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #9 With the additional troops and revised strategies barely in place yet Iraq is nevertheless showing encouraging early signs of improvement. Evidence points to a corner having been turned in Iraq. The elected government is gaining strength and legitimacy while the insurgency is entirely discredited except in the eyes of the Western mass media. Only the antiwar brigades can save the enemies of civilization now. |
| Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723 2007-04-01 22:36 |
| #8 And somehow Democrats translate this as meaning we need to get out of Iraq NOW |
| Posted by: ikez78 2007-04-01 19:29 |
| #7 I believe the Shia militia are under orders to 'cool it' right now, since it looks pretty certain the US will be forced out by domestic politics in the near future (or by running out of troops to rotate through). By doing nothing they make it easier to hasten US withdrawal. Once the US is gone the purge can crank back up. Of course, given the limited C & C of the militias, some Shia actions will occur anyway. The risk some Iraqi leaders would be taking with this approach is not that the Sunni Iraqis would successfully resist the Shia, but that a three part struggle would emerge, Iraqi Nationalist Shia with some Sunni allies, Religious Shia with large Iranian control, and old-line Sunni/Baath with AQ and some Syrian allies. Messy, Lebanon-style civil war. Kurds will sit on the sidelines with popcorn. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-04-01 16:31 |
| #6 This seems to have support that is broad enough to reduce the liklihood that it is just a hudna, but you never know. If someone put a gun in my ear and said to pick one, I'd guess they're as serious as they know how to be. Do I understand the Sunnis are packing up and leaving for other countries in droves? |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-04-01 15:51 |
| #5 These are hard core elements that really don't belong in part of any political coalition. I'd like to think this is a sign that the surge is working. We're atritting the bastards quickly enough for a change to where they're seeing the writing on the wall. If none of the above, see post #1. Hudna. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-01 15:43 |
| #4 In this case, I think it is more the realization that they are on the losing side, whose dwindling numbers are lusers. Plus, now that the remaining Sunnis are only about 10% of the population, even the dimwits are realizing that they don't have much left. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-04-01 12:43 |
| #3 Hmmm, Bertie, hope that's part of it, but I doubt it. Probably most of the so-called "resistance" can't be trusted - in the medium and long run, not just now - so it would probably be better if they were ravaged by more fighting with the Coalition, govt., and AQ. Don't think Iraqi Sunnis of the violent persuasion are any more likely to be suitable parts of a true national reconciliation than hard-core Nazis were of a post-war Germany or militarist fanatics of a post-war Japan. "Reconciliation" is a pretty rare thing, but acceptance of defeat is historically more beneficial to all concernced. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2007-04-01 12:34 |
| #2 good news if true, perhaps word of kurdistan doing so well has begun to put pressure on the killers at the home front. |
| Posted by: Bertie Sninesh7058 2007-04-01 10:53 |
| #1 Hudna? |
| Posted by: Raj 2007-04-01 10:51 |