Posted on 10/22/2004 9:25:46 PM PDT by crushelits
With polls showing a tight Presidential race, it's possible John Kerry could be our commander-in-chief soon. So it would be nice to think he's paying enough attention to what's going on in Iraq to know that conditions there aren't, as he said a few days ago, "getting worse each week."
The kidnappings, mortar attacks and roadside bombs continue--and will until the insurgency is defeated. But recent weeks have actually seen progress by American and Iraqi forces toward reasserting control over Saddam's old stronghold in the Sunni Triangle. That, in turn, means credible nationwide elections in January are more likely than ever.
The first of the troublesome cities to return to Iraqi government control was Samarra early this month. In recent days American and Iraqi forces have also carried out successful anti-terrorist raids in several towns just south of Baghdad populated by disgruntled ex-employees of the old regime's military-industrial complex. Insurgent cells in Mahmudiya, Yusufiya and Latifiya are the reason the road between Baghdad and Najaf has been so dangerous.
Most important, allied forces seem poised finally to take control of Fallujah, which has been a no-go zone since the end-of-April deal that turned the town over to ex-Baathists called the Fallujah Brigade. That decision was easily the biggest mistake of the war, since it caused both friend and foe to question American resolve and gave the thugs a safe haven from which to stage car bombings and other attacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
You mean Kerry's lying about Iraq?????
How can this be?????
His lips are moving.
Good news bump.
Add it to the list of the bizillion other things sKerry is wrong about.....
He doesn't care..we're just peons
Teed that one up for ya....
Thanks...I couldn't resist.
Absurd; ridiculous. Drop a nuke on it. F- it.
--Boris
Yeah, but we aren't privy to the strategery sessions of the military.
It could also be a move to attract all the insurgents possible to Falluja, thinking that they are in a safe haven and free to plot their skulduggery.
With the insurgents being concentrated there, a seige of the place makes much more sense, so it could be a brilliant move instead of a mistake.
Yet another good news bump.
Uh....are you aware that most Kurds ARE Shiia?
The only good news from Falluja can be that it does not exist anymore
That's strange, because on the Iraqi blogs they say that they are mostly Shiia (same as the Iranians). When they talk about the Sunnis they are only 20% of the population, the Kurds are 20% and the Shiia south is 60%. Perhaps they are wrong, but I figured since they have lived their entire life there, they would know. I do know that Saddam transferred a lot of Arabs up there to take over most of the north and displace the Kurds. They are an entirely different people, so perhaps they are mixed.
Hmmm, I guess that's why Saddam went after them, because they were Sunnis like him.
"Kurds are overwhelmingly Muslim and are typically members of the Sunni sect....."
This is a quote from culturalorientation.net, a web site set up to teach aid workers about refugees being resettled in the USA. Link: http://www.culturalorientation.net/kurds/krelig.html
Saddam went after the Kurds because they are a different racial group, they want to break away from Iraq and because the Iraqi Kurds helped Iran during the Iran-Iraq war.
Even in the Middle East, religous differences are not the cause for every conflict.
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