Posted on 12/18/2005 3:54:30 AM PST by baystaterebel
Key Sunni Muslim leaders in Iraq's violent Anbar province have concluded that their interests lie in cooperating with the United States, and they are seeking to extend a temporary truce honored by most insurgent groups for last week's elections. But at the same time, they are demanding specific steps by the U.S. military, including a reduction in military raids and an increase in development projects for their vast desert province that stretches from the edge of Baghdad to the Syrian and Jordanian borders.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. So far they have chosen the hard way and found themselves getting the snot kicked out of them.
Slow learners to be sure.
Zarqawi and his head hackers are done.
Fyi..
A prominent Sunni religious leader in Anbar province, Sheik Abed al-Latif Hemaiym, told The Times in an interview in Amman that Sunnis were prepared to work with the Americans.
"We now believe we must get on good terms with the Americans," Sheik Hemaiym said. "As Arab Sunnis, we believe that within this hot area of Iraq, facing challenges from neighboring nations who want to swallow us, especially the Iranians, we feel we have no alternative."
How far are they to be trusted? I get the feeling they are just stalling for time.
Succinctly put.
have the sunni leaders in iraq cleared this with their political wing: the senate democrats?
"The Sunnis have been responsible for the majority of violence against American troops.
They should be exterminated."
I disagree. Sunnis or any Iraqi aligned with Baathist interests should be exterminated.
I stand corrected and agree.
Or, this could be yet another ploy to buy time, and allow them to rebuild their strength.
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twelve times, shame on me!"
Remember Tora Bora, Faluja, Sadr City?
Mark
Also against their fellow Iraqis.
There will come a time when they are called to account.
Agreed, they are bidding for time.
Taking care of the Sunnis, the Baathists, and their terrorist compadres shouldn't be our job long term.
In fact you can see from the quote in #5 above that at least some of the Sunnis are getting that "Uh oh, the gig's up" feeling. The end is nigh, and they know it.
Once the Iraqis get their act together, especially on the security side, there will be a comeuppance for the bad guys, but offered by the Iraqis themselves.
That's as it should be.
Agree.
The Sunnis may be trying to buy time with the U.S. but it is with the Iraqi government that they really need to be making overtures to. Soon, the Sunni problem with be solely Iraq's problem to deal with and the Iraqi military (as well as the Iraqi democratic government) gets stronger every day.
In Muslim military history, there is a longtime tactic of using negotiations to stall for time until the conditions were favorable to attack.
In the battle of Yarmuk River, which enabled the Muslims to conquer Syria in the mid-seventh century, the Muslim army spent weeks negotiating on the battlefield with Heraclius and the Byzantine army, until a sandstorm came up. The Muslims used it as cover to attack, and wiped out the Byzantine army.
I read that quote in #5 as asking for protection from the Iraqis they've harmed over the last two years (not from the Syrians).
Payback is a bitch.
"You had success in the elections because WE held off on the violence. In return for our cooperation we therefore demand......"
Have you ever seen a more stupid bunch?
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