Posted on 09/01/2010 3:33:30 AM PDT by markomalley
As US troops pull out and pro-government militias collapse, many locals are facing a choice between their families' safety and their country's future, says Richard Spencer in Baghdad.
It is not difficult to find people in Iraq who are certain that they are about to be killed. But in the case of Mazin Fahmi, it is hard to disagree. Mr Fahmi has already escaped death scores of times. Three months ago, he was saved by his body armour – the bullet penetrated only far enough to wound, as he proves by showing a photograph in which it is lodged in his chest. He is a regular target for "sticky bombs", which are removed by one of his few remaining bodyguards from under his car. And that's not to mention the "drive-by" threats from local youths he knows to be in the pay of al-Qaeda.
To be fair, street warfare was part and parcel of the deal that Mr Fahmi, 48, struck four years ago to lead one of the Awakening Councils, the new pro-government militias. They were recruited by the Americans to take on al-Qaeda in Iraq's Sunni strongholds. What has changed – and what makes him certain that his chances of survival are shrinking – are the loyalties of his men. Once, he said, he had 385 under his command, their salaries paid by the government. For a while, they made the streets of his neighbourhood, Adhamiya in north-west Baghdad, safe. Now there are just 13 left. The rest have quit, frustrated by unpaid salaries and petrified by death threats.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
He can have Obama! Win-win situation!
With the Americans leaving again, and the politicians unable to form a government, six months after parliamentary elections, the calculation has shifted once more. Securing a safe tomorrow for your family is a better bet than securing a safe future for the nation.
That's a damning indictment of our Iraq "strategy", thanks to both Obama and Bush (bowing to leftist pressure).
Let’s perform a little thought experiment and step into a time-machine and go back to late 2001.
Karzai has just come to power in Afghanistan and President Bush now turns his attention to the bigger question: how best to respond to 9/11.
He decides not to heed the advice of Chalabi and other ex-pat Shiites in America (who want him to invade Iraq), but rather, he listens to his own conservative base who is calling for an effective fence on the Mexican border.
Bush spends his political capital securing the southern border, with a fence and with a strongly beefed up border patrol.
As for Iraq, he increases the fly-overs and beefs up the development of long-range drones that can be used both for surveillance and weapons delivery.
Having completed this thought experiment I will draw this conclusion:
Barak Hussein Obama, the Muslim Marxist of Chicago, would never have been elected President of the United States.
Thousands of American soldiers would still be alive.
We would have our border security that we so desperately need.
Islamic fundamentalists would have less of a grip on Iraq than they do today.
</end wistful thinking>
If iraq fails, it will become known as the obama doctrine of defeat or... how to lose a war that was already won.
LLS
What is with not paying these policemen?
The Muslim-In-Chief owns Iraq now so if it blows up it’s on his watch under his command.
His speech last night will prove to be a mistake I think.
In My area We call it "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory." Y' see, I'm a Detroit lions fan, so I am well aware of the strategy =^)
CC
Reading this article made me angry. Not at Obama, but at the pathetic mindset of these Iraqis. Seems like all too many of them are selling themselves to the highest bidder of-the-moment, the future of their country be damned. They’ve had years to get their act together. If they still can’t, then they deserve what they get. Unfortunately, what will happen is that as we pull out, Al Qaeda and Iran will move in to fill the vacuum.
Good 1!
LLS
Over and over people say that muslims are extremely fatalistic people, believing that whatever happens is the will of allah, so why get worked up over anything.
This is the opposite of American personal responsibility and leads to aimless, inactive people who don't stand up and fight for anything, their country included - with the exception of their violent "religion."
His political positions were extreme: he called for a return to strong-man, one-party government, only this time chosen by the Americans, so Iraq did not fall into the hands of a brute like Saddam Hussein.
He can have Obama! Win-win situation!
They said "strong-man," not "effeminate pansy."
We could send Michelle, however!
Not by the MSM. Remember, they teach that the Vietnam war (started and escalated by Democrats and finished by a Republican) is the fault of conservatives/Republicans.
Yes, I think it will be too. It is already a mistake because he kept injecting himself into it. What a narcissist. But we still have troops in Iraq. I want every one of their deaths and injuries hung around his neck. Iraqi security forces are improving, but without the US combat troops there I believe our personnel are significantly more exposed and at risk.
Of course, even combat troops don't make you safe. Just look at the criminal ROE hussein has imposed on our combat forces in Afghanistan. hussein is directly responsible for the sharp rise in US casualties there - due to his insane ROE.
...... and the politicians unable to form a government......
This no government is the media template and in my view an over hyped error.
First of all, there is a functioning bureaucracy that keeps the wheels turning albiet not to to the satisfaction of critics. They are functioning according to instructions given from above.
Then there is the fact Iraq is Arab. It takes Arabs a long time to make a decision and they love to negotiate. The negotiation process is life its self, should be savored, and is not to be rushed. It sometimes seems the process is more important than the out come. Along the way, some minor point might be gained that would be lost in a rush. To be forced to a conclusion by some arbitrary and purely artificial time constraint is not the way things are done.
The fact is, it is working and it is proceeding according to the participants desires rather than the observers.
You're right that we're not safer unless the ROEs are sane. They don't seem sane to me right now. They seem set up to weaken our own position.
Either 0bama is afraid of deadly force or he wants it aimed at us. Either way he is no Commander-In-Chief. He isn't really even a community organizer. Look at the horrible, violent and corrupt state of Chicago's south side.
re: how to lose a war that was already won
My Mom used to call it snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!
LLS
Smart woman!
LLS
and ...
The 8 million jobs currently taken by illegal aliens (40% of whom are visa overstays) would be available for Americans.
Drug and human traffickers would not have made such the inroads through out the US.
Innumerable people would not have been killed or maimed by illegal alien drunk drivers.
Many women and children would not have been assaulted by predator illegal aliens.
Many would not have had their identity stolen.
Many hospitals would still be open.
...
etc.
Muslim infighting is insoluble; the Sunnis and Shits will be fighting a thousand years from now. It would have been cheaper to nuke the place.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.