Posted on 06/13/2014 9:32:33 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Baghdad, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's most senior Shi'ite Muslim cleric urged followers to take up arms against a full-blown Sunni militant insurgency to topple Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, escalating a conflict that threatens civil war and a possible break-up of the country.
In a rare intervention at Friday prayers in the holy city of Kerbala, a message from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is the highest religious authority for Shi'ites in Iraq, said people should unite to fight back against a lightning advance by militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Fighters under the black flag of ISIL are sweeping south towards the capital Baghdad in a campaign to recreate a mediaeval caliphate carved out of fragmenting Iraq and Syria that has turned into a widespread rebellion against Maliki.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Well we tried to civlize these people. That didn;t work. Maybe we should help pit them against each other. If they fight amongst themselves, much less likely they will want to bother us.
I believe this is the guy who gave us a fair amount of help in Iraq a few years back. He doesn’t love us but did like seeing Saddam Hussein gone.
Let the Hunger Games begin.
ISIS won’t get any closer to Baghad, nor will they be able to battle the Kurds either. ISIA are radical Sunnis, and Shiites may not fight for the government, but they will fight hard for their religion and clan.
Hasn’t Biden been given the job of taking care of Iraq?
this is going to get very bloody
I’m reading that this call to arms is out of character for Sistani. He isn’t usually given to incendiary statements. It is considered a big-fn-deal in Iraq to hear this from him.
yep
Interesting, because it was Senator Joe Biden who proposed during the Iraq war a three state solution. Sunni, Shiite and Kurd. This of course was insane because separate state would result in radicalization of each. Instead a republic was forged which was working until the day Obama withdrew every single member of the Military.
Uncle Joe has his wish!
Three images are seared into my mind after we liberated Iraq
1. This large Iraqi taking a sledgehammer to a statue of Saddam
2. The US soldier that throws an American flag over the head of statue before pulling it down
3. The picture of a beautiful Iraqi woman, holding her finger dipped in purple ink after she voted for the first time
These images still brings tears to my eyes, with the hope that liberty would make it to the Middle East.
But the reality is that my tagline holds.
Sad part of all this is.. Saddam’s Republican Guard would have wiped the desert floor in a couple days with these animals.
This would be a great strategy if we were energy independent, as we should be, if we were controlled by people who actually care about our country’s strategic national interests.
As it stands, I’m afraid we have to stay involved to make sure that the energy supply to the West is uninterrupted. Given, the interdependence of our country in the global economy, I’m not sure of all of the consequences that will occur if we allow the savages to choke off our industrial capacity. Perhaps the brain-trust here can chime in on this issue.
PUff is always standing by,, looking for a chance to spray some hot lead on vermonous heathen, I think Tomahawks are still being made too.., a flurry of drone attacks with HeLLFiRes would be a good start.. maybe a MOAB or two even.
The good old days of Saddam and Kadaffy.
It only shows how unique in the world our country really is. And why we need to fight to the death to defend it.
There are already in Baghdad by the thousands. Sunni's who will take up the call for a Sunni Caliphate. Their army grows larger every minute. Only an aggressive bombing campaign will have a chance to stop them, unless Israel decides to put few mushroom clouds up.
Aren’t Tomahawks insensitive?
If that many of ‘em are willing to come out in the open, what the heck? I hate craters as much as the next guy but.. they make great mass graves.
Tell me again why I should care?
Just why do we or Israel care which crazy Muslim is in charge? Is Sunni terror somehow different than Shia terror?
Has Iran become our ally and the Saudis/Turks our enemies?
We need to stay the hell out of there and be prepared to cut a deal with the victors.
ISIL has total of 800 men by some reports.
They captured 4,500 members of the Iraqi army and beheaded 1,700 that were Shiite leaving 2,800 and change.
800 + 2,800 = 3,600 trained ISIL fighters.
Let’s neglect the Iraqi army all together.
The population of Baghdad is 7.2 million. If they marshaled just 1 percent of military aged men they would have 72,000 fighters.
The odds of ISIL taking Baghdad appear long, but anything could happen.
One of Maliki’s rivals or the military officers he fired could mount a coup, then anything could happen in the chaos.
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