Posted on 05/18/2007 11:25:26 PM PDT by ASC2006
The biggest Iraq-related news comes from Texas today: The Washington Post drops a bombshell, learning that one of the most powerful men in Iraq is facing lung cancer, and has traveled to Houston for treatment.
'Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), the largest party in the Iraqi parliament, is in the United States on treatment for lung cancer, Robin Wright reports in the Post. “In a reflection of Hakim's stature, President Bush authorized immediate transportation to get Hakim from Iraq to the United States, an administration source said yesterday. Vice President Cheney played a role in arranging for Hakim to see U.S. military doctors in Baghdad, who made the original diagnosis, and for the current medical treatment in Houston, the sources said.”
The cleric, “reportedly a heavy smoker, arrived in Houston on Thursday to meet with specialists at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center,” Wright writes
(Excerpt) Read more at iraqslogger.com ...
kayak couldn’t beat it, so I doubt this fellow will survive either.
He should have been a Mormon.
The very idea of “democracy” in an Arab nation is a joke. Unfortunately, our President made that his Quixotic goal, instead of what we all wanted on 9/12/2001...to smash the Muslim world to bits.
“The very idea of “democracy” in an Arab nation is a joke. Unfortunately, our President made that his Quixotic goal, instead of what we all wanted on 9/12/2001...to smash the Muslim world to bits”.
...absolutely! Every time I hear that song that says “we’ll stick a boot in your ass, it’s the American way” I think, ‘no we won’t’.
“al-Hakim is a very pro-Iranian militia leader”.... But,... someone that we have been able to negotate with.”
If someone is pro-Hitler, pro-Stalin, pro-Castro, etc, what are the negotiations worth?
“If someone is pro-Hitler, pro-Stalin, pro-Castro, etc, what are the negotiations worth?”
A lot.
al-Hakim controls the majority of the Iraqi Parliament. Without him, whatever progress has been made on the political front to support the war effort will fall apart.
He heads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The Bush administration asked al-Hakim to change the name of the organization to the “Islamic Iraqi Supreme Council” and he did.
He is a political counterbalance among the Shiite majority to Muqtada al-Sadr. That makes him valuable. That’s why President Bush has flown him to the US for the best medical treatment available.
Sorry. All sounds very nice. But anyone in league with the Iranian regime can’t be trusted. He reminds me too much of Khatami.
“Sorry. All sounds very nice. But anyone in league with the Iranian regime can’t be trusted. He reminds me too much of Khatami.”
It doesn’t sound “nice” at all. It is was it is; we need Al-Hakim and his Shiite majority party. The only other option in Muqtada al-Sadr. That’s why President Bush had Al-Hakim to the White House and that’s why President Bush flew him to Houston yesterday for treatment.
“When you lie down with dogs...”
I don’t choose between Khatami and Ahmadinejad. One may look more attractive and smile more and seem more reasonable, but they are different faces of the same evil.
As for the Adminstration, they have ignored the best advice from the most knowledgeable people regarding Iran. Their backing of alHakim doesn’t impress me. If he’s in league with the Iranian regime to the point of taking orders from them, (and I suspect he may be) then in the end he’s no better than alSadr.
“I don’t choose between Khatami and Ahmadinejad. One may look more attractive and smile more and seem more reasonable, but they are different faces of the same evil.
As for the Adminstration, they have ignored the best advice from the most knowledgeable people regarding Iran. Their backing of alHakim doesn’t impress me. If he’s in league with the Iranian regime to the point of taking orders from them, (and I suspect he may be) then in the end he’s no better than alSadr.”
ALL Iraqi Shi’ites are in league with their fellow Shi’ites in Iran. al-Maliki has already accepted a one billion dollar line of credit from Iran. As long as there is a Shi’ite majority government in Iraq, Iran will be in the picture but I doubt very much that Iran controls al-Hakim.
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2847/Iraq-Iran_Increasing_Bilateral_Ties
“ALL Iraqi Shi’ites are in league with their fellow Shi’ites in Iran.”
No, they aren’t
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