Quickhits - Iraq reader
Reuters has a great overview piece on the gloom descending on Iraqi government officials.
During the meeting next week, the Bush administration is going to try to pressure Maliki to crack down on the Shia militia. Just how a government constructed primarily of politicians affiliated with the militias is supposed to do that is unclear.
But Maliki is coming looking for some concessions to take home.
And Patrick Cockburn has a more anecdotal look at the breakdown.
Just some quick clips that I found interesting.
BAGHDAD, July 21 (Reuters) - Iraqi leaders have all but given up on holding the country together and, just two months after forming a national unity government, talk in private of "black days" of civil war ahead.
Signalling a dramatic abandonment of the U.S.-backed project for Iraq, there is even talk among them of pre-empting the worst bloodshed by agreeing to an east-west division of Baghdad into Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim zones, senior officials told Reuters.....
"Maliki and some others seem to be genuinely trying to make this work," one (Western diplomat) said. "But it doesn't look like they have real support. The factions are looking out for their own interests."....
Maliki meets Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Monday before seeing Bush at the White House on Tuesday. Both leaders, penalised in polls since the 2003 invasion, will expect him to tell U.S. and British voters of his hopes for a new Iraq.
During the meeting next week, the Bush administration is going to try to pressure Maliki to crack down on the Shia militia. Just how a government constructed primarily of politicians affiliated with the militias is supposed to do that is unclear.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House expressed disappointment at a security plan for Baghdad and said President George W. Bush will discuss the issue during a meeting here with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.....
But the official said Bush would also press Maliki to take "hard steps" to rein in the Iraqi militia, arguing that safety would not improve until Iraqis ran security operations themselves.
But Maliki is coming looking for some concessions to take home.
(AP) Al-Maliki also said Saturday he will urge U.S. officials to work for a cease-fire in Lebanon, saying Israel's "hostile acts" adversely affect the entire Middle East.
And Patrick Cockburn has a more anecdotal look at the breakdown.
The Iraqi government is a prisoner of the Green Zone, the heavily fortified enclave defended by US troops in the centre of Baghdad. ..... "Some ministers have never visited their ministries outside the Green Zone," said one ex-minister. "They have their officials bring them documents to sign."
Just some quick clips that I found interesting.
posted by mikevotes at
1:18 PM
4 Comments:
Check out the Wash Post article about the ways the military and the administration screwed up the occupation/counter-insurgency. It puts it all together (deBaathification, Bremer was an idiot, Rummy was an even bigger idiot who wouldn't believe there was an insurgency, aggressive interrogations and detainments that were mostly useless and counterproductive, refusing to learn from the past, refusing to understand the culture in the country, refusing to understand that a counterinsurgency should be fought with a miminal show of force in order to win over the populace)
It's depressing, yet informative. Now that the admin and the neo-cons are looking to shift blame for why it all went wrong, it's also important that the right people take the blame for this fucking bloodbath.
Here's the link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/22/AR2006072200444_pf.html
By
Reality-Based Educator, at 3:01 PM
Your link got cutoff, but I got it. I'm assuming you mean the Ricks analysis piece.
I didn't see that in my morning WaPo read. It must've come up during the day.
That's a nice broad tactical look, but it mentions neither the mistake watershed of Fallujah or the various inspots, hit and kill, superbase, etc specific tactics that have been tried.
Fallujah was the true turning point as it was the maximum exertion of "wrong effort." (Fallujah is probably in tomorrow's/Monday's entry.)
Also, I find it odd that "pentagon reporter" Ricks doesn't mention that one of the main reasons the tactics weren't prepared is that the pentagon leadership very intentionally dismissed any planning for an insurgency. That would take this article the next step from Sanchez and Bremer to Rumsfeld's door.
But overall, very good. When this series is done, it'll be very interesting to take it as a whole.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 5:39 PM
I wonder what toolk Maliki has to combat these militias. I doubt giant dildos and crack will do it.
By
Anonymous, at 12:53 AM
I don't see how he does it because his majority is largely made up of politicians who are tied to those same militias.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 7:52 AM
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