A bad day in Baghdad and that's saying alot
65 bodies appeared on the streets of Baghdad overnight all apparently victims of death squads, many tortured several beheaded.
(Note, the very unusual addition in almost all these stories, that 45 of these deaths were west of the Tigris(mainly Sunni) and 15 were east(Shia.) I've just never seen that distinction made before.)
This is in addition to the approximately 27 killed in several bomb attacks on Iraqi forces in the capital including six civilians in an attack on a US convoy.
Mortar attacks on a police station and recruiting center in Baghdad killed 7.
All against the backdrop of the US security crackdown. I guess the insurgents decided to leave those four neighborhoods.
And Sadr is playing a big political game right now. Outside of possibly killing the federalism legislation sponsored by his main Shia rivals the SCIRI, there's this.
My impression is that Sadr is now playing to win it all. His popularity has soared even in SCIRI strongholds. If elections were held today, his group would likely takeover the Shia block of paliament. His Medhi militia is one of the largest and fastest growing armed groups in Iraq. It is my belief that he opposes federalism because he believes that he will someday run the entire country.
On the US politics, dissect carefully the statement by Gen. Zilmer yesterday supposedly contradicting the report about Anbar. He doesn't actually contradict any of the elements of that big WaPo piece, the only its tone.
Zilmer's main statement is that the US can continue "stifling" the Sunnis in Anbar, but the point of Devlin's report is that while the marines have been treading water for two and a half years, the politics have moved irrevocably away from them.
(Note, the very unusual addition in almost all these stories, that 45 of these deaths were west of the Tigris(mainly Sunni) and 15 were east(Shia.) I've just never seen that distinction made before.)
This is in addition to the approximately 27 killed in several bomb attacks on Iraqi forces in the capital including six civilians in an attack on a US convoy.
Mortar attacks on a police station and recruiting center in Baghdad killed 7.
All against the backdrop of the US security crackdown. I guess the insurgents decided to leave those four neighborhoods.
And Sadr is playing a big political game right now. Outside of possibly killing the federalism legislation sponsored by his main Shia rivals the SCIRI, there's this.
A group of lawmakers tried to capitalize Tuesday on the unpopularity of U.S. troops among many Shiite and Sunni legislators, seeking approval of a resolution setting a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops, which the Shiite-dominated government has so far refused to do.
My impression is that Sadr is now playing to win it all. His popularity has soared even in SCIRI strongholds. If elections were held today, his group would likely takeover the Shia block of paliament. His Medhi militia is one of the largest and fastest growing armed groups in Iraq. It is my belief that he opposes federalism because he believes that he will someday run the entire country.
On the US politics, dissect carefully the statement by Gen. Zilmer yesterday supposedly contradicting the report about Anbar. He doesn't actually contradict any of the elements of that big WaPo piece, the only its tone.
Zilmer's main statement is that the US can continue "stifling" the Sunnis in Anbar, but the point of Devlin's report is that while the marines have been treading water for two and a half years, the politics have moved irrevocably away from them.
posted by mikevotes at
7:47 AM
2 Comments:
"He nominally leads the second most powerful armed force in Iraq after the US."
Is this true? What about the Badr Corps (affiliated with SCIRI) or the PUK/KDP Peshmerga? To say nothing of the Iraqi armed forces.
There's no question that Sadr's importance is increasing, in large part because he's played the game very well, but is he really as important as you suggest?
By
Disillusioned kid, at 9:02 AM
I would buy the possibility that the peshmerga might match him, but at present, with the guerilla advantage, I do place him ahead of an independently acting Iraqi military. (with US planning and support it's a different matter.)
With Badr, it's tough to say. It's difficult to draw lines between what is theirs inside and outside the security forces. The only real major battle was Diwaniyah where the Sadr folks were defending on their ground. But that was ISF/SCIRI versus Sadr and Sadr cleaned up.
So, reading it again, I think perhaps I overstated trying to make my point. I stated it as a clear fact which it isn't. I may rewrite that line.
Thank you, for the critique.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 9:16 AM
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