Iraq
(AP) "Six Sunni men who received death threats for meeting with local Shiites were killed Saturday in execution-style slayings, police said."
Same article: "The U.S. military said it killed "key terrorists" who were using anti-aircraft artillery to fire at American military helicopters near Taji, north of Baghdad."
(WaPo) The "key terrorists" had been attacking US helicopters "with heavy machine guns mounted on the back of truck." (They were killed by bombs from planes. Gonna need a bigger "technical" for that.)
The NYTimes gives an eyewitness account of a Sunni killing.
(AFP) An Iraqi General and senior advisor to the defense minister was kidnapped. (Imagine living in a country where this isn't the top story.)
(WaPo) Three US soldiers died in a roadside bombing.
(Keep an eye on the Saudi-Iran meeting today. The US is using the Saudis as a negotiating channel.)
Same article: "The U.S. military said it killed "key terrorists" who were using anti-aircraft artillery to fire at American military helicopters near Taji, north of Baghdad."
(WaPo) The "key terrorists" had been attacking US helicopters "with heavy machine guns mounted on the back of truck." (They were killed by bombs from planes. Gonna need a bigger "technical" for that.)
The NYTimes gives an eyewitness account of a Sunni killing.
(AFP) An Iraqi General and senior advisor to the defense minister was kidnapped. (Imagine living in a country where this isn't the top story.)
(WaPo) Three US soldiers died in a roadside bombing.
(Keep an eye on the Saudi-Iran meeting today. The US is using the Saudis as a negotiating channel.)
posted by mikevotes at
8:18 AM
4 Comments:
I am reminded, again, that we have no idea who -- specifically and personally -- the enemy is. We talk about "key terrorist," "al Qadea operatives," "former Baathists," "radical Shia groups"... but they are all faceless phantoms.
You can't reach peace when you have no idea who speaks for the "enemy." Not that it would matter with this administration, which seems to equate dialog and diplomacy with weakness. Peace, in the psyche of this administration, is a condition only reached by the complete and unconditional capitulation of enemy and ally alike. Who needs names and faces when operating as a totalitarian regime?
Still, I'd feel better if "the enemy" wasn't just a faceless Arabic caricature.
By
-epm, at 10:16 AM
But, even in Iraq, without the propagandist caricature, trying to find someone to talk to who can speak for the Sunnis.
Part of the reason for that is that they have been under pressure for so long, they have adapted to a thousand independent groups.
In this specific case, I think these are "key terrorists" because they had been successfully running complex operations to lure and shoot down US helicopters.
But as to whether their capture means anything within the political development? No. Probably not.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 11:50 AM
"...they have adapted to a thousand independent groups."
From George H.W. Bush's thousand points of light, to W's thousand points of darkness...
You're right, of course, there is "A" Sunni representative, but many splintered interests. This is problematic for an administration who thinks only in binary terms.
By
-epm, at 8:04 PM
Most of them come out of the cold war studies.
I mean, Condi Rice, our top diplomat (hah) is a russian expert now trying to negotiate in the multipolar overlapping environment of the middle east.
I didn't always agree with James baker when he held the chair, but he operated well in the middle east. He's a lawyer who tried to find accomodations for all interests rather than trying to force the players into the spots we wanted them.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 9:07 PM
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