Maliki's trapped himself in Basra
Maliki made a mistake.
There's no way that the Mahdi will ever be actually defeated in Basra, and now Maliki has drawn a line by his presence. At some point, he'll have to leave (declaring victory or not) and the Mahdi will walk back out onto the streets and claim victory.
Also, the around the clock curfew in Baghdad has been extended indefinitely.
Despite the mounting crisis, al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, vowed to remain in Basra until government forces wrest control from militias, including al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. He called the fight for control of Basra "a decisive and final battle."
There's no way that the Mahdi will ever be actually defeated in Basra, and now Maliki has drawn a line by his presence. At some point, he'll have to leave (declaring victory or not) and the Mahdi will walk back out onto the streets and claim victory.
Also, the around the clock curfew in Baghdad has been extended indefinitely.
posted by mikevotes at
4:00 PM
2 Comments:
You're right. He misjudged the situation badly, it seems, and now he's dug himself in pretty deep. Who was his advisor in this misadventure - Rumsfeld?
By
Anonymous, at 8:40 AM
Supposedly, this was his idea. Of course, that may simply be attaching blame.
Whoever is behind it, it shows a real lack of understanding. There's practically no way to declare victory over this sort of militia/insurgency.
By
mikevotes, at 8:50 AM
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