Comments on: Crack up: Islamic Army in Iraq splits from Al Qaeda

By: Hot Air » Blog Archive » “Fierce battles” against Al Qaeda being fought in Baghdad — but by whom?

Thu, 31 May 2007 21:38:49 +0000

[...] This AP story is making the rounds of righty blogs since it attributes the uprising to local residents — which, strictly speaking, might be true, but nevertheless doesn’t quite capture the “nuance” of the situation. According to Reuters, those residents are members of the Islamic Army of Iraq, a Baathist insurgent group that warned AQ two months ago to stop targeting its members and then formally broke with them (albeit maybe only temporarily) a week or so later. Here’s where they’re at now: Sunni Muslim Iraqi insurgents fought fierce battles on Thursday with al Qaeda-led militants for control of a neighbourhood in Baghdad that has effectively been outside government control for months. [...]

By: Hot Air » Blog Archive » Four bombs in Baghdad kill 178

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Four bombs in Baghdad kill 178 — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:50:44 +0000

[...] Meanwhile, some weirdness: until now the storyline has been that it’s the Sunnis who are split (between pro- and anti-AQ factions) and the Shiites who are, roughly speaking, united. Today, however, the news is that AQ is acting contrite towards the other Sunni insurgent groups and the Sadrists are starting to square off with SCIRI’s militia, the Badr Brigades: But beyond the political jostling, analysts say, the ultimate fate of the Maliki government may depend on the outcome of the fight for power unfolding on the ground. “There is a real war going on between Shiites in Basra, Diwaniyah, Karbala, and Najaf, and it’s a mess,” says Jabar. [...]

By: crosspatch

crosspatch — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 18:25:32 +0000

People have no idea of the scope of the possibilities in this thing. First of all, you would have Iraq regaining its place as the center of Shiite thought and culture. This could well moderate things in Lebanon and even Iran itself and the Iranian ayatollahs would be, in the religious heirarchy, of lower stature than the ayatollahs in Iraq. It also works to surround Syria. There is the argument that while the instability in Iraq is being fed in part from Syria, that direction might reverse at some point in the future if Syrians want a taste of free enterprise. It probably won’t come in the form of bullets, though, so much as good and eventually people wanting to engage in commerce cross the border. The dusty western desert villages could become economic boomtowns once this settles down.

But the monarchies and dictators of the region are in no hurry to see a(nother) secular elected government in the region.

By: PRCalDude

PRCalDude — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:40:40 +0000

The last paragraph says it all: a proxy war of Saudi Arabia vs. Iran. Less resources going toward fighting the indidels. Where’s the downside?

By: Tim Burton

Tim Burton — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:41:13 +0000

Amen Tony!

By: Tony737

Tony737 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:30:11 +0000

Right on, Pinky. When the history of this war is written, we will see that it was the right thing to do, even if it was too hard for some to handle. Half the people in this country (and the West in general) are so spoiled by their easy lifestlye that they think they can just go on living that way and nobody will stop them. Well, we live this way because our Soldiers are out there keeping us free and safe. Life is hard and hard decisions have to be made. To paraphrase JFK “We will do it not because it is easy, but because it is hard.”

If we had known in 1938 what we knew by 1945, we would’ve pre-empted Hitler too. History will show that removing Saddam BEFORE he had the chance to achieve his goals did in fact save more lives than it cost, just as did the atomic bomb in WW2.

By: PinkyBigglesworth

PinkyBigglesworth — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:43:58 +0000

There is so much going on over there that the American public is not being told, it’s treasonist……

People have to make day to day decisions that will effect them and their family, in a country that was controlled by terror and fear for 30 years, they make the decision for change, to fight for freedom, looking over their shoulders all the time, “Thank God for the Americans”, maybe we can do this……….

Then we have Kerry, Pelosi, Murtha, and Kennedy…. and by the way AQ, who keep them emboldened.

Hope, Freedom, Winning…….. all good words. All good deeds. All good ideals.

When we look back on this, will the people who have hidden the truth from the “sheeple of Amercia” ever be called to answer, like Mr. Imus?

I sure hope so…….

By: Anwyn

Anwyn — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:24:03 +0000

Let’s you and him fight.

Heh.

By: Canadian Imperialist Running Dog

Canadian Imperialist Running Dog — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 03:29:18 +0000

First law of effective combat: Let’s you and him fight.