Friday, February 24, 2006

Great post by Ali


Here. In the immortal words of Walt Kelly, "We have met the enemy and he is us." I notice that Zayed is also talking that way. That way lies sanity and progress. That is progress.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

That is a good post.

I think the White House does look at Sadr as the enemy as well the Saddamites. I heard Don Senor say flat out that Sadr is troublemaker who needs to be dealt with.

But Ali is right, if people would start to take responsibility people like Sadr would lose some of that power.

ambisinistral said...

It is a volatile situation.

After sistani put Sadr in the bottle in the early stages, the US forces turned their attention to the Sunni triangle. The deadenders ended up squandering much of their support with their harassing attacks. So much so that they had lost so much ground that the Sunnis were moving into the political process.

Now, Sadr jumps on this opportunity to try a bit of a coup. It is interesting that the Sunis are resisting retaliation, just like the shite did earlier.

If they can hold the line I wonder if Sistani can isolate Sadr enough that the government's army, with support from US troops, can't finally turn against the Sadr brigades?

Definitely riding a tiger over there at the moment.

Unknown said...

Would they need to fight Sadr's brigades if they could just get rid of him?

Rick Ballard said...

Terrye,

I think he's a figurehead but we should kill him and find out. In fact, treating brigade leadership like those little ducks in a shooting gallery would probably be a good idea for a bit.

I really want to know who is up after Sistani cashes in. That's the important question.

Unknown said...

rick:

So what is keeping the little monster alive? It is not as if the coalition does not know where he is. A drone would do the job.

God, listen to me. I sound like a bad 007 movie.

ambisinistral said...

Would they need to fight Sadr's brigades if they could just get rid of him?

Yes they would. He represents a part of the Iraqi political landscape that definitely exists. If he wasn't around somebody else would step in to take his place.

The real trick is it can't be just the US, or even primarily the US, fighting him. In a way, the Sadr Brigades represent the eventual revolution Iraquis have to faceto truly sink the roots of democracy.

If they can't handle him then he, or some other strong man like him, will make a hash of the place again.