Iraqi militias feeling pushback (Dems to Petraeus: Can we still surrender?)

Washington Times | 4/12/08 | By Sharon Behn and Sara A. Carter

[JohnHuang2]

Tribal leaders in southern Iraq are starting to push back against Iranian-supported militias in Basra, cracking their hold over the economically crucial province, Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker said yesterday at two separate roundtable interviews with reporters. Continues...

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Dems to Petraeus: Can we still surrender?

Democrats are desperate to hand Iraq over to al-Qaeda and Iran -- change we can believe in! Nut Pelosi and Harry Reid have tried over 50 times to force Bush to lose the war for them, and failed. So desperate are libbies, they're now busy concocting imaginary victories for the enemy out of whole cloth, just as they did during Viet Nam. Approximately 10 minutes after the crackdown on Shia militias began, the press proclaimed the crackdown had failed. Yet, if the goal of the mighty "Mahdi Army" was to get its butt kicked, it succeeded swimmingly.

Days after the press declared Iraqi forces defeated, Iraqi forces had captured almost 500 Mahdi Army fighters, killed almost 600 of them and wounded nearly a thousand of Napoleon Sadr's forces. In response, the AP said Nouri al-Maliki was left "politically battered and humbled" by the Madhi Army's superior forces. Al-Maliki then battered and humbled his way into regaining control of the ports in Basra after driving the Madhi Army off the streets of Karbala, Kut, Hilla, Diwaniyah, Najaf, Nasiriyah, etc. The 'victorious' Sadr (in Iran during all of this) then begged for a ceasefire, since this is what winning armies always do -- beg for a ceasefire to halt their own advances. Maliki pressed on, which prompted renowned military expert Frank Rich to complain that the fight in Basra was "a mini-Tet that belied the 'success' of the surge," the idiot forgetting that The Surge was in Baghdad and Anbar Province, not Basra.

Despite having 'won' the battle, al-Mookie announced Tuesday that he was canceling his own Million Imam March -- too many of his followers found dead after 'winning' so well -- and is "raising the prospect of disbanding his Mahdi army" (AP, 4/7), more proof he won! The offer strangely came hours after al-Maliki issued an ultimatum to disband or get banned from provincial elections. Al-Maliki hadn't gotten the memo that he lost and to 'Run! Run for your life!'

Gen. Petraeus noted during the hearing Tuesday "the destructive role Iran (via its Quds Force) has played in funding, training, arming and directing the so-called special groups" allied with Sadr, the Democrats' conquering hero. "Iran has fueled the violence" and the "nefarious activities by (Iran's) Quds Force have continued . . ." Iran -- you know, the same Iran the Iraq Study Group insisted wanted so much peace and stability in Iraq. Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.

Responding to Gen. Petraeus, Hillary Clinton shocked the world by announcing that "it's time to begin an orderly process" of withdrawal. 'YES!' shouted Obama, pumping his fist in the air. But she wasn't talking about her campaign.

Hillary complained about the horrors of the war, and if anyone knows the horrors and brutality of war up close it's Hillary Clinton!

Obama tried to close his stature gap with McCain by sitting on a high chair. Attempting to distinguish himself from Hillary, he declared . . . it's time to begin an orderly process of withdrawal, then droned on and on about how he opposed the war. A Hussein against removing Hussein from power. *Collapsing on the fainting couch.*

As already noted, Iran is funding, arming, training and directing Shia death squads in Iraq, so Obama thinks Iran would be great for peace in Iraq. "We should be talking to them," he told Gen. Petraeus. Have a dialogue on race, or dialogue on centrifuges, which has worked swimmingly. All Obama is saying is give the Chamberlain-Hitler model a chance.

Obama is too afraid to meet with Chris Wallace of Fox News, but he's just the guy to stare down Ahmanutjob, bring him to his knees with lustrous repartee, make him melt with friendly handshakes. Root out death squads in Iraq through dazzling wordsmithery. The nuclear mullahs are quaking in their bloody boots.

Showing how well such talks would work, the U.S. in fact has been talking to Iran about not supplying the death squads in Iraq since May of last year, breaking a 27-year "diplomatic freeze" (AP, 5/29/07). The news was even announced in the Senate at the time. Obama says he didn't attend the Senate that day.

To show they have a 'vision' to protect America, the Democrats' three overarching themes in their line of questioning were: (1) When are we going to leave? (2) Any idea when we're going to leave? (3) Can we know today when we're going to leave? Democrats plan to turn Iraq around just as they've done in places like New Orleans and Detroit.

In the back of the hearing room were the raving lunatics, or liberals granted unescorted passes from local mental hospitals, wearing "ghostly makeup and black shawls similar to traditional Muslim garb." Apparently attempting to woo moderate voters, "some had red-stained hands" and "held up signs that read 'LIES,' 'Surge of Suffering,' and 'Lead U.S. out of Iraq.'" One of these nuts had to be dragged out by police after disrupting the hearing. Way on the other side of the room sat several normal Americans "wearing World War II veterans hats with American flag ties." The AP says this shows a nation "deeply divided" -- yes if by "deeply divided" you mean certifiable nutjobs on one side, patriotic Americans on the other.

As the Petraeus hearings show, libbies are so invested in seeing America defeated in Iraq, they go bananas when presented with facts, so here go more facts. Ten months since the full surge kicked in, Gen Petraeus noted how:

-- "There are now over 91,000 Sons of Iraq, Shia as well as Sunni, under contract to help coalition and Iraqi forces protect their neighborhoods and secure infrastructure and roads."

-- During the past year, Baghdad's government had launched a surge of its own -- "adding well over 100,000 additional soldiers and police to the ranks of its security forces" and is "slowly increasing its capability to deploy and employ these forces . . . over 540,000 individuals now serve in the Iraqi security forces."

-- "For nearly six months, security incidents have been at a level not seen since early to mid 2005 . . . the current level of (high-profile) attacks . . . remains far below its height a year ago."

-- Civilian deaths have dropped. Ethno-sectarian violence has dropped. Attacks on U.S. and coalition forces have dropped. There are probably more violent deaths per 100,000 in Washington DC than in all of Iraq. We need to redeploy to DC!

The Long War Journal documents some of the other recent (big) developments in Iraq, such as:

-- Coalition forces killing "a senior intelligence officer of al Qaeda in Iraq's network in Diyala. Arkan Khalaf Khudayyir, also known as Karrarr . . . was described as a senior intelligence leader . . . who facilitated suicide bombing attacks in the Diyala River Valley," and this same "network also has been responsible for attacks in Baghdad, 'to include attacks by female suicide bombers.'"

-- "A document seized by US forces in Balad, and a communique from al Qaeda in Iraq's leader intercepted by U.S. intelligence (painting) a bleak picture of the terror group's ability to conduct operations in former strongholds." A captured diary written by a "emir" Abu Tariq "documents the terror group's decline, the desertion of its fighters, and logistical problems incurred in the wake of the surge. The diary is also an intelligence coup for U.S. forces. Tariq names current members of the groups and the companies and individuals used in al Qaeda's support network in the region." Hillary said that if media reports are accurate, the diary requires a willing suspension of disbelief.

-- Al Qaeda in Iraq, "driven from its havens in Baghdad and the surrounding belts region, and most recently Diyala," has tried to regroup in Mosul, "which has emerged as the latest battleground." On January 25, 'lame duck' al-Maliki announced a new offensive to kick al Qaeda out of the Mosul region, where al Qaeda "maintains its only established supply line to Syria." The operation has gone better than expected, as you can see by all the media coverage it's not getting.

-- On the political front, Iraqi leaders pushed through a provincial powers law that helps define Iraqi federalism, and sets the stage for provincial elections later this year," which is on top of enactment of an "amnesty law to resolve the status of many Iraqis held in Iraqi custody," which is on top of enactment in January of a "de-Ba'athification law that allows mid-level Baath party members to re-enter political and civic life," which is on top of enactment in December of "a pension law that will allow tens of thousands of Sunnis to collect the retirement benefits they were promised." The proposed oil law hasn't passed yet, but "the central government in Iraq continues to distribute oil revenue to the provinces" as if it had.

Now that 12 of the 18 "benchmarks" have been met, liberals complain that the laws passed only after sharp bickering and because lawmakers traded favors by voting for one another's bills -- mammoth abominations unheard of in a democracy.

Before the recent crackdown against militias in Iraq, the New York Times complained that al-Maliki wasn't cracking down enough against militias in Iraq. Now the New York Times complains that Crackdown on Militias May Add to Instability in Iraq. But if the Mookster's idiotic provocations accomplished anything, it's to get the Sunni, Kurd and Shiite factions in the government behind al-Maliki and against the Mookster. Cracking down on Shia militias was another of the Democrats' hallowed "benchmarks," but that was until al-Maliki started cracking down on Shia militias. Bush-Petraeus-McCain won the argument, which is why the losercrats are looking sadr and sadr every day.

Anyway, that's...
My Two Cents...
"JohnHuang2"

[JohnHuang2]

Have a great weekend, y’all.

[DISCO]

Great reading. Ioo bad we can’t get this reporting from the MSN. I love Free Republic. Now spread the word.

[Rocky]

An excellent column. Thank you.

The Democrats continue to try to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[dixiechick2000]

"So desperate are libbies, they're now busy concocting imaginary victories for the enemy out of whole cloth, just as they did during Viet Nam."

Thanks for hitting THAT nail on the head.

I waited up for your two cents.
It's always worth it...awesome stuff, my FRiend.

Thank you SO much!

[ARE SOLE]

Good post JH2. As usual.

Regards

[singfreedom]

Oh, John, you clever devil, you!

I think every article is better than the last! They are definitely worth more than 2 cents!

[raygun]

[JDoutrider]

HoooooRah!!!

[DGHoodini]

One other thing not mentioned of note, is after the “glorius victory” of the Sadrites in Baghdad, during which, they, or their Iranian masters bkew up a major pipeline in pumping oil to the ports....Now that the “defeated” Iraqi army is in control of the area, once that pope was repaired...wonder of wonders...Iraq is now able to pump oil at pre-war levels...just by fixing that pipe...seems it had a major leak that was drainig oil right over the border into Iran....

[betty boop]

Absolutely fantastic essay, JohnHuang2! The best analysis I’ve read anywhere, and so well written. Simply outstanding. Thank you so much!

[Grammy]

Thanks John. Great as always.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the report.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Sadr is all upset today:

Sadr Lashes Out at 'Terrorist' Gates

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Muqtada al-Sadr says he will not enter any political process that would allow US forces to remain in Iraq.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for this excellent wrap-up!

[dokmad]

This was a brilliant article actually. Iran is clearly at the root of radical policy in the middle east and support for Al Qaeda. And no one is more clearly supportive of them than the Democratic Party of the United States. Again, they are exposed as the real weak link in American security. And the sheeple they follow so blindly, so loyally. And to what end?