Posted on 03/05/2006 8:01:32 AM PST by Hadean
Sunnis Seeking U.S. Protection by UPI Wire Mar 5, 2006
BAGHDAD, March 5, 2006 (UPI) -- Worried about the looming threat of civil war, leaders of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority are starting to drop demands for an immediate U.S. withdrawal.
With Iraq's Shiite majority poised to control Iraq's government and economy, the Sunni Arab minority that once dominated Iraq sees the United States as a layer of protection, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Meanwhile, the Shiite majority, which once cheered the arrival of U.S. troops, is losing enthusiasm for foreign soldiers and diplomats, the newspaper said.
Many Sunnis say the United States has a responsibility to establish security before leaving. They fear that if a civil war erupts, Iraqi police brigades would devolve into Shiite militias, the newspaper said.
"We would refuse the withdrawal of American forces during this period," said Salman Jumayli, spokesman for the main Sunni bloc in parliament. "They have to fix what they destroyed...(and) guarantee that no sect will dominate the other sect and no party will dominate another party."
Like the big bully running crying to teacher.
Bring us the head of Zaqarwi and we'll talk.
Ain't that the truth. The teacher whose kids they just harrassed.
Good call. Along with all his pals.
The Sunnis in Iraq really are a bunch of dead-end morons. There was no way they were ever going to win a civil war given that they constitute only 15 to 20% of the population. So all their insurgency did is show that they are not to be trusted not only because they are thugs, but because they are the worst sort of thugs, which is stupid thugs -- the kind that get lots of people killed for no good reason.
The clear lesson to me here is the uselessness and instability of a religious, non secular State.
Hard to see any hope for a stabilized Iraq if we leave and we'll be back to square one. My solution...institute the militry draft and quadruple the size of the coalition forces with intent to occupy for a decade or two. Absolutely scourge the jihadis from the land and utilize iraqi oil revenues to pay for occupation, to compensate coalition killed and wounded troops plus a bonus for all serving in the operation.
Stability in Iraq will come if we let the Shiites finish off the Sunnis. We have an insurgency and foreign jihadists due to Sunnis complicity. We would be foolish to try to save them. Let the Sunnis be set as an example for any future third world nation that attempts to screw with the US.
ping
Interestingly enough, the Turks used the Arab Sunni faction as government enforcers and tax collectors. They were allowed to brutalize the Shi'ite majority for many centuries.
As is usual in such cases, the Sunni found it useful to raise their children as sociopaths.
That 15% of the Iraqi people who are sociopathic are not easily dealt with unless they are isolated from everyone else. The Shi'ite militia probably have an idea or two about how that might be done, and there are centuries of revenge to be gotten.
You got thar right Zarkawi and Al Sadr too. I am tired of seeing this prick masquerade as a"Holy Man"
OK, first lesson in how to appeal to Americans for help. Don't insult those you need. We've been insulted too much and no longer respond to that whole "guilt" thingy. Want us to stay, want us to help? Be nice.
This is exactly what the terrorist leadership has been afraid of from the beginning. Most of them are stupid, but some of them aren't, they had to know that there would eventually be adequate incentive for their allies to turn on them.
The noose is tightening.
Sunnis cooperation is the DNC's worst nightmare because it helps the coalition. How's that for a postion to stake your future to. Idiot traitors.
You are correct.
So we replace a Sunni dictatorship under Saddam with a Taliban type of Shiite religious dictatorship under the leadership of al-Sadr or similar leader with Iranian backing?
No thank you. I'll opt for a secular Iraq with a fluid and often volatile balance of power. From what I hear from sources other than the old antique media (OAM) Iraq seems to be progressing quite nicely in that direction; a little slower than might be wished, but certainly more so than we are hearing here at home.
With all due respect, this is wrong, wrong, wrong. Obviously, the media is having some success in getting their distorted, downright fictional messages about Iraq across.
There are some bad Sunnis. (Mostly those who held favor with the former Saddam regime.)
There are some bad Shiites. (Mostly the Mahdi group led by the anti-American Muqtada al-Sadr.)
The majority on both sides are decent, reasonable people who desire a government by the people, and are willing to come together to achieve this. We are not foolish to help in this process.
This will work. We need to have patience. This is all very new to the Iraqis. And when this democracy takes a good hold, the reverberations of this success will have a positive impact on the entire region for years to come.
Don't get me wrong. If the two groups agree to form a government, that is great. It means the Sunnis finally got off their high class horse and recognize reality. On the other hand if they refuse and war breaks out. I do not think we should flee the country or worst, attempt to play middle man. I think we should do the just thing and support the Shiites so the Civil War will be over quickly and the US will still retain friendly relations in a post Civil War Iraq. We are losing Shiite support because we are trying to be cute by being the middle man at a time when Shiite CIVILIANS are being killed by Sunni backed insurgents. Siding with the Shiites as they crush the Sunnis sends a message to Arab countries that the US rewards their friends and do not hesitate to punish their enemies severely. One of the lesson I am learning from the Iraq War is the US has good strategic plan in the ME but our leaders do not realize that it requires astute Imperial Strategic thinking along the lines of Imperial Rome, Dynastic China, and other great empires. Some of the tactics are ruthless and brutal, but the US does not have the stomach or political unity to carrying it out. I keep looking at how we are carrying out our plans, and the shortfall is when the good guy approach fails, what is our back up plan? There is none, except discreetly running out of there. I think the US should stick to business and entertainment, that is the only thing we excel in. Overseas strategic wars, let someone elso who can take high casualties and have the will to be brutal to brutal enemies do it. Read Roman and Chinese Dynastic history. Most of their expansion was done thru trade, local proxies and diplomacy, but it was backed up by a military strategy capable of any level of warfare if the soft approach failed. Not all their wars were small casualty affairs, but because their societies were tough enough, such losses did not preclude their abilities to maintain their empires.
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