Posted on 11/14/2006 4:02:43 PM PST by dogbyte12
BAGHDAD, Nov. 14 -- Armed men in Iraqi police uniforms and driving police vehicles kidnapped as many as 150 people from a government agency on Tuesday, and several senior police commanders were arrested in connection with the abductions, Iraqi officials said today.
The abductions were a well-orchestrated reminder of how challenging basic security remains in Iraq at a time when U.S. officials are pressing the local government to assert more control
Precise figures on how many people were kidnapped and how many were later released were hard to come by. The prime minister's office said more than 50 people were kidnapped and 20 later released. The Interior Ministry said 30 people were kidnapped and the Ministry of Higher Education said it was as many as 150 employees and visitors who were abducted.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
What is the solution? It's really not military. Our military can defeat anybody on the battlefield. It is besides the point now. How can we stop one Sunni neighbor from gunning down the Shia family a few blocks away and vice versa without overwhelming force?
The answer was supposed to be Iraqi police, but they are fatally compromised right now. So many crooks, militia members, thugs in the police force that there is no way they can do it without us. We do have a choice of staying there for years and years and it falling apart once we go, or leaving now and letting it fall apart. Neither option is great. If they would just stop killing each other for just a few months so electricity starts flowing, jobs start being created, things can improve, but there is no end to the reprisals.
The dirty secret is that many liberal leaders would like to have the military reduced to what it is in France or Canada. They think that we were responsible for the cold war and the arms race, for all the trouble in the world.
I agree 100% with that assesment with alot of the blame falling on Bremer......and I'll foever think Paul Wolfowitz as a blow hard neo con who promised the Iraqi Oil would pay for the war....and now he is off globe trotting for the World Bank......good intentions followed up by poor execution and planning......
The Badr militia is the other great Shia militia in Iraq. They have been killing Sunnis even before the Madhi Army got into it after the Samarra mosque bombing, but they were more quiet about it. The Madhi Army just kills large groups of civilians or holds them hostage which makes headlines.
The Badr is the great enemy of the Madhi Army for control of Southern Iraq.
You cut'n lose Freepers are no better than th RATS.
The entire plan was apparently well executed but the reason for doing it was not well thought out.
You cut'n lose Freepers are no better than the RATS.
The answer is the Iraqi Army.
It needs to be strenthened and if necessary allowed to coup the current government as they would like nothing better to do and replace with a pro-American secular strongman.
Actually, I do. And my point stands: Sadr is part of a slate that was voted in by elections which we not only endorsed, but lauded as the culmination of our "mission".
Therefore, we can't just "put a bullet" in the head of this popular and *legitimized* force in Iraqi society.
So much for those purple fingers, eh?
The next two years are crunch time for both Iraq and the USA, even if our side wins most of the battles in DC, the Iraqis MUST know that the tap could be shut off and the doors close in front of them....
Don't quit just yet; let's see if they can step up as we wrestle over stepping out. [First thing we need to do is to conduct serious and unapologetic attacks on EVERY suspected, alleged, or possible terrorist cell/family/individual in the country - Tomahawks are an acceptable substitute for troops when you are in a hurry].
"Actually, I do. And my point stands: Sadr is part of a slate that was voted in by elections which we not only endorsed, but lauded as the culmination of our "mission".
Actually you are wrong. Look on the slate, nowhere will you find Sadr's name.
He simply made a deal with Sistani that candidates he supports will be added to Sistani's list just like Hakim did.
We haven't lost. There is no cut and run here. Show me a target for us to bomb, and I say let's bomb it. Show me a standing army and we will engage it. What exactly are we supposed to do now? Be peacekeepers UN style?
We have defeated every standing army/militia in battle. It does us nothing in an urban guerilla war with people in civilian clothing perhaps being friendly, or perhaps with a suicide vest strapped to their chest.
I would actually welcome them all putting on uniforms so we knew who to shoot at, but it's not that kind of war.
And it was NEVER going to be.
Slam dunk, indeed.
I have already called for building bases and pulling back to them. A little genocide on the Sunnis will wake the region up to what they might face if Iraq fails.
Iraqi religious leaders issued a fatwa telling people to vote for the UIA list or be consigned to hell.
I wouldn't trust the Iraqi street to wipe its own a** let alone know what would happen if they voted for the combined religious block in the elections.
There are some professional smart Iraqis, the vast majority though are as backward as anywhere else in the Middle East.
I completely agree with you. I just wonder where all this wisdom was in 2003.
There are some professional smart Iraqis...
Piling up every day in the Baghdad morgue.
I hate to say what I am about to say. Maybe Saddam was right. Maybe it takes violence, fear and shredders to keep these people in line.
Don't be ashamed of that. Join the crowd -- some of us have been saying that for a while.
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