Posted on 08/22/2007 1:59:21 PM PDT by WBL 1952
Earlier today, the Italian news service AKI reported that the presumed leader of the largest insurgency in Iraq will start cooperating with the Iraqi government. Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, one of the highest-ranking members of Saddam Hussein's government, reportedly pledged to work with Iraqi and American forces to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq:
The leader of Iraq's banned Baath party, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, has decided to join efforts by the Iraqi authorities to fight al-Qaeda, one of the party's former top officials, Abu Wisam al-Jashaami, told pan-Arab daily Al Hayat. "AlDouri has decided to sever ties with al-Qaeda and sign up to the programme of the national resistance, which includes routing Islamist terrorists and opening up dialogue with the Baghdad government and foreign forces," al-Jashaami said.
Al-Douri has decided to deal directly with US forces in Iraq, according to al-Jashaami. He figures in the 55-card deck of "most wanted" officials from the former Iraqi regime issued by the US government.
In return, for cooperating in the fight against al-Qaeda, al-Douri has asked for guarantees over his men's safety and for an end to Iraqi army attacks on his militias.
Recent weeks have seen a first step in this direction, when Baathist fighters cooperated with Iraqi government forces in hunting down al-Qaeda operatives in the volatile Diyala province and in several districts of the capital, Baghadad.
This could be game, set, and match for the Iraq War. Some smaller insurgent elements assisted in clearing Baqubah as a test to see whether an alliance with Americans would work. Apparently, the experiment worked. If al-Douri accepts the authority of the elected Iraqi government, then almost all of the resistance in western Iraq will disappear -- leaving AQI very exposed.
(Excerpt) Read more at captainsquartersblog.com ...
BTTT
??!?
He’s implicated in gassing the Kurds!
In war you use any asset that will bring you closer to victory. You don’t let emotions dictate how you react to a potential intelligence coup. People who change allegiances in war can be very useful. Don’t execute him because you dislike his previous actions.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“the Redhead has come out of hiding”
I thought he had died of skin cancer over a year ago.
I understand that this idea is probably sickening to many of us, but it's something that we're probably going to have to learn to live with.
Of course you'll have to pardon this guy if he's going to work with us. NOT to give him any excuses but he was under the command of Saddam. After the fall of Baghdad he was on the run....I wouldn't have come out and surrendered either, we shot Saddam's kids full of holes and hanged their dad till his head popped off. If this is true it's good news. War is a Bitch then you win. If this helps us win so be it, I don't think this is a "I've sold my soul issue". I'm sure something can be worked out
I’m not as optamistic as you are, but it certainly is a good thing. I don’t have confidence in Maliki, and I’m afraid liberals will make us withdraw too soon to allow the Iraqi military to stand up.
Emotions?? hello???
The Kurds have been our friends and allies. This guy gassed them. I don’t think the Kurds are going to sweep that under the rug, nor should they.
“dislike his previous actions”? He’s guilty of genocide.
We don’t make friends with genocidal monsters. They are put on trial and executed.
This isn’t a surprise considering Maliki is working for the Iranians.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Hirohito was implicated in far worse.
The question for you is: if by leaving him alive you can possibly win the war, is it worth doing so?
I give it a provisional "yes," assuming that al-Douri's own ambitions can be curbed. The real world is not necessarily neat and clean -- sometimes ugly trades are required, and this may be one of them.
Excellent news, if true. However, the one big variable still remains: the Mahdi Army. If you further marginalize Al Sadr, he’ll either kick his people into action to get some power back, or his people will just break further away from him and do their own coordinated attacks. Still, though, better to fight one “army,” rather than two.
“Al Douri and all of his men are going to need to be given clemency for all the crimes that they committed.”
We can’t do that to the Kurds.
heck we even pardoned Robert E. Lee
(duck)
I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s disappeared at some point in the next couple of years. So he gives up the insurgency, but he still has a LOT of enemies from his old glory days.
If the current Iraqi government decides to pardon this guy to help stabilize the entire country, the Kurds will go along. They won’t necessarily like it, but the potential for a death blow to Al-Qaieda is too great to pass up.
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