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Gen. Petraeus Meets With Al-Sadr Deputies
Fox News ^ | 11/12/2007 | NA

Posted on 11/12/2007 9:48:12 AM PST by Daus

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WASHINGTON —  Top U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus has met with representatives of Muqtada al-Sadr, once one of the top enemies fueling the insurgency against the elected Iraqi government, FOX News has confirmed.

The general has not met personally with al-Sadr, the military said, but the meetings come as the Pentagon is softening its approach to the firebrand Shiite leader who recently eased his hard-line stance with a ceasefire call last August.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alsadr; iraq; petraeus; progress
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I've always wondered why the let Al-Sadr live. This may be why.
1 posted on 11/12/2007 9:48:14 AM PST by Daus
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To: Daus

This could be very good news. Mostly because it doesn’t look like Mookie is still in Iran’s back pocket- not if he’s going after Iranian proxies. Could that be the Badr Brigades, or a splinter from the Mahdis? Unclear from this story, but if the Sunnis are helping destroy Al-Qaeda, and Al-Sadr is helping neutralize Iranian influence, it’s just a matter of mopping up. We win. They lose.


2 posted on 11/12/2007 10:12:38 AM PST by Burr5
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To: Daus

In other news, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are deeply saddened.


3 posted on 11/12/2007 10:30:06 AM PST by anoldafvet (To liberals, building a wall across the Mexican border is a violation of the Voting Rights Act.)
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To: Daus

Not a bad thing. Let Sadr’s goons see in person just who has been kicking their asses so completely and thoroughly.


4 posted on 11/12/2007 10:33:18 AM PST by reagan_fanatic (Ron Paul put the cuckoo in my Cocoa Puffs)
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To: Daus
The end state is a free democratic, a republic of Iraq that prospers and is stable as part of the world community. It is important to stay focused on the long term goal of achieving the end state and not get sucked into personal vendetta’s.

It is very unfortunate that the dogs were called off in 2004. We nearly had him and had we not been called off, he’d be dead today for sure. In fact, we injured him on one occasion which also took out some of his senior lieutenants and personal body guards. What matters today though is that we stay end state oriented and if negotiating and dealing with him is necessary to achieve this end and he has turned, i.e. buying into the political process, then negotiating and dealing with him is fully acceptable. However, if all he spews is hate and death, if he has no intent on being part of the political process in Iraq and simply wants to carve out his piece of Iraq with Iranian help, then pandering to him amounts to selling out the future of Iraq to achieve a short term success (appeasing the monster) so we can move forward quickly without really fixing the problems. If Sadr has not turned or at least moved in our direction and we negotiate/deal with him, we are then operating from a position of weakness and the results will long term be devastating for Iraq.

It's hard to tell what is really going on. I'm no longer there, and the media is all crap anyhow. I can only hope that we are not selling out Iraq and looking for a quick gracefull exit, leaving Iraq for the wolves.

5 posted on 11/12/2007 10:40:51 AM PST by Red6 (Come and take it.)
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To: Daus
Wow, Petreaus really seems to know how to play the Byzantine politics of that region.

No wonder the Dims are so afraid he might pull this off and get a win.

6 posted on 11/12/2007 10:43:17 AM PST by colorado tanker (I'm unmoderated - just ask Bill O'Reilly)
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To: Daus

And lo, through the gloom and darkness, with eyes squinting in disgust of reality, Mookie sees the handwritten calligraphy on the wall....... “We are going to kill you”


7 posted on 11/12/2007 10:46:58 AM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . Moveon is not us...... Moveon is the enemy)
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To: Daus
Chalabi back in action in Iraq - October 28, 2007 - "The key is going to be getting the concerned local citizens — and all the citizens — feeling that this government is reconnected with them," Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander here, said Saturday. Chalabi "agrees with that." Earlier this month, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki named Chalabi as head of the services committee, a consortium of eight service ministries and two Baghdad municipal posts, that is tasked with bringing services to Baghdad, the heart of the surge plan. Chalabi "is an important part of the process," said Col. Steven Boylan, Petraeus' spokesman. "He has a lot of energy."

On Saturday, Petraeus traveled to Arab Jabour with Chalabi, their first trip together to a Baghdad neighborhood since Chalabi's new posting. During the trip, Col. Terry Ferrell, 2nd brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division described where he wants to see a new health care facility. Chalabi chimed in: "Where is the Health Ministry in this?" "That's your job," Petraeus replied.

8 posted on 11/12/2007 10:48:51 AM PST by Tailgunner Joe
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To: Daus

Perhaps someone could point out a single instance where cuddling up to that POS has resulted in a downstream positive outcome.


9 posted on 11/12/2007 10:49:40 AM PST by pt17
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To: pt17
Perhaps someone could point out a single instance where cuddling up to that POS has resulted in a downstream positive outcome.

It hasn't been tried before. Let's give it a shot.

The whole dynamic in Iraq has changed drastically over the past few months.

They're tired of war. They want peace and they've figured out what they need to do to achieve it.

10 posted on 11/12/2007 10:59:44 AM PST by Allegra (Greetings from a kinder, gentler Iraq. God bless US and Coalition Forces.)
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To: Daus
Petraeus, “All your arses are belong to us”.
11 posted on 11/12/2007 11:04:43 AM PST by ryan71
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To: Daus

Well, THAT doesn’t fit the Viet Nam, quagmire, civil war template! The lame-stream media’s shorts are knotting...


12 posted on 11/12/2007 11:45:28 AM PST by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.....)
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To: pt17

“cuddeling up to that POS”...Maybe Petrayus is “taking names” for further review.


13 posted on 11/12/2007 11:49:28 AM PST by SWEETSUNNYSOUTH (Help stamp out liberalism!)
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To: SWEETSUNNYSOUTH

petraeus....dammit, I can’t spell!


14 posted on 11/12/2007 11:51:13 AM PST by SWEETSUNNYSOUTH (Help stamp out liberalism!)
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To: Burr5
>>> We win. They lose.<<<

Shhhhh...don't tell the NYT or Congressional Democrats.

15 posted on 11/12/2007 12:01:58 PM PST by HardStarboard (Take No Prisoners - We're Out Of Qurans)
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To: Allegra

Let me be the first to predict that he’ll be next year’s Nobel Peace Prize nominee...(and I say this with tongue only halfway in cheek)


16 posted on 11/12/2007 12:12:21 PM PST by ErnBatavia (...forward this to your 10 very best friends....)
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To: colorado tanker
"No wonder the Dims are so afraid he might pull this off and get a win."

And, given what she said to him at the hearings, Hillary, if elected, would have to fire him.

17 posted on 11/12/2007 12:17:06 PM PST by LZ_Bayonet (There's Always Something.............And there's always something worse!)
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To: Allegra

..
MAN OF THE YEAR
18 posted on 11/12/2007 12:32:17 PM PST by evets (beer)
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To: Daus; All

NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOoooo!

Muqtada is NEVER to be trusted! He only becomes your friend to get close enough to slit your throat, or as he is more likely to do, plant a bomb, so that he can be elsewhere, and claim no part, when it explodes. Beware General! You are taking your life, and the lives of your troops in your hands, when you treat with Muqtada. He murders his own.


19 posted on 11/12/2007 1:06:52 PM PST by DGHoodini (The Dems no longer have the humanity to grasp that there are things worth dying for.)
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To: evets
You're right, if the situation continues to stabilize through December, for Petraeus not to be Man of the Year would be an outrage.

Let the campaign for Petraeus for Man of the Year begin now!

20 posted on 11/12/2007 1:16:32 PM PST by Plutarch
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