I call it like I see it. If you choose not to believe me, that's your prerogative. I won't lose any sleep over it.
We have a mission to do. And we're the ones dodging the mortars and the rockets.
If you can't give us any respect, at least back off on the attitude a little, hmmmm?
WOAH!! Hold the phone; I think you mistake my “tone” as other than it truly is.
Let me clarify:
I want Mookie out of the picture on a permanent basis.
I want Maliki’s efforts as PM to be the cause of this.
I want greater stability in Iraq.
I want that stability to be maintained by Iraqi forces; preferrably civilian Law Enforcement, not the military.
I want all of those things to be reality to a sufficient degree that all of you can declare a SUCCESSFUL end to the United State’s mission in Iraq, and come home victorious.
Be certain of this also: you DO have my greatest respect.
My initial “THEN what?” was not to dis your stated desire that al-Sad’r “get the hell out”; I am, in plain fact, in STRONG agreement with you at that point.
My initial post was simply to highlight my sentiment that THIS time had better not turn out like LAST time; that this go ‘round with Mookie had better drive a stake in his heart once and for all. LAST time there was soft-pedalling, and side-stepping, and the guy was let off to go about his business. I don’t seee any resonable way that that can be allowed to happen again without damage to Maliki’s credibility, and I see no way he could be let go that would not result in another, even uglier confrontation in the future.
He’s an ego with guns and the only way to deal with a guy like that is to pop his balloon; preferrably very publicly, and with a flamethrower, to emphasize the finality of it all.
Now, I’d personally love to have a few of our best go “in the black” and sing Mookie “Silent Night”. But, as much as I’d like for that to happen, I really think this fight has to be won by Maliki’s administration.
Actually, I think the sweetest move would be if Maliki could infiltrate Mookie’s org, take him down, and have it look like an inside job.
Obviously, that’s all wishin’ on a star, and we’ll just have to wait and see how it shakes out in reality, but whatever happens, don’t think for a microsecond that I have any desire for Iraq that doesn’t include you all coming home alive, and leaving a solid Iraqi government in control.
Forty years from now, I want you and everyone else in the world to be able to look at your present work Iraq and say, “That was the catalytic force that enabled Iraq to become the free and prosperpous nation that it now is.”