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Getting the Score Right in Basra (Great read)
Yahoo ^ | 4/2/2008 | Jack Kelly/RCP

Posted on 04/02/2008 8:32:38 AM PDT by tobyhill

In the opening game of the baseball season between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics in Japan, 11 runs were scored.

That lede would be unsatisfying to most sports fans, because it doesn't indicate which team won. But it is very like most of the reporting of battles in Iraq:

"The deadliest clashes were in Basra, where at least 47 people were killed and 223 wounded in the two days of fighting," wrote the AP's Kim Gamel in a dispatch March 26.

Ms. Gamel was writing about the opening clashes of Operation Knight's Charge, the effort by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki to take control of Iraq's second most populous city from Iranian-backed militias, chiefly the Mahdi Army nominally headed by the Moqtada al Sadr.

Fighting subsided after Mr. al Sadr called for a cease fire Sunday.

The cease fire "is seen as a serious blow" to Mr. Maliki, because "he had vowed that he would see the Basra campaign through to a military victory," wrote Erica Goode and James Glanz of the New York Times Monday. But Nibras Kazimi, an Iraqi who is a visiting scholar at the Hudson Institute, says his sources in Iraq tell him "the Mahdi army is losing very badly."

So who's right? It is rare in the annals of war for the side which is winning to seek a cease fire. And though Mr. al Sadr has said he wants one, Mr. Maliki hasn't said he'll grant one. "Security operations in Basra will continue," he said Monday.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: basra; iraq

1 posted on 04/02/2008 8:32:38 AM PDT by tobyhill
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To: tobyhill

This is Maliki’s big test to see if he has the balls to stand up to insurgents. The world, in particular the U.S., is watching.


2 posted on 04/02/2008 8:35:31 AM PDT by Slapshot68
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To: tobyhill
The Maliki government is attacking the remnants of the Mahdi army in Basra, that same government the mullahs thought they had under control.

God forbid AP or the NYT would mention this. It goes against the meta-narrative.

3 posted on 04/02/2008 8:39:51 AM PDT by Nonstatist
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To: Nonstatist
An article from CNN earlier today claimed that Iraqi troops controlled 75% of Basra with all of Basra accessible. The Iraqi troops had never controlled Basra before according to the media so I'm baffled at how the MSM keeps claiming Maliki lost.
4 posted on 04/02/2008 8:43:22 AM PDT by tobyhill (The media lies so much the truth is the exception)
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To: Slapshot68

And it would appear “our side” is winning this round.

Not that it is/will be reported in the MSM that way.


5 posted on 04/02/2008 8:43:29 AM PDT by PeteB570 (NRA - Life member and Black Rifle owner)
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To: PeteB570
Reading the full article I was reminded another significant battle in history where the enemy made a huge last offensive in an attempt to turn the tide and ended up sealing their fate.

It was called The Battle of The Bulge.

However, the reporting was better back then...

6 posted on 04/02/2008 8:55:10 AM PDT by HardStarboard (Take No Prisoners - We're Out Of Qurans)
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To: tobyhill

He gives Madhi loses but not coalition loses so you can compared the hundreds to the few. If you want to TRULY get the score right, compare apples to apples.


7 posted on 04/02/2008 9:14:22 AM PDT by bolobaby
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To: tobyhill
Even the WSJ had the same pantload on the front page yesterday. How could any allegedly intelligent reporter think that surrendering by declaring a premature cease fire and running for cover is a victory???

These POS's are so plugged into their Vietnam syndrome they can't even conceive that we're winning.

8 posted on 04/02/2008 9:14:32 AM PDT by colorado tanker (Number nine, number nine, number nine . . .)
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To: bolobaby

Uh, losses...

Le whoops.


9 posted on 04/02/2008 9:14:46 AM PDT by bolobaby
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To: bolobaby
I will find a report I read this moring but it said there was 25 Iraqi Troops killed, 1 US and 45 wounded.
10 posted on 04/02/2008 9:22:18 AM PDT by tobyhill (The media lies so much the truth is the exception)
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To: HardStarboard

I was reminded of media coverage of the Tet offensive. Only this time the US public does not have to rely on just the 3 network TV programs, the NYT and WP. The media’s dream of a Vietnam re-run is over.


11 posted on 04/02/2008 9:33:39 AM PDT by Gothmog (I fight for Xev)
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To: Gothmog

They get an A for effort.


12 posted on 04/02/2008 9:38:07 AM PDT by tobyhill (The media lies so much the truth is the exception)
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To: tobyhill
Funny that, but the collective reports *i've* been reading, have Muqtadas and the Iranian Special Groups losses, at over a collective 2,000 KIAs, WIAs and POWs.
13 posted on 04/02/2008 10:05:56 AM PDT by DGHoodini (Fall on your knees! Oh hear, the angels voices)
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To: DGHoodini

Not all in Basra of course, but all part of the criminal militia activity in the last week.


14 posted on 04/02/2008 10:09:11 AM PDT by DGHoodini (Fall on your knees! Oh hear, the angels voices)
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To: Slapshot68

“The mullahs know that they are losing,” said Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute. “Their great dream of driving America out of Iraq, which seemed to be about to be fulfilled just a year and a half ago, has now turned into the nightmare of humiliation and defeat for the Islamic republic. The Maliki government is attacking the remnants of the Mahdi army in Basra, that same government the mullahs thought they had under control.”


15 posted on 04/02/2008 10:16:42 AM PDT by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Fred Nerks; george76; ...

Thanks Ernest. Have a great rest-of-the-day, all.

Iraqi military continues operations in Basrah
The Long War Journal | 2 Apr 2008 | Bill Roggio
Posted on 04/02/2008 10:42:02 AM PDT by DJ Elliott
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995591/posts


16 posted on 04/02/2008 12:44:25 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
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To: tobyhill

With Hillary, Obama and Dean all battling themselves, the new talking points havn’t gotten out.


17 posted on 04/02/2008 7:12:44 PM PDT by FreeAtlanta (Search for Folding Project - Join FR Team 36120)
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