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Well at least my blabbing the past two years about cordoning off Sadr City is finally coming around. No one leaves, no one enters, except for medical aid and food at the discretion of the Iraqi/US forces. As larger numbers of Sunni and Shia are accepted into the police and military ranks, and given equal treatment, the militias will become less desirable.
It would appear that the Maliki government cannot now step back from their commitment to disband the militias. If it is a bloody period, so be it. Iraq needs it to be done.
I might add, Maliki needs a Baghdad Bob at this point to start preaching sense to the Iraqi citizenry. Talk sense like all Iraqi banding together to finally rid their country of AQI and associated radical Islamic groups that have proven over the past few years to be the ones that bring death to all Iraqi if they do not submit. A fair playing field must be stressed over a period of time followed up with money and help by the central government to continue rebuilding the country's infrastructure. And a well spoken Baghdad Bob could help such a movement.
And dare I say and am willing to be corrected if off base, Iraq has a potential to become not only a world producer of oil, but can also become a major refinery center, exporting may oil fractions, gasoline as well as a major source of petrochemicals, as well as with the blessing of the two large and less river systems that provide the fertile mid and south with good farming land, a major agricultural center where they can export to neighboring countries. And perhaps a major mineral producer.
Some time back I had ventured thoughts regarding the potential for Iraq to enter the light industrial lane. There is no reason why they cannot set up factory centers with modern environmental process to make their own tools, light manufacturing along many lines, the list is very long as to what they could use with oil subsidies to build a industrial state and train and employ their peoples to actually go to work each day, see they have worth, and not go around shooting each other in the ass based on ancient ideas that have no place in the modern world.
The Arab world almost exclusively has been held in a tight grip of doing nothing. They don't know how to do things in many disciplines simply because they have not had to work for them selves. The Socialist Marxist states that have been set up breed lazy do nothings that only have idle time to piss and moan how much the Jews have ruined them etc..
Put the clowns to work on constructive things. Let them feel the worth of making things work, improving on those things sorely needing improving in their country.
Only a strong minded government that can start to preach in this direction will truly pull them out of their long nightmare.
They simply have to many things that could go good for them if they where to play their cards right. They need leadership with vision as well as the balls to start to get fire side chats started. A government cannot live within a vacuum.