Posted on 03/16/2006 9:00:59 AM PST by jmc1969
Iraq is on a knife-edge, bleeding and possibly headed to civil war.
And Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is tightening his grip on the handle of that knife, according to those close to the situation.
In the past, the U.S. military talked of al-Zarqawi and the rest of the foreign fighters in Iraq as separate from local insurgents, though linked by common goals and common enemies.
That seems to have changed, even as the U.S. negotiates with Sunni politicians, and in some cases, those linked to the insurgents.
The bloodbath since the bombing of a Shiite Muslim mosque in Samarra has made his position stronger among Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority who were favored by Saddam Hussein.
Listen to Sheik Zeidan, once one of the most prominent tribal chieftains in Anbar province, now an exile across the border in Jordan.
"If there was a gap between the Sunnis and Zarqawi before Samarra, this brought it together, the gap was brought together," he said.
"They [the Sunnis] are getting killed. They looked left and right and the only savior they had was Zarqawi. Now Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is their only leader, the only one providing them protection."
What's happened now is that al-Zarqawi is more powerful than ever, despite claims by a new group called the Anbar Revenge Brigade that they are targeting al Qaeda in Iraq and its leader on behalf of the tribes.
He's killed any sheiks who dare disagree, including several who recently agreed to negotiate with the Americans.
"I do know people, tribal people, who did negotiate. But they all got killed. Anyone who is talking to the Americans got killed," Zeidan says.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Oohh, well why didn't you say so?! ;)
Yeah, something like that isn't a bad idea, but so far Sadr has declined to fold his Mahdi Army into the Iraqi security forces. On the other hand, the Badr Brigades have been doing that and they are very much enmeshed in Iraq's emerging security forces.
Might I add that, as unpopular as he is around here due to his anti-Americanism, Sadr and his Mahdi Army are probably about the only thing that's been maintaining some calm in the current sectarian violence. The death squads that are targeting Sunnis appear to be primarily former SCIRI guerrillas; i.e., from the Badr Brigades.
The Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigades are, very broadly speaking, enemies.
It sounds very stupid doesn't it.
But, it still was my greatest fear after the Samarra bombing that such a thing would happen because people scared shitless don't act rationally.
That said watch the suicide attacks. They were up 66% over the past week or two, but that may just be al-Qaeda storing up suicide attacks for a surge in violence and not the tribes letting more foreigners in. If the level of suicide attacks continue as they have been or increase it means bad things are going on in western Iraq, if not then it means very good things are happening in western Iraq.
Interesting that any source, even ex-members of Iraqi military who have reported how WMD's had been shipped out of Iraq in the run-up to the war, is considered to be incredible if their testimony is in conflict with the media's "Bush Bad, War bad" reporting template.
Yet an al-queda dirtbag pulled from a spider hole in Iraq is considered to be flawlessly credible when he tells of how he was "tortured" by US Marines at Gitmo.
CNN might want to check out the largest air assault since the start of the war taking place in Iraq as we speak.
Unless...it would intefere with their deep desire to see Iraq and the US lose.
".....according to those close to the situation."
Who - CNN reporters looking to push their Gloom & Doom Agenda?
since when do we believe ANYTHING CNN reports?
1) The number of times the MSM has said "Iraq is on the verge of civil war" (or the alternative "The American people believe Iraq is on the verge of civil war"
Or
2) The number of times the MSM has said "Bush needs to change the people working around him"
Or
The number of grains of sand at the beach?
Dick Cheney is rumored to be retiring
or
Donald Rumsfeld is rumored to be retiring
But the real difference between all the bogus stories and grains of sand on the beach is that there is actually some substance to beach sand.
I swear if al-Zarqawi is ever killed by our boys, CNN will go into mourning for a month!
That three years later, the insurgents are still able to reconstitute and form "strongholds" outside Baghdad? This is like praising the exterminator because he comes back every month to kill the roaches he told you he took care of last month.
Part of the problem, according to that liberal rag, "The Wall Street Journal", is that Shia militias are backing up Iraqi security forces, and Sunnis in Shia regions are being singled out and driven out. There is absolutely no trust between the Shia and Sunnis. Expecting them to live peaceably with a coalition governement is a fantasy. The Kurds in the north are already establishing government contracts with foreign firms to develop their oil fields, with no intention of sharing the revenue with the rest of a "unified" Iraq. The Shia are doing the same in the south. That's going to leave, ironically, the Sunnis in Baghdad without oil revenue. That can only lead to both the Shia and the Kurds declaring autonomy at some point (although the Kurds will have to convince the Turks, which won't be easy), and a land-locked Sunni nation in Baghdad.
I know I'm going to get majorly flamed for this, but at some point the "everything is rosy" crowd starts looking as ridiculous as the "everything is crap" crowd. The truth is somewhere in between. We did a great thing in getting rid of Hussein. We've made a terrible miscalculation in believing these people can get along.
I'm sure we'll get a government together eventually. I don't doubt that it can be done. But let's not kid ourselves - as long as Syria and Iran can continue to foment these rivalries, a peaceful Iraq is just wishful thinking.
From where? Peeping out the hotel window when they are not hiding under the bed? I think I will trust Roggio, Peters, and Yon before I listen to a word from CNN--Consistently Negative Nitwits.
More CNN speculation on their desires. The real issue is the clock that started ticking on forming the new coalition government.
That's the all important deciding factor. And sadly, Mookie the evil Sadists is putting his two cents into everything. Get him to the side of the negotations and Iraq has a future. If not, it will be a failure.
All better now.
Perfect now!!!
LLS
Is Zarqawi more powerful than ever?
Let's see, do we believe the sheik that supports Zarqawi but has been driver out of the country and live in exile in Jordan?
Or do we believe the leaders who are in Iraq who are saying that Zarqawi has been weakened and continues to be getting more weak and more desperate?
Do we believe our own military that have consistently been able to squash Zarqawi's forces whenever they gather in any reasonable numbers in an area?
I guess if you're CNN, you take the work of a guy that was forced to flee the country that it's really his side that's in power.
What you're saying is actually the opposite of Charles Krauthammer's article. Although things may indeed go the way you predict...they may also go in the other direction as it appears that the Kurds have politically alligned themselves with the Sunnis and the Shiites are not all united.
Please see: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/krauthammer1.asp
One thing for sure is that we are approaching a cross roads. OPeration Swarmer is going to put this Civil War gag purpetrated by MSM to rest.
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