Posted on 11/26/2006 7:41:43 PM PST by Bob Hyneman
Iraqi Government taking on militias Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman, Multi-National Force - Iraq. BAGHDAD Politics is the best means available to the Iraqi Government and Coalition to deal with armed militias in the country, the spokesman for Multi-National Force Iraq said during a press conference here Monday.
Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, spokesman, MNF-I, said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is dealing with political leaders in the country to disarm the militias, and Coalition officials are supporting that effort.
The goal, he said, is that the militias would disband and rely on the local Iraqi Security Force for protection and maintaining order. Militias that wont engage in a political solution will be met with force, the general said.
There's going to be those elements that are irreconcilable, that aren't going to be able to work through the political process, and those will be dealt with in a kinetic manner with direct action, Caldwell said.
The prime minister is moving forward with a reconciliation process, but this does not mean the militias have a free hand in the meantime, Caldwell said.
If there is somebody operating outside of the law, if there is somebody who is conducting illegal activity and we're aware of it, then we will take the action immediately to stop that and to apprehend or detain whoever is associated with that, the general said. Nobody will operate outside the law.
The Iraqi Government is working to eradicate militia influence inside the security force structure. In the Ministry of the Interior, 3,000 people were fired for their ties to militias. Some of them are being criminally charged.
They're moving forward and addressing some of the people within that ministry that are not swearing allegiance to first and instead maybe in fact have allegiance to some other element, Caldwell said.
Interior Ministry forces are going through refresher training. The ministry pulled the 8th Brigade of the 2nd National Police Division offline and put it through training. Interior replaced the entire leadership of the unit. The move, Caldwell said, is a step forward to show that the government will not allow sectarian bias to exist within the Police Force.
(Taken from American Forces Press Service Jim Garamone)
AH! Thanks, it was late last night and I wasn't thinking real clear...two of my three neurons has shut down.
That'll put you on the fast track to upper management.
Add me to your list please.
:)! Hey I'm on my last one and a half myself. Have a great day Valin.
Wait for it - the liberals will claim the firing of the 3,000 militia members was a mistake that will fuel terrorism by leaving these people without jobs and no choice but to become terrorists.
They need a strong central government, not necessarily a dictator.
It takes time to educate the voter to recognize the need for this strength. In a way, they voted to elect a strong party when they elected Malaki, but this had some undesirable effects on the Sunnis.
Malaki has not been there for very long. We need to give him some time to assert the government's powers. We are far too impatient to do nation building in the Middle East. Far too impatient.....
The legislature needs to get involved and give the government all it needs to reign in the sectarian violence.
This is a Iraqi problem, and of all the various Muslim States, Iraq has the best chance of accomplishing a democratic system to manage all the tribal interests that complicate their culture.
I cannot imagine this process taking less than ten years to gain a foothold, and no, we don't need to be there with current numbers.
They are going to settle their animosities, regardless of what pressures we put upon them. We need to allow this process to finish in it's natural time and allow certain events to occur which will change the Iraqi mindset in time.
I think Americans need to take it all in, but don't lose sight of the goal. It will take longer then we had hoped, and there is good reason to be hopeful for the future.
There is no reason to pull out, but we do need to change our tactics to reflect the realities.
Pulling out now would be a total failure and result in the creation of a most dangerous situation that will quickly draw us back in....But, we need to reduce our levels of military combat assistance, and let the Iraqi's make their own mistakes by learning the hard way.
It is the only hope they have to survive in the longterm....
Let the civil war proceed, if that is really what they want, but I don't think it is. I think we are helping too much, and need to concentrate on training and government assistance to build a stronger central government system.
I believe I had pinged you on this earlier on. But thats ok.
Yea thats all they need is another dictator. Give these people a chance for the sake of humanity. They have only been a democracy for 2 years or 1 year.
How long before the USA was safe? How long for any country?
Give them time they have had a absolute dictator since the beginning of WW2.
Its very simple follow my thoughts:
1. He cannot say that over there for fear of his life!
2. He is doing his job as he sees fit to?
3. His country has been a dictatorship since 1937!
4. First he has to have a Police Dept that can keep him safe!
5. Then and only then can he say such things.
6. He is starting to travel abroad to have talks with his neighbors.
7. He needs to cut down on outside influiences.
8. Give hime some slack more people voted in Iraq then in the usa! so cut the guy some slack......
Done.
They should have been publicly executed for treason.
They were probably all political opponents he was told to fire by Ahmadinejad
Does this mean Mr. Al Sader is through with his activities?
They gonna get the kinetic permanent Vulcan neck pinch.
Your concern is no doubt appropriate, but a government can have no functions if it cannot survive its establishment.
Think of it as the kind of consolidation that occurred at the end of feudalism. Petty fiefdoms had to yield to larger entities, or be destroyed.
I see nothing wrong with ending the tyrannical rule of local gangs.
Playing catchup....this is like trying to keep scroe in a fourteen-way tag team match.....
Too bad our government can't fire people for supporting the enemy. 98% of the State Dept. and 3/4 of the U.S. Government as a whole would be hitting the bricks. If I'm going to dream, I might as well dream big.
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