Iraq: Al-Sadr makes a move.

They really should have gone after this guy about 2 years back when he
started the problems. Southern Iraq had been pretty quiet, and now this

right near the Iranian border. The General they have on CNN is right.
The Iraq gov't has made exuses for this guy and not gone after him. I
fthey're not willing to do something about an entire city on fire, it
will be a bad move on their part. This is going to be a big test for
the new gov't there.

"David E. Powell" wrote in message
ups.com...
They really should have gone after this guy about 2 years back when he
started the problems. Southern Iraq had been pretty quiet, and now this


Nearly all parties involved have been trying not to wage war sufficiently
for several years now. This is just another example. From the start this
war should have been waged as if every last creature will be killed, and let
the trouble makers race each other to prove they are no longer in the
resistance business. Instead the coalition forces have been racing each
other to see which partner can avoid seeing what is plain to see. Until we
see a General Sherman approach of taking the war into the centers of
support, not just shooting the "foot soldiers" which allow the power brokers
in Riyadh, Tehran, and Islambad to indulge in their fanatsy, this war will
continue.

Our enemy isn't necessarily the rank and file of Iraq, but we should use
massive war to force them to drive out the troublemakers from among their
midst. We will never be able to read the minds of Iraqis and sort the good
Muslims from the bad Muslims. Therefore we need to demonstrate to all of
them that we are perfectly able to destroy all of their world in a moment,
and we will lose no sleep in doing it, unless they demonstrate a clear
surrender to our will. Slow war, is not an easy war. This is especially
important when fighting people from a shame/honor culture. Those are the
people that it is most important to defeat comprehensively. Our mercy
should be reserved for the day after they recognize they have been defeated.

--

Scott

Drain the swamp. Deport Islam. Until Muslims observe and protect
human/religious rights of others they should not be allowed to remain in the
West. Islam, as practiced, is incompatible with Western freedom.

David E. Powell wrote:
They really should have gone after this guy about 2 years back when he
started the problems. Southern Iraq had been pretty quiet, and now this

right near the Iranian border. The General they have on CNN is right.
The Iraq gov't has made exuses for this guy and not gone after him. I
fthey're not willing to do something about an entire city on fire, it
will be a bad move on their part. This is going to be a big test for
the new gov't there.


The generals are politically inept as always. It would not have been
possible to go after him then, just like it's not possible now. He
always had a huge constituency among the Shiite masses, including in
2003 when he was powerful enough to openly challenge the then existing
religious hierarchy.

Right now, Al-Sadr is the best bet - probably the only one too - that
Iraqi Shiites have to form a viable state. Rather than the usual
wishful thinking maybe the same generals should start examining the
Iraqi internal situation in terms of balance of power; there are two
extremes operating over there, maybe they could cancel each other out.
A neutered Iraq would still be a strategic success.

tscottme wrote:
"David E. Powell" wrote in message
ups.com...
They really should have gone after this guy about 2 years back when he
started the problems. Southern Iraq had been pretty quiet, and now this


Nearly all parties involved have been trying not to wage war sufficiently
for several years now. This is just another example. From the start this
war should have been waged as if every last creature will be killed, and let
the trouble makers race each other to prove they are no longer in the
resistance business. Instead the coalition forces have been racing each
other to see which partner can avoid seeing what is plain to see. Until we
see a General Sherman approach of taking the war into the centers of
support, not just shooting the "foot soldiers" which allow the power brokers
in Riyadh, Tehran, and Islambad to indulge in their fanatsy, this war will
continue.

It's an insurgency. You don't win by killing the enemy. You win by
cutting off their reinforcements.

--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall

If FDR fought fascism the way Bush fights terrorism, we'd all be
speaking German now.

That's funny Sept 11 happened when we were far more isolationist than we are
likely ever to be in the future. It has taken 5 years of fighting in Iraq
to achieve a similar body count as happened in a couple of hours on one
Tuesday morning.

Your prescription is to ceede more and more ground in the vain attempt that
those that will always find a reason to attack the US will eventually
succumb to reason and a good example. We couldn't avoid WWII by giving away
"breathing space" any more than we can .

The best compromise is to beat our enemy like a rapid dog and then withdraw.
--

Scott

Drain the swamp. Deport Islam. Until Muslims observe and protect
human/religious rights of others they should not be allowed to remain in the
West. Islam, as practiced, is incompatible with Western freedom.
"eponymous cowherd" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"tscottme" wrote:

We will never be able to read the minds of Iraqis and sort the good
Muslims from the bad Muslims.

Then why not leave iraq, prevent muslim immigration and make it
extremely difficult for muslims to travel to the us. This should save
american lives better than winning a war in iraq. The soldiers lost
either winning or losing in iraq count as dead americans. Isolationism
yields the fewest dead americans, that is the right choice.

"Raptor" wrote in message
...
tscottme wrote:
"David E. Powell" wrote in message
ups.com...
They really should have gone after this guy about 2 years back when he
started the problems. Southern Iraq had been pretty quiet, and now this


Nearly all parties involved have been trying not to wage war sufficiently
for several years now. This is just another example. From the start
this war should have been waged as if every last creature will be killed,
and let the trouble makers race each other to prove they are no longer in
the resistance business. Instead the coalition forces have been racing
each other to see which partner can avoid seeing what is plain to see.
Until we see a General Sherman approach of taking the war into the
centers of support, not just shooting the "foot soldiers" which allow the
power brokers in Riyadh, Tehran, and Islambad to indulge in their
fanatsy, this war will continue.

It's an insurgency. You don't win by killing the enemy. You win by cutting
off their reinforcements.

--

That's why I envoked the General Sherman reference. The American Civil War
wasn't won because the Union killed all the Southern soldiers. Sherman
waged war on the plantation owners and war-making abilility of the South.
The Salafists and the Twelvers will fight until the last future cab driver
is dead in the street. They won't fight 1 month after their butt is set
ablaze.


--

Scott

Drain the swamp. Deport Islam. Until Muslims observe and protect
human/religious rights of others they should not be allowed to remain in the
West. Islam, as practiced, is incompatible with Western freedom.

"David E. Powell" wrote in
ups.com:

They really should have gone after this guy about 2 years back when he
started the problems. Southern Iraq had been pretty quiet, and now this
right near the Iranian border. The General they have on CNN is right.
The Iraq gov't has made exuses for this guy and not gone after him. I
fthey're not willing to do something about an entire city on fire, it
will be a bad move on their part. This is going to be a big test for
the new gov't there.

There has been some discussion recently about whether al-Sadr
actually controls the Mehdi Army any more. There are apparently
factions within that organisation that are no longer taking his
orders. This complicates things slightly.
Having said that we may be in for round three with these clowns.
If thats the case then not capping al-Sadr would be a crime
against humanity.

"tscottme" wrote in message
...
That's funny Sept 11 happened when we were far more isolationist than we
are
likely ever to be in the future. It has taken 5 years of fighting in Iraq
to achieve a similar body count as happened in a couple of hours on one
Tuesday morning.

Point of fact, the body count in Iraq is 600,000+ and rising.

John Gilbert

On 21 Oct 2006, John Gilbert said the following in
link.net.

"tscottme" wrote in message
...
That's funny Sept 11 happened when we were far more isolationist than
we
are
likely ever to be in the future. It has taken 5 years of fighting in
Iraq to achieve a similar body count as happened in a couple of hours
on one Tuesday morning.

Point of fact, the body count in Iraq is 600,000+ and rising.

A fact based accounting puts the number between 50,000 & 100,000.

--
Regards,
Dann
Blogging at: http://www.modempool.com/nucleardann/blogspace/blog.htm

Gilbert and Sullivan...the team that made opera palatable.

"Dann" wrote in message
0.81...
On 21 Oct 2006, John Gilbert said the following in
link.net.

"tscottme" wrote in message
...
That's funny Sept 11 happened when we were far more isolationist than
we
are
likely ever to be in the future. It has taken 5 years of fighting in
Iraq to achieve a similar body count as happened in a couple of hours
on one Tuesday morning.

Point of fact, the body count in Iraq is 600,000+ and rising.

A fact based accounting puts the number between 50,000 & 100,000.

A what?

We're talking about a study by the John Hopkins School of Epidemeology
published in a peer reviewed journal.

Produce a similar academic study subjected to peer review that uses 'fact
based accounting' please.

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.