34 Dead as Baghdad Bombers Hit Red Cross, Police

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


Iraq is still only pumping less than 40% of the oil they produced pre-war. Im sure theyre well over that on water. Are youre suggesting that they should not prduce any oil till water is at 100%? Are you aware that they need oil to produce electricity, and electricity to pump and purify water?

Actually, they have a fair amount of gas for power purposes, and you don't burn crude oil for power generation. A lot of their fuel oil is imported and/or running on current inventories, as a good portion of their refinery sector is as ****ed up as the rest of their industry.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Ned
What I am looking for is a new "Vietnamization" policy.

We could always hire Dr. K to give a speech that "Mission Accomplished is at hand" a few weeks before the election.

At least when Nixon ran against the Johnson/Humphrey régime in '68, he had a plan to end the war even know he was not more specific.

My brother and a lot of good men died unnecessarily due to Nixon's bull**** about a non-existent plan. Nixon ****ed around for four years until it again became a potential election issue.

Can you imagine an armed force led by a French general?

As easily as I can imagine one led by a former party boy and GM of a dog-ass mediocre baseball team,

Turning Iraq over to the UN while an active guerrilla war is underway and before a new Iraq government has an army of its own is a formula for disaster.

Yeah - we'd lose control of who gets those "rebuilding" contracts.

[HershOstropoler]

Mike, don't be cruel, don't take all their fairytales away.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
"It was a Landcruiser car that was speeding toward the police station. The (guards) fired on it four times. It turned right and blew up," said local resident Mohammed Ali".

ok, i know it's a common name, but.

He's still the greatest!

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Jac de Molay
Obviously, Sharpton and that evil, Serbian leprechaun Kuchinich don't represent the majority of Democratic sentiment regarding Iraq.

Hopefully, a Clark/Edwards ticket will rise above this morass.

He said "more ass".

[Ramo]

I'm pretty sure al-Qaeda has little to do with it. It's been made into a bogeyman responsible for everything, but when you get down to it, the occupation authority isn't arresting too many al-Qaeda agents. Ba'athists (including possibly recruits from Syria) or Shia Islamists look like the most likely suspects.

It's probably Ba'athists. Making a major assault at the beginning of Ramadan is not something that Shia Islamists are prone to do; OTOH secular nationalists (Sadat comes to mind) would no doubt do that without batting an eye. The interesting thing is that they're trying to make it look like it's the work of al-Sadr or some other Shia Islamist (or for that matter Sunni Islamist like al-Qaeda), thus fostering violence between the Shia and the Americans (as is probably the case with the Spanish diplomat incident with the assassin dressing in the garb of a Shia cleric).

[Ramo]

To clarify the previous post, I'd like to point out that Ramadan is explicitly considered a time of true by Islam. Which makes it quite unlikely that Islamists were involved.

[SlowwHand]

What were they, Christian Scientists?

[Ramo]

Southern Baptists obviously.

[SlowwHand]

Whew! We Methodists suspected the Baptists.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Ramo
I'm pretty sure al-Qaeda has little to do with it. It's been made into a bogeyman responsible for everything, but when you get down to it, the occupation authority isn't arresting too many al-Qaeda agents.

Probably because their intel on AQ is weaker. Theyve been working on penetrating the Baath network since May, and the Baath network is vulnerable in part because they rely on hired foot soldiers - and they have less and less of a "sea" to swim in, as ordinary Iraqis inform on them. AQ/Ansar al islam doesnt seem to have returned in a big way till July or even August. They have traditionally had good tradecraft, they dont use hired thugs, and they may have a more secure network of local supporters then the Baathi.

Also its not clear that AQ and the Baathi are operating seperately. New reports indicate Mohammaed Izzat Ibrahim al Douri is acting as link between Baathi and Ansar.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Ramo
To clarify the previous post, I'd like to point out that Ramadan is explicitly considered a time of true by Islam. Which makes it quite unlikely that Islamists were involved.

"Al-Qaeda has attempted to execute attacks during the Ramadan time period in the past, including the thwarted millennial plots in December 1999 and the aborted attack against the USS Sullivans in January 2000. Disrupted plots to attack U.S. Naval ships and the U.S. Embassy in Singapore in late 2001 also may have been timed for Ramadan. "

[SlowwHand]

Terrorists don't mind blasphemy, as long as they're the blasphemists.

[Ramo]

Probably because their intel on AQ is weaker. Theyve been working on penetrating the Baath network since May, and the Baath network is vulnerable in part because they rely on hired foot soldiers - and they have less and less of a "sea" to swim in, as ordinary Iraqis inform on them. AQ/Ansar al islam doesnt seem to have returned in a big way till July or even August. They have traditionally had good tradecraft, they dont use hired thugs, and they may have a more secure network of local supporters then the Baathi.

Also its not clear that AQ and the Baathi are operating seperately. New reports indicate Mohammaed Izzat Ibrahim al Douri is acting as link between Baathi and Ansar.

But AFAIK, the authorities haven't a single proven al-Qaeda agent thus far. Which is in stark contrast to the plethora of Ba'athists they have.

Ansar, I believe, is an organization only loosely connected with al-Qaeda, and doesn't have anywhere close to the resources as al-Qaeda. I don't think they could pull it off.

"Al-Qaeda has attempted to execute attacks during the Ramadan time period in the past, including the thwarted millennial plots in December 1999 and the aborted attack against the USS Sullivans in January 2000. Disrupted plots to attack U.S. Naval ships and the U.S. Embassy in Singapore in late 2001 also may have been timed for Ramadan. "

Fair enough, but I had Shia Islamism specifically in mind. I don't think they have any significant history of attacking on Ramadan.

[Ramo]

Furthermore, if you consider that a dude from Syria (where Arab nationalism hasn't exactly died out) has been detained for involvement in the bombings, it seems extremely likely to me that the Ba'athists orchestrated this.