This mornings headline:
Iraq official: Najaf shrine could be raided soon to oust al-Sadr militiamen
Was followed quickly thereafter by this headline:
Iraqi Cleric Agrees Deal to End Siege at Shrine
If the insurgency is to be permanently destroyed no battlefield can be off limits. Where do you think these folks are hiding and holding captives? The one place they’ve been confident (until now) that they would be safe from attack.
Al-Sadr probably has reservations, supplies, and ammunition set up at the next mosque.
Is it just me, or is Mookie one of the most *comical* evil dictators or would-be dictators we’ve had in quite a while? He just seems so hilariously clueless. Surrounded by a large Iraqi/U.S. force, he first issues a long list of *his* ridiculous demands (immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, recognition of Mookie’s sovereignty and, I believe, a pony.)
Then the Iraqis say “er, no thanks, Mookie, I think we’ll just reject these demands and kill you,” and his turnabout is *so* instantaneous!
But on a more serious note, they really can’t just let this guy walk away from this, can they?
I think it would be really stupid to allow Al Sadr and his Hendi militia to remove themselves from that mosque and go somewhere else. No one wants to bomb that HOLY mosque BUT they should anyway. It is no longer holy if criminals hide out in it. And if he does leave and is not arrested, wherever he is going, he’ll be supplied again. I say wipe them ALL out with select bombs completely destroying the mosque and everything it stands for along with the people in it and around it. BUT YOU SEE, IT’S NOT UP TO US ANYMORE. Iraq is a soverinty now and we’re just their backup. We can’t do what we want, only what the Interim president and the rest of the council says what we can and cannot do. If it was up to the US and Coalition Forces, we would have wiped out Iraq by now and all our boys and men would be back home. Right now, it’s all political. We can advise them (Allawi) but they have to make the decisions. ARGH
Maybe they should let whoever botched the Russian theatre incident go in and take care of them. Just pump in way too much sleeping gas and nighty night. At least they wouldn’t be breaking the promise of arresting them.