Comments on: Nancy Warns Petraeus

By: Chet

Chet — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:25:27 +0000

If I were Petraeus, I’d be hard pressed not to invite Nancy for a nice long leisurely stroll down sniper’s alley. Just the Devil Dog coming out of me please forgive. . . .

By: Machiavelli

Machiavelli — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:52:52 +0000

Ah yes, the fine tradition of politicians threatening military officers if said officers’ reports don’t fall in line with the politician’s goals and stump speeches.
I know, here’s a great idea! When Obama becomes president, maybe he’ll let Pelosi and company attach political officers to all our military units! That way, we’ll make sure there isn’t any subversive “glorification” going on within the ranks. We’ll make sure that those officers don’t show their own initiative and judgment in command, since that could possibly make those in Congress look bad when they go on ill-informed “quagmire” rants.
I mean given that Pelosi heralds from the San Francisco Bay Area, I figured she would be much more knowledgeable about the legal process (the radicals up there really enjoy getting court injunctions to stop democratically approved voter initiatives, federal law, and pretty much anything that doesn’t meet their world view). But, for her benefit, and those who might think that Pelosi’s remark is justified, I’ll present a little refresher course. Congressional hearings are very much like a court proceeding, with sworn testimony, and what are effectively expert witnesses. Granted, the Congressional Committee does get what you might call the joint role of defense and prosecutory council, and judge; but, the fact remains, they don’t get to dictate what the witnesses say. Yes, they certainly could cite someone for perjury, but I don’t think Gen. Petraeus has stepped anywhere near falsehood (or would even entertain the idea). I’ll take his professional opinion and military assessment of the realities in Iraq over the politically driven “appraisal” of Pelosi and her cohorts in Washington D.C. any day.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:24:28 +0000

Basra shows that the Iraqis can do it alone.

They didn’t need the brits to come to come to a an arrangement.

Baby takles her first steps.

By: marinetbryant

marinetbryant — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:41:45 +0000

Why isn’t anyone faulting the Brits. Wasn’t Basra in their TAOR? What did they do before they pulled a French move, retreat?

Tom

By: wesmorgan1

wesmorgan1 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:51:49 +0000

It’s hard for me to see an Iranian-brokered truce, that did not (as far as I can tell) require Sadr to disarm his militia, as some sort of tremendous victory.

By: doug

doug — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:39:23 +0000

Maliki: last week:

“We will continue to stand up to these gangs in every inch of Iraq,” he said. “This is a decisive and final battle.”

Last Sunday:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the stakes in his five-day-old crackdown on Shi’ite militants on Saturday, describing his foes as “worse than al Qaeda”.

Then:

The prime minister … with little progress on the ground [... ] extended the deadline until April 8.

Then:

As Maliki softened his demand, offering cash to anyone who turns in medium to heavy weapons in the next 10 days, U.S. military involvement intensified with U.S. aircraft striking two targets in Basra, according to a British military spokesman.

Then, after an Iranian host truce:

The uncertainty over Sadr’s [9 point] statements was underlined yesterday at a news briefing in Baghdad, where Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, dodged questions about whether Maliki would honor Sadr’s demands. When asked if the government would release Mahdi Army detainees who have not been accused of a crime, for instance, Dabbagh said there had long been plans to let some of them go.

Then yesterday:

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday he planned to launch more security crackdowns like the one in Basra against “criminal gangs” in Baghdad.

But today:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday his security forces would stop arresting militiamen if they give up their weapons, apparently seeking to defuse tensions with Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

In a statement, Maliki said he would grant amnesty from prosecution to anyone who took part in clashes in southern Iraq and Baghdad last week if they handed in their guns.
…
“To give space and an opportunity for those who are remorseful and are willing to give up their weapons, all pursuits and raids in all areas will be stopped. Those who take up arms will face the law,” Maliki said.
…
Sadr’s movement has already told the Mehdi Army to ignore previous Maliki orders for members to hand in their weapons.
…

So there it is, raids and arrests have stopped, the captured JAM will probably be released, and JAM arms are now hidden away with provincial elections gearing up. And the new “NIE” shines it’s wonderful light on 6 months of bliss. The reality is the NIE is practically and analytically pointless with Maliki’s March Madness is considered.

By: ChrisG

ChrisG — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:37:48 +0000

You are correct. I do not control the technical aspects of the page. I will email Curt who owns the blog and see if he can fix it. Might take a few hours as he is in California and I do not know what shift he works at the Police Deptartment.

Edit: Ok, sent the message.

By: Wearyman

Wearyman — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:27:29 +0000

ChrisG,

This is more than a setting. Something is changed in the background. Yesterday I was able to view the nicer Flopping Aces format, today I am presented with the Blue and White version. I am using Firefox (I only use Firefox) and have not added in any plugins since the last time I visited.

There is NO option to change page formats on my sidebar, and I am unable to log into WordPress from the login box here.

Flopping Aces’ page is Broken as far as I can see. Did somebody change something?

By: David M

David M — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:14:13 +0000

The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the - Web Reconnaissance for 04/04/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.

By: ChrisG

ChrisG — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:06:50 +0000

Jarhead68,

If you are seeing a white background with blue headers on the page, you are set to “Wordpress Classic”. You can change the views on the sidebar of the main page. This blue and white version works with older Internet Explorer versions, but the newest IE7 and FireFox can use the cool format.

By: Jarhead68

Jarhead68 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:46:48 +0000

Uh, what happened to the cool format?

By: ChrisG

ChrisG — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:24:29 +0000

How would Pelosie know waht happens in Iraq outside what she sees at the Presidential Palace in the IZ? When she came to “visit the troops” in 2007, she never even tried to see a US Soldier and remained cloistered in the Embassy Annex (that Presidential Palace) in the IZ with the DoS.

Not that many Soldiers wanted to see her and Murtha at the time.

By: Rovin

Rovin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:01:42 +0000

From todays Wapo (front page online):

“The offensive, which triggered clashes across southern Iraq and in Baghdad that left about 600 people dead, unveiled the weaknesses of Maliki’s U.S.-backed government and his brash style of leadership. On many levels, the offensive strengthened the anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.”

Let’s see if we can understand this “straight-forward” quote. Maliki re-enforces the already 30,000 police and Iraqi troops in Basra with another 6,600. After 600 of Sadr’s “followers” are killed Sadr’s “powerful” Mahdi Army surrenders for the second time—-(Karbala last August), and at the same time “called Thursday for a million Iraqis to march to the Shiite holy city of Najaf next week to protest what he called the American occupation.”

I sure hope the folks in Najaf are ready for the “surge of Sadr” while his Militia continues to run from each battle deflated by the “weakness” of this “ill-advised” offensive that lasted all of four days. But if you read the NYTs or Wapo today, this is a victory for Sadr. Right! How many “spin-cycles” does it take for the MSM to get a story to fit their agenda?

Update: Wapo’s editors make correction to it’s writers:

“While the balance of power in the city is now unclear, the judgment by some Western analysts that the cease-fire was a triumph for the Mahdi Army seems premature. Similar assessments after inconclusive U.S. battles with the Mahdi Army in 2004 proved unfounded, and in this instance Mr. Sadr was obliged to publicly disown “anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions.”

By: TRM

TRM — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:30:28 +0000

Sigh…. my hands ball up into a fist everytime I see this woman’s name or see her disgusting face…

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:12:14 +0000

As soon as President Obama takes command as Commander in Chief, the media and pc meme will do a complete 180. Success will actually be recognized and tauted. If on Day1 of President Obama’s rule, Osama Bin Laden is captured or peace breaks out in Iraq, it will be Democrats who will claim and get credit-not the soldiers who brought it about, not those who supported the efforts towards success, but the Democrats who spent the last decade denying threats existed, and then seeking appeasement and compromise with terrorists’ state sponsors.

I don’t have a problem with that. For me, success is success. I just wish more people supported the troops’ efforts to bring about that success.