Al Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq are not holding the reins of power?

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki directly ordered the removal of US military blockades on Sadr City and another Shiite enclave.

How is that not holding the reins of power?

Long long ago the following was reported by Galbraith. You seem totally at odds w/ an expert: Since Saddam’s fall, Shiite religious parties have had de facto control over Iraq’s southern cities. There Iranian-style religious police enforce a conservative Islamic code, including dress codes and bans on alcohol and other non-Islamic behavior. In most cases, the religious authorities govern–and legislate–without authority from Baghdad, and certainly without any reference to the freedoms incorporated in Iraq’s American-written interim constitution–the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL).

#166, Briseadh na Faire: If it were, there would not be the level of sectarian violence we see daily.

The sectarian violence we see daily is because al-Maliki is showing restraint. He’s been active and longing for these very days for over twenty years. The insurgents, the Sunnis, could be wiped out if he unleashed all the Iranian trained and backed paramilitary units at his disposal.

#166, Briseadh na Faire: The current government in Iraq is seen as a puppet government by the Iraqis.

Really?

You mean the vote was fixed and not truely representative of the majority of Shiites in Iraq?

#166, Briseadh na Faire: Both governments are using each other as the players vie for power, and wealth.

You are ignorant. Bush has no leverage against al-Maliki. If al-Maliki says US OUT of IRAQ. The US will be expulsed. This is just a matter of time.

Who exactly do you think the Al Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq are?

They have been trying to violently transform Iraq into a Shiite fundamentalist republic for more than twenty years. There is a helluva lot more going on than what you are reading in the press.

Briseadh na Faire: I’ve seen your tactic here before, GC; a reasonable introduction followed by unreasonable attacks. It doesn’t wash. Your Rune is MANN:REVERSED. “you have made many enemies and they are ready to move against you.” feel free to look it up.

Who CARES?

Saturday , November 04, 2006

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government conducted a series of secret war games in 1999 that anticipated an invasion of Iraq would require 400,000 troops, and even then chaos might ensue.

In its “Desert Crossing” games, 70 military, diplomatic and intelligence officials assumed the high troop levels would be needed to keep order, seal borders and take care of other security needs.

The documents came to light Saturday through a Freedom of Information Act request by the George Washington University’s National Security Archive, an independent research institute and library.

• Visit FOXNews.com’s Iraq center for more in-depth coverage.

“The conventional wisdom is the U.S. mistake in Iraq was not enough troops,” said Thomas Blanton, the archive’s director. “But the Desert Crossing war game in 1999 suggests we would have ended up with a failed state even with 400,000 troops on the ground.”

There are currently about 144,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, down from a peak of about 160,000 in January.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command, which sponsored the seminar and declassified the secret report in 2004, declined to comment Saturday because she was not familiar with the documents.

The war games looked at “worst case” and “most likely” scenarios after a war that removed then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power. Some are similar to what actually occurred after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003:

—”A change in regimes does not guarantee stability,” the 1999 seminar briefings said. “A number of factors including aggressive neighbors, fragmentation along religious and/or ethnic lines, and chaos created by rival forces bidding for power could adversely affect regional stability.”

—”Even when civil order is restored and borders are secured, the replacement regime could be problematic — especially if perceived as weak, a puppet, or out-of-step with prevailing regional governments.”

—”Iran’s anti-Americanism could be enflamed by a U.S.-led intervention in Iraq,” the briefings read. “The influx of U.S. and other western forces into Iraq would exacerbate worries in Tehran, as would the installation of a pro-western government in Baghdad.”

—”The debate on post-Saddam Iraq also reveals the paucity of information about the potential and capabilities of the external Iraqi opposition groups. The lack of intelligence concerning their roles hampers U.S. policy development.”

—”Also, some participants believe that no Arab government will welcome the kind of lengthy U.S. presence that would be required to install and sustain a democratic government.”

—”A long-term, large-scale military intervention may be at odds with many coalition partners.”

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227567,00.html

Bye-bye, Dickles, you polyploid jackass!

Neoconservatives decry execution of Iraq war

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/03/iraq.critics.ap/index.html

You are too far gone to rehabilitate Dick…I hope we get to see you plead for mercy at the Hague.

Dick, can I get in on several of those nice governmental contracts? I’ll give you a free supply of Haagen Dazs ice cream for a year? Two years? Ten years? Twenty-five years?

FULL SPEED A HEAD WITH YOUR BREAKFAST DIET:

48 oz steak

10 pounds of deep-fat fried french fries

10 pints of crow Haagen Dazs ice cream

10 cases of Tums

FULL SPEED AHEAD FOR YOUR NEXT HEART ATTACK!

EAT LOTS OF CROW YOU TURKEY!

John

This comment by Cheney is interesting in that it may reflect what he knows privately between the neocons and presage their intent within the near future to declare martial law and suspend the constitution once and for all.

I am gonna speculate that may happen, but about a decade down the road…

BNF, I hear that 144,000 is the exact number that is allowed into heaven.

Comment by JPark

Not to worry, hardly any have found the key, theres plenty of room still =)

:(