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White House Strategy Is to Help McCain Win in November
Political events in Iraq are seldom what they seem. The hand- over by the US military of control of Anbar province, once the heartland of the Sunni rebellion, to Iraqi forces is a case in point. The US will keep 25,000 American soldiers in Anbar, so the extent to which the Iraqi government will really take over is debatable. But the future of Anbar is a crucial pointer to the fate of Iraq. It is a vast area and one of the few parts of Iraq that is overwhelmingly Sunni.
The Iraqi government is dominated by Shia Islamic parties in alliance with Kurdish nationalists. The vital question now is whether or not this Shia-dominated government can reassure the Sunni minority that they are not going to be overrun as the US withdraws its forces. The Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is in a very confident mood. In the past four months he feels he has successfully faced down the Shia militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army by taking back control of Basra, Sadr City and Amarah. Then he refused to sign a new security accord with the US which President George Bush wanted to see agreed by 31 August.
In the past few weeks he has been confronting his Kurdish allies over the future of the oil city of Kirkuk and the town of Khanaqin.
Mr Maliki may be overplaying his hand but there is no doubt that the Iraqi state is becoming more powerful in Iraq and the Mahdi Army, the Americans and the Kurds less so. The Americans in particular feel that he exaggerates the extent to which his success against the Mahdi Army was because of the new strength of the Iraqi security forces. These troops were doing badly until they received American support.
Nevertheless, Mr Maliki's position is strong. He seems to have realised that he may need the US, but the US also cannot do without him and is in no position to replace him as it did with his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
Much of what the White House is now doing is done to help the Republicans in the presidential election. The aim is to give the impression that Iraq has finally come right for the US and victory is finally in its grasp. The surge is promoted as the strategy by which the tide was turned and it is true that the Sunni uprising against the US occupation has largely ended.
But it has done so for reasons that have little to do with the surge or American actions of any kind. Crucial to the success of the government against the Mahdi Army has been the support of Iran. It is they who arranged for the Shia militiamen to go home.
It takes real cheek for Mr Bush to claim yesterday that "Anbar is no longer lost to al-Qa'ida" since during the last presidential election in 2004, he was claiming that the media was exaggerating the success of the insurgents.
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10 Comments so far
Show AllWhat? Bush plays tricky politics? With real policy? Just for elections?
Bush and the NeoCons KNOW that they will get away with their lies and crimes if McBomb is elected. While Obama offers little real hope of holding these evil UNAMERICAN criminals accountable, there is always the chance that he could act like a REAL AMERICAN President...........
Supporting your own candidates is not new. However - Bush and the criminal enterprise he leads scares me. What wiil be the September surprise? What will be the October surprise? The November surprise? More important, how many will die?
October surprise anyone?
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1220186494776&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The source is the Jerusalem post. And remember that there is still a helluva lot of US Navy hardware floating around off Iran.
Draw your own conclusions.
Walk in peace.
The dutch have been accused of jumping on the propaganda band wagon. We'll see. Have to admit there's been an awful lot of sh_t flying around looking for a fan.
"Much of what the White House is now doing is done to help the Republicans in the presidential election. The aim is to give the impression that Iraq has finally come right for the US and victory is finally in its grasp."
And the sad and tragic thing is that the overwhelmingly uninformed and bigoted mass of 'Murkans is going to believe it. McCain's bizarre selection of Palin to be the VP candidate is a taste of the kind of warped and failed government he will cook up and serve to the public, telling them to eat it - raw. And the public will. Republican governance is a cross between the philosophy of Jack The Ripper and the music of Lawrence Welk. And then, as Jack Cafferty recently said on CNN, "America will get everything it deserves."
Help McCain Win?
Is this McCain related to Admiral McCain of June 1967?
"Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS Liberty left 34 American sailors dead and 174 wounded. Pressured by the Israel Lobby, President Johnson ordered Admiral McCain, father of the Republican presidential nominee, to cover up the attack. To this day there never has been a congressional investigation."
Will it be 'like father, like son' where Country Matters more than Party - but whose Country? Not America, not if this 'War Hero and Patriot' follows his father.
John McCain, son of Admiral McCain, grandson of Admiral McCain, graduated fifth from the bottom of his Annapolis class. Crashed at least four jets in Viet Nam. Spent 5 years as a POW informant and star captive of the NVA. Known as 'Songbird' for his many radio broadcasts for the North VietNamese while a POW.
Yes, he's THAT McCain.
Walk in peace.
25,000 troops next time you are traveling through a town with 25,000 people look at the size and just immagine everyone you see in a military uniform.
As for songbird McCain , he is a coward not a hero. When you sign up for the military you are willing to die for your country not help the enemy. McCain life should have went as far as Wal Mart not President. I am so suprised Obama has not used that against McCain. BUT in a way no since the powers that be control both Obama and McCain so no change at all.
Gasoline has magically dropped fifty cents a gallon in the last three months, GWB promises $1 Bn to secure our interests in Georgia, and Chainy-Saw is floating around in Air Force II sprinkling pixie dust all over the former Russian republic. The media is busy at work dumming down America with images of a flooded New Orleans and discussions of Palin's illegimite grandson. Coincidence? Maybe not.