Politics and Culture

Do you think macho/honor acculturated Muqtada al-Sadr liked being called a coward by female-American Rice? It's obvious that Iraq and the U.S. feel that al-Sadr is weak and have an opportunity to break him. Calling his bluff, as it were.

If moderate Shia and Sunni unite against Al Qaeda and Iran-backed regimes, that would be a good thing.

Here

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.

Rice, in the Iraqi capital to tout security gains and what she calls an emerging political consensus, said al-Sadr is content to issue threats and edicts from the safety of Iran, where he is studying. Al-Sadr heads an unruly militia that was the main target of an Iraqi government assault in the oil-rich city of Basra last month, and his future role as a spoiler is an open question.

Of course I, along with all Americans whether in favor or opposed (most of those opposed), honor the sacrifices of those involved and despite the hours I've spent orally and electronically defending its rationality if not its necessity (Here's a post when I was more worried.) and even having participated in its execution, I couldn't muster the motivation to write something on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war.

The main reason is that the question seems settled. Obama and Hillary currently engage in a retreat auction ("I see your six months and raise you two.") in front of Kassocks, but I have a feeling they'll be moderating that view in the general election, and that if either of them do win the election, that person will find an excuse to stay. Meanwhile the candidate who most urges victory in Iraq, a position that people are supposed to either be against or not care about, is climbing in the polls.

So, we'll stay, things will improve, we'll have a base for a hundred years, and everybody will be O.K. I only hope it's sooner than later.

Bless her honest little heart. It's easy to dismiss Jolie as a fashionable activist, but I admire her dedication to her cause. One can draw a contrast between Jolie and the nakedly political Penn visits. I also admire her decision to bear children at the height of her career.

NEW YORK --
Actress and humanitarian activist Angelina Jolie said Thursday that the reinforcement of U.S. troops in Iraq has created an opportunity for humanitarian programs to boost assistance for Iraqi refugees.

Story here.

Story here.

This ought to get the conspiracy mills humming. I wonder if it'll be enough to replace what we get from Venezuela:

More than 70 international firms have registered to compete for tenders to help develop Iraq's oil reserves, the world's third largest, the country's oil ministry said.

Big oil firms such as Royal Dutch Shell and Total have been positioning themselves for years to gain access.

Imagine how close we came to seeing this every day (Saddam was already doing it.) on a much larger scale. I'm glad McCain and Bush stayed with the surge.

Story here.

BALAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Video provided to CNN shows an al Qaeda in Iraq firing squad executing one-time allies -- fellow Sunni extremists -- who were not loyal enough to the terror organization, coalition military analysts said.

Analysts say the video shows al Qaeda in Iraq operatives executing nine Sunni men deemed disloyal.

In the video provided by coalition military officials, armed men wearing masks are shown standing behind nine kneeling men, all of whom are wearing blindfolds or hoods with their hands presumably tied behind their backs. The video shows the men being executed.

...this is a dick move:

BAGHDAD | Remote-controlled explosives strapped to two mentally disabled women detonated in a coordinated attack on Baghdad pet bazaars Friday, police and Iraqi officials said, killing at least 73 people in the deadliest day since the U.S. sent 30,000 extra troops to the capital this spring...

...Local police said the woman in the first attack sold cream in the morning at the market and was known to locals as "the crazy lady."

full story

I can't tell the difference between Saddam's handwriting and Kufi script.

Of interest to me: Saddam has been called a classic fascist (here and here) Jonah Goldberg has been saying that fascism is an offshoot of socialism. Well, Saddam had "socialism" written on the flag.

Anyways, I don't know if this counts as political progress, but...

BAGHDAD, 23 January 2008 — The Iraqi flag will no longer boast Saddam Hussein’s handwritten praise to God nor its distinctive three stars, the Parliament decided yesterday. The house passed a new flag law by 110 votes to 50 which will change the appearance of the standard but keep its horizontal red, white and black stripes.

Instead of the executed dictator’s handwritten “Allaho Akbar” (God is Greatest), the phrase will be printed in green on the central white stripe in the Kufi form of Arabic script, Parliament ruled. The three green stars, which symbolised unity, freedom and socialism will also be dropped. Under an earlier proposal, the stars were to be kept but the symbolism changed to represent peace, tolerance and justice. Before being given new meaning by the Baath party, the stars had represented Arab unity between Iraq, Syria and Egypt. Ethnic Kurds in particular had wanted the flag changed as it symbolised the Saddam-era regime that launched campaigns of persecution in which thousands were killed with poison gas.

The left tries to remember the good old days.

Hillary Clinton, in a bid for the peaceful party's defeatists, said that she would remove U.S. troops from Iraq in two months. With the progress of political and military developments, she must think that quick action is necessary to prevent a Bush victory:

Clinton said if elected president, she will start pulling troops out of Iraq 60 days after her inauguration. Her plan envisions a quick beginning to the withdrawal followed by the removal of one to two brigades a month.

“At the same time, I will put increasing pressure on the Iraqi government. I will engage in a full diplomatic effort to work with the countries in the region and others who have an interest in the stability of Iraq,” she said.

It's funny because in the last debate, I praised Clinton for saying that any withdrawal from Iraq required caution (contractors, etc.). Well, caution is now flying with the strong breeze created by lefty hot air.

Oh, and she wants more negotiations. Negotiate for what? What if they (Syria!, Iran!) don't want to cooperate? We're already leaving!

Disgusting and pathetic.

It's nice to see kids and adults in Iraq with smiles on their faces.

It takes a lot of discipline for religious people not to see such an occurrence, taking place as it did simultaneously with calls to prayer on the Muslim Sabbath, as a sign from God. I won't say so because of my non-Pat Robertson-filter current events through my theology-policy, but still, it's nice.

Snow falls in Baghdad for the first time in memory, delighting residents

BAGHDAD (AP): After weathering nearly five years of war, Baghdad residents thought they'd pretty much seen it all. But Friday morning, as muezzins were calling the faithful to prayer, the people here awoke to something certifiably new.

For the first time in memory, snow fell across Baghdad.

Although the white flakes quickly dissolved into gray puddles, they brought an emotion rarely expressed in this desert capital snarled by army checkpoints, divided by concrete walls and ravaged by sectarian killings -- delight.

"For the first time in my life I saw a snow-rain like this falling in Baghdad,'' said Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, a 63-year-old retiree from the New Baghdad area.

"When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early '40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad,'' Abdul-Hussein said, referring to snow as a type of rain. "But snow falling in Baghdad in such a magnificent scene was beyond my imagination.''