Tag Archive for ‘Iraq’

Iraq: Countdown to the Coming War

Day Six

December 23, 2011.  Thousands of Sunni Muslims in Samarra, Ramadi, Baiji, and Qaim have taken to the streets.  Many of them carry signs and banners protesting the Shi’ah-dominated government of Nouri al-Maliki and expressing support for threatened Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi.

Day Five

December 22, 2011.   Dozens of people were killed as bombs exploded in several Baghdad neighborhoods.  While some of the attacks had the earmarks of Sunni militants linked with al-Quaeda, others were aimed at Sunni and mixed neighborhoods.  Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed the attacks on his political rivals, while Sunni leaders claimed that the bombs were part of a organized campaign to plunge Iraq back into the bad old days of violence, before the Americans had brought peace and stability to Iraq.

Day Three

December 20, 2011.  US officials expressed concern that all the billions of dollars spent on building up Iraqi security, the judicial system, and the media are now being used to stage political show trials that will exacerbate sectarian tensions.

Day Two:

December 19, 2011. The Shi’ite dominated government of  PM Nouri al-Maliki issues warrant for the arrest of Sunni  Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi.  the al-Maliki government made the arrest order a prime time television special. The warrant cannot be executed because  the  vice president was in Kurdistan, which the Baghdad government does not control.

Day One:

December 18, 2011.   Last US troops leave Iraq.

Obama’s Retreat

I listened to a bit of President Obama’s speech. Why am I disgusted? After all, I have said from the first day of our war against Afghanistan that it was a futile operation that might kill a lot of Afghans and a few Americans but that it would would accomplish nothing.

Barack Obama’s Reassuringly Vacuous State of the Union Address

President Barack Obama’s second State of the Union Address was almost entirely focused on domestic issues. This was appropriate considering the magnitude of social, economic and moral problems America is facing, and the attendant absurdity of pursuing grand global themes for as long as those problems remain unresolved.

The Murderers of Christianity

Sunday, on the eve of All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1, 2010, the faithful gathered at the Assyrian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad. As Father Wassim Sabih finished the mass, eight al-Qaida stormed in, began shooting and forced him to the floor. As the priest pleaded that his parishioners be spared, they executed him and began their mission of mass murder.

The War Within the War

With the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, as announced to the world by President Barack Obama, we can all sit back and smile, right? Not too big a smile, if you please. The war in nearby Afghanistan goes on, no path to victory yet discernible save the path of patience. Meanwhile the jihadists seem to be taking over Yemen and Somalia.

Coming Home at Last?

Asked if the United States might send still more troops to Afghanistan, if the Obama surge is not succeeding by year’s end, Vice President Joe Biden answered, “I do not believe so.”

So, that is it. Biden is saying the 100,000 U.S. troops in theater or on the way is our limit. If Kabul and the Afghan army fail with this investment of American forces, they will be permitted to fail. All the chips we are going to commit are now on the table.

The Fruits of Intervention

If we had it to do over, would we send an army into Afghanistan to build a nation?

Would we invade Iraq?

While these two wars have cost 5,200 dead, a trillion dollars and a divided America facing an endless war, what have we won?

It Can’t Be Repeated Too Often (Until It Sinks In), Again

Many American citizens, probably in the thousands, have been murdered and otherwise victimised by illegal aliens because of your presidents’ deliberate decision not to enforce the laws, in order to put the interests of foreign politicians and domestic rich people over the welfare of citizens.

Afghanistan South

Prediction: After all U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea have come home, there will be a U.S. army on the Mexican border. For this is where the fate of our republic will be decided, as the fate of Europe will be decided by the millions streaming north from the Maghreb and Middle East, sub-Sahara and South Asia.

The Long Retreat

But if victory over the Taliban has been ruled out by the United States, have the Taliban ruled out a victory over the American Empire to rival the one their fathers won over the Soviet Empire? What price are we prepared to pay, in “prolonged indecision,” to avert such an end to a war now in its eighth year? America had best brace herself for difficult days ahead.