Sometimes we find political advantage in issues we might not agree with, and in weeks like this one, we need to use that advantage to our benefit.
I'd say the story "U.S. obeys order to abandon checkpoints" is one that could be used to really tick off the GOP's wingnut base. Let's get them asking themselves, and their party: Why is the U.S. taking orders from foreign governments? If we want checkpoints around a city controlled by a crazy Islamofascist cleric's militia, then by God we should keep the checkpoints, not listen to some Iraqi stooge who wants to make the cleric happy!
U.S. troops on Tuesday abandoned checkpoints around the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City on orders from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the latest in a series of moves by the Iraqi leader to assert his authority with the U.S. administration.
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U.S. forces disappeared from the checkpoints within hours of the order to remove the around-the-clock barriers by 5 p.m., setting off celebrations among civilians and armed men gathered on the edge of the sprawling slum that is under the control of the Mahdi Army militia run by radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
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Al-Maliki's threatened to further roil relations with the U.S. that hit a rough patch last week after Al-Maliki issued a string of bitter complaints _ at one point saying he was not "America's man in Iraq."
Al-Maliki had apparently been angered by a statement from U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad that the prime minister had agreed to set a timeline for progress on reaching security and political goals _ something al-Maliki denied. He also angrily rebuked the U.S. for a raid on Sadr city targeting an alleged death squad leader in which 10 people were killed.
Unfortunate though it may be, this is a slow pitch right across the plate to us politically. Are we going to swing hard & hit it out of the park?
Some of our Dems who like to be seen talking tough (Biden, Bayh -- even Jack Murtha who is in fact a hawk despite wingnut rhetoric to the contrary) should be sent out on all the shows to ask why we are taking military orders from the Iraqi gov't that compromise our troops' safety and our mission's chance for success.
This issue should resonate with, and dispirit the GOP base. Here are some comments on the story from the crazy freepers:
Looks like Al Malaki and Mookie are in bed together. This really stinks.
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" . . . on orders from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the latest in a series of moves by the Iraqi leader to assert his authority with the U.S. administration."
I'd be more impressed if this windbag asserted his authority with the militias that have been running wild. More and more, this guy seems like an incompetent.
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Unfortunately we are not dealing with jealously sovereign western minds, we are dealing with an Arabic culture that sees just about any capitulation as weakness.
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When I read this kind of news, I begin the think that we should start planning our exit from Iraq. If the Iraqi political leadership cannot make the difficult decisions it needs to make to stop sectarian violence.
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Incompetent? It seems to me he's quite competently doing exactly what Moqtada al-Sadr wants him to do.
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Let's be deadly clear: the strategy America has pursued since the fall of Saddam CANNOT WIN.
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JUST FRIGGIN' PATHETIC! The democracy thingy in Iraq sucks.
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Residents chant slogans as they gather on a road after U.S. troops abandoned roadblocks in Baghdad's Sadr city, October 31, 2006. Iraq's prime minister, in a very public demonstration of his influence over the U.S. military, ordered the lifting on Tuesday of a week-old cordon around the Baghdad militia stronghold of one of his key Shi'ite allies. REUTERS/KAREEM RAHEEM
(I didn't include comments that I suspect may have been left by trolls from Left Blogistan)
Note: Combine this with the story that the British are partially abandoning their Basra consulate in response to insurgent attacks and it's clear that things are going very badly. Or, to put it in the Right's terms, it seems Our Leaders do not have the will to win this mission.
The U.K. will evacuate some staff from its consulate in the southern city of Basra due to increased rocket and mortar attacks on the building.
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The move is ``in response to an increase in rocket and mortar attacks on the compound,'' the U.K.'s Foreign Office said in a statement read by a spokeswoman in London by telephone.
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Freepers respond to Basra story...