In
this AP story we learn a number of disturbing things.
To open:
Bombings and shootings soared by 40 percent in the Baghdad area in the past week, the U.S. military said Thursday. An American general said extremists were preparing "an all-out assault" on the capital in a decisive battle for the future of Iraq.
Well, that sounds like hyperbole from our cowardly press corps. Those on the ground aren't that nervous, are they?
Alarmed by the crisis, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani issued a rare statement, saying the time has come for "all those who value the unity and future of this country" to "exert maximum efforts to stop the bloodletting."
Al-Sistani, a longtime voice of moderation, urged Iraqis against "falling into the trap of sectarian and ethnic strife," which he said will only delay the departure of foreign troops.
"I repeat my call today to all Iraqis of different sects and ethnic groups to be aware of the danger threatening the future of the country and stand side-by-side against it," he said.
Well, I'm sure he's just speaking out of an abundance of caution, right? Our military knows that victory is right around the corner. All we have to do is paint a few schools. A thousand points of light.
"We have not witnessed the reduction in violence one would have hoped for in a perfect world," (U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William) Caldwell told reporters. "The only way we're going to be successful in Baghdad is to get the weapons off the streets."
Caldwell said insurgents were streaming into the capital for "an all-out assault against the Baghdad area."
So, now gun control as a strategy is the only hope for Baghdad? Funny how Republicans have been telling us for decades that it won't work in places like Newark or Dallas.
But, the 101st Fighting Keyboardists have always been quick to point out that most of Iraq is peaceful. So, this attention on Baghdad is just the anti-American media putting negative spin on things, right?
"Clearly the death squad elements, the terrorist elements, know that Baghdad is a must-win for them," he said. "Whoever wins the Baghdad area, whoever is able to bring peace and security to that area, is going to set the conditions to stabilize this country."
. . . Baghdad is the country's major transportation hub, the center of political and economic power, and home to more than 20 percent of the population. Its religiously and politically mixed population makes it a natural battleground for control of the country.
"Baghdad is a must-win not only for the prime minister, but for al-Qaida in Iraq," Caldwell said. "Without Baghdad's centralized access to power brokers, Baghdad's large, diverse population, its financial resources, the terrorists elements will lose here in this country."
What if, God forbid, the strategy of gun control doesn't defeat them in Baghdad? What if the bad guys, or general anarchy, prevail there?
To recap: If we lose Baghdad, we lose the war. And we lose Baghdad if we can't get keep weapons off the streets in Baghdad.
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