[Pelefaifs]

Maliki must figure that he can take em.

[WFSdZuP3]

The other thread said Sadr already won, this can not be

I am a bit split on this. While the militia is troublesome to say the least, at least it is controled to some extent.. I wonder what 10K+ armed young men now beholden to nobody will do (we saw what happened once before already).

[Gastonleruanich]

The other thread said Sadr already won, this can not be

Why can't it be? How is this inconsistent with Sadr beating the Maliki in Basra?

[detskpit]

Canada to USA:

Decrease the tariffs on our lumber or else!

[CoallyPax]

Given how theIraqi army was defeated and routed across the country last time what he's really saying is "Disband or I'll tell the US to kick your ass".

[genna]

Militia isn't that great anyway. Better to get Phalanx asap /lamecivjoke

[Trientoriciom]

Originally posted by Patroklos




Who took territory from who during all out fighting again? Which side ran back to their homes? Exactly.

This is the next logical step for Maliki to make having defeated Sadr in the field.

I understand you though O, you need to muddy the playing field a bit before Petreaus testifies and pounds your face into it routed wasn't my word. It was the word used by CNN and MSNBC and I linked to both in the thread I started about that.

Nice to know you can always be counted on to say something stupid though.

[fedordzen]

WaPo claims that Sadr said he would comply if al-Sistani ordered him to.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...040700252.html

[MasdMnPa]

Originally posted by Patroklos
So explain to us how you can gain territory and be routed. When you fail to accomplish any of your stated operational goals and the ending lines are virtually identical to the starting lines then it is a failure. They tried to take territory and failed until the US came in and saved their bacon.

Try to spin it all you want but that is the simple facts.

[fgfblog]

When you fail to accomplish any of your stated operational goals and the ending lines are virtually identical to the starting lines then it is a failure. They tried to take territory and failed until the US came in and saved their bacon. Hmmm, so tell me exaclty how the Iraqi army fought militias without ever actualy entering Basra? Tell me how the battle lines are the same if Iraqi army units are in Basra as we speak?

Stated operational goal: Restore order to Basra/
Reality today: Iraqi Army patroling Basra, miilitias nowhere to be seen.

Reality

And btw, please tell me when American combat troops came to save the day. Spare us your predictable and obviously pathetic attempt to insist a squad of SF and a few officers consulting at the HQ negates the hard work of 10K+ Iraqi soldiers.

And btw Oerdin, if you intend to insist the postitions are the same (despite that be obviously false), that STILL isn't a route.

[Desflahd]

I think you overestimate the difference between politics and the barricades in Iraq.

[Rexaviennatutr]

Which militias? He's fine with certain militias, and not so fine with others (like pretty much everyone else with power in Iraq). He's down with the Badr Corps, which is controlled by the most important party in his government, and huge part of his security forces. He's on decent terms with the Peshmerga, whose political wings are also propping up his rule. He's much less of a fan of JAM, Fadhila, and the Awakening Councils, groups that don't get state largess.

[ViaplyVuple]

That's a silly question. Iraqi politics is played by having an effective patronage machine, and that's what JAM gets the Sadrists. They're not going to give it up unilaterally. Are you implying that giving your chief rival, and only your chief rival, the choice of disarming or being disenfranchised is some sort of good-faith action in the interests of democracy?

I think Sadr is playing Maliki pretty effectively. Najaf doesn't have the political influence to demand Sadrist disarmament when the party of the clerical establishment gets to keep their guns. Sistani is ailing and AWOL, the Najaf establishment is waning, and Qom is waxing. That's why Iran, and not Najaf, brokered the recent cease-fire (one that Maliki is apparently brazen enough to break a week or so later).

I don't get Maliki. Always acting in the interests of his sect, always for his faction within the sect. He's a destroyer of states.

[BCVB9SOc]

Under what legal basis could Maliki ban a party from running in an election?

Wouldn't the Parliment be the one to have to pass a law saying so? Unless there is a clear legal precedent for the executive branch banning parties from elections (and I highly doubt there is such a thing), trying to carry out such a threat would only undermine the legitimacy of the coming elections and create further tension within the Shiite community.

[TZtrDuso]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
I think he could do it under the basis of he's got the government and the Bush administration is backing him up. Yes, and governments in power can steal elections all the time, that does not mean that in the minds of most Iraqis the situation would be seen as legitimate, which is much more important for creating any sort of long term change.

[Wezfyowk]

Originally posted by Patroklos
Can he not just outlaw the organization (Sadr's) for being in open armed rebelion? Except it's not in open armed rebellion, and even if he bans the JAM, Sadr has a political party with 30 plus seats in the Parliment.

Regardless of the level of truth in that, if the Republican or Democratic parties here were maintaining 50K odd large armies I think we could disqualify them as a legitmate party and not include them on the ballot. So then the Kurdish parties must be banned, as well as any Sunni party with any connection to the Awakening Councils, because the Peshmerga and the Awakening Councils are not under the control of the central government either. The fact is that Sadr's party is as legitimate as every other party in the Iraqi Parliment, and they ALL have either their own militia, or connections to armed groups not under governmental control.

[Evdokia]

[mr.supervideogoodfd]

get your ass handed to you by a militia

Your powers of delusion are indeed remarkable.

Oerdin

[leahjhburton]

Please feel free to quote me saying there were no desertions.

As per usual when I request you quoting me saying such things, I expect either 1.) silence as you pray this thread buries itself or 2.) a smoke screen of insults while you still fail to produce a quote.

[zoppiklonikaa]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Bah, I'm not going to look through dozens of threads.