Political news from Iraq is good
So seein’s how all of the news coming out of Iraq is good, what can the Democrats use in November. What news well, how about the United Arab Emerates forgiving a coupla billion bucks worth of Iraq’s pre-war debt (Reuters link);
The United Arab Emirates has cancelled almost $7 billion of debt including interest and arrears payments owed by Baghdad, becoming the first Gulf Arab country to forgive all of Iraq’s debt.
The United States has pressed Arab governments to support Iraq’s recovery by joining Western nations in forgiving their share of Iraqi foreign debts that total up to $80 billion.
In the 2004 election, John Kerry said that should be one of the measurements of the success of the war. Wonder what where he’ll move the goal posts next. The Gulf States don’t do much without consulting with each other – can the others be far behind?
Prime Minister Maliki declared yesterday that the terrorists have been beaten in Iraq (AFP link);
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday that the country’s security forces have managed to save Baghdad from a “siege by terrorists” backed by foreign nations.
“When we took over Baghdad it was under siege, with all roads leading to neighboring provinces controlled by terrorists. They had surrounded Baghdad from all sides, backed by the bad intentions of other countries,” Maliki told a gathering of top Iraqi and US officials including Washington’s envoy to Baghdad Ryan Crocker.
“We wanted these nations to support and assist us in stabilizing the country but they were thinking of finishing Baghdad,” he said, without naming the countries.
Is it more peaceful than Midwest US states? Obviously not, but there’s been enough progress to take it off the table as far as a campaign issue for the Democrats and it’s a huge win for the US…and for the Republicans. of course we can be sure that the media will downplay it and compare it to Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” banner.
Bill Roggio reports in the Long War Journal that Iraqis are still pursuing Sadrists in Baghdad;
Iraqi soldiers and police cordoned several neighborhoods in the Mahdi Army stronghold to contain the fighting that occurred after security forces detained Abbas Abdul Aal, who is a “senior Sadrist leader,” Voices of Iraq reported. Aal’s nephew was also detailed. “Security forces closed all of the city’s outlets and prevented the movement of traffic and pedestrians,” an eyewitness told the Iraqi newspaper.
The move in Sadr comes one day after Iraqi soldiers closed the Sadrist office in the neighborhood of Shula, where the Sadrist maintain a strong presence. This is the second Sadrist office to be closed in Shula since May.
As soon as the Sadrists realize that their war is over, it will be over. Well, it’ll be over except the whining from the Left that we did it all wrong and that it was “needless”. We’ll get to hear their professors and read their books about the unnecessary loss of life on both sides. Until some Iraqi, like Sadr, admits that the only reason he continued the fight in Iraq is because he was encouraged by the morally bankrupt and politically inept anti-peace Left.
Category: Antiwar crowd, Foreign Policy, Politics, Terror War
