NOMOREWARFORISRAEL[_2_]
March 1st 08, 06:36 PM
Bush's Zionist War Caused The US Financial Crisis:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0%2C25197%2C23286149-2703%2C00.html
Watch the youtube video linked at the following URL:
'A Clean Break'/war for Israel:
http://neoconzionistthreat.blogspot.com/2008/02/clean-break.html
Blood-thirsty ISRAEL seeks "clean break" to ensnare Iran/Syria into
the war after "shoah" attacks on Gaza & Lebanon (be sure to take a
look at the comments at the bottom of the following URL)
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/5890
http://NEOCONZIONISTTHREAT.BLOGSPOT.COM
http://NOMOREWARFORISRAEL.BLOGSPOT.COM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iraq: The Calm Before the Conflagration
By Chris Hedges
The United States is funding and in many cases arming the three ethnic
factions in Iraq -- the Kurds, the Shiites and the Sunni Arabs. These
factions rule over partitioned patches of Iraqi territory and brutally
purge rival ethnic groups from their midst. Iraq no longer exists as a
unified state. It is a series of heavily armed fiefdoms run by thugs,
gangs, militias, radical Islamists and warlords who are often paid
wages of $300 a month by the U.S. military. Iraq is Yugoslavia before
the storm. It is a caldron of weapons, lawlessness, hate and
criminality that is destined to implode. And the current U.S. policy,
born of desperation and defeat, means that when Iraq goes up, the U.S.
military will have to scurry like rats for cover.
The supporters of the war, from the Bush White House to Sen. John
McCain, tout the surge as the magic solution. But the surge, which
primarily deployed 30,000 troops in and around Baghdad, did little to
thwart the sectarian violence. The decline in attacks began only when
we bought off the Sunni Arabs. U.S. commanders in the bleak fall of
2006 had little choice. It was that or defeat. The steady rise in U.S.
casualties, the massive car bombs that tore apart city squares in
Baghdad and left hundreds dead, the brutal ethnic cleansing that was
creating independent ethnic enclaves beyond our control throughout
Iraq, the death squads that carried out mass executions and a central
government that was as corrupt as it was impotent signaled
catastrophic failure.
The United States cut a deal with its Sunni Arab enemies. It would pay
the former insurgents. It would allow them to arm and form military
units and give them control of their ethnic enclaves. The Sunni Arabs,
in exchange, would halt attacks on U.S. troops. The Sunni Arabs
agreed.
The U.S. is currently spending hundreds of millions of dollars to pay
the monthly salaries of some 600,000 armed fighters in the three rival
ethnic camps in Iraq. These fighters -- Shiite, Kurd and Sunni Arab --
are not only antagonistic but deeply unreliable allies. The Sunni Arab
militias have replaced central government officials, including police,
and taken over local administration and security in the pockets of
Iraq under their control. They have no loyalty outside of their own
ethnic community. Once the money runs out, or once they feel strong
enough to make a thrust for power, the civil war in Iraq will
accelerate with deadly speed. The tactic of money-for-peace failed in
Afghanistan. The U.S. doled out funds and weapons to tribal groups in
Afghanistan to buy their loyalty, but when the payments and weapons
shipments ceased, the tribal groups headed back into the embrace of
the Taliban.
The Sunni Arab militias are known by a variety of names: the Iraqi
Security Volunteers (ISVs), neighborhood watch groups, Concerned Local
Citizens, Critical Infrastructure Security. The militias call
themselves "sahwas" ("sahwa" being the Arabic word for awakening).
There are now 80,000 militia fighters, nearly all Sunni Arabs, paid by
the United States to control their squalid patches of Iraq. They are
expected to reach 100,000. The Sunni Arab militias have more fighters
under arms than the Shiite Mahdi Army and are about half the size of
the feeble Iraqi army. The Sunni Awakening groups, which fly a yellow
satin flag, are forming a political party.
The Sunni Arab militias, though they have ended attacks on U.S.
forces, detest the Shiite-Kurdish government of Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki and abhor the presence of U.S. troops on Iraqi soil. They
take the money and the support with clenched teeth because with it
they are able to build a renegade Sunni army, a third force inside
Iraq, which they believe will make it possible to overthrow the
central government. The Sunni Arabs, who make up about 40 percent of
Iraq' s population, held most positions of power under Saddam Hussein.
They dominated Iraq' s old officer corps. They made up its elite
units, including the Republic Guard divisions and the Special Forces
regiments. They controlled the intelligence agencies. There are
several hundred thousand well-trained Sunni Arabs who lack only an
organizational structure. We have now made the formation of this
structure possible. These militias are the foundation for a deadlier
insurgent force, one that will dwarf anything the United States faced
in the past. The U.S. is arming, funding and equipping its own
assassins.
There have been isolated clashes that point to a looming
conflagration. A Shiite-dominated unit of the regular army in the late
summer of 2007 attacked a strong Sunni Arab force west of Baghdad.
U.S. troops thrust themselves between the two factions. The enraged
Shiites, thwarted in their attack, kidnapped relatives of the
commander of the Sunni Arab force, and American negotiators had to
plead frantically for their release. There have been scattered
incidents like this one throughout Iraq.
If the U.S. begins, as promised, to withdraw troops, it will be harder
to keep these antagonistic factions apart. The cease-fire by the
radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, extended a few days ago, could
collapse. And if that happens, a civil war, unlike anything U.S.
forces have experienced in Iraq, will begin. Such a conflagration,
with the potential to draw in neighboring states and lead to the
dismemberment of Iraq, would be the final chapter of the worst foreign
policy blunder in American history.
Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, was the Middle East
bureau chief for The New York Times. He spent seven years in the
Middle East and reported frequently from Iran. His latest book is
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.
© 2008 Truthdig All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/77873/
Iraq's Deeply Tragic Future
By Scott Ritter
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/76318/
Blood-thirsty ISRAEL seeks "clean break" to ensnare Iran/Syria into
the war after "shoah" attacks on Gaza & Lebanon - see comments section
at the bottom
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/5890
http://neoconzionistthreat.blogspot.com/2008/02/clean-break.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0%2C25197%2C23286149-2703%2C00.html
Watch the youtube video linked at the following URL:
'A Clean Break'/war for Israel:
http://neoconzionistthreat.blogspot.com/2008/02/clean-break.html
Blood-thirsty ISRAEL seeks "clean break" to ensnare Iran/Syria into
the war after "shoah" attacks on Gaza & Lebanon (be sure to take a
look at the comments at the bottom of the following URL)
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/5890
http://NEOCONZIONISTTHREAT.BLOGSPOT.COM
http://NOMOREWARFORISRAEL.BLOGSPOT.COM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iraq: The Calm Before the Conflagration
By Chris Hedges
The United States is funding and in many cases arming the three ethnic
factions in Iraq -- the Kurds, the Shiites and the Sunni Arabs. These
factions rule over partitioned patches of Iraqi territory and brutally
purge rival ethnic groups from their midst. Iraq no longer exists as a
unified state. It is a series of heavily armed fiefdoms run by thugs,
gangs, militias, radical Islamists and warlords who are often paid
wages of $300 a month by the U.S. military. Iraq is Yugoslavia before
the storm. It is a caldron of weapons, lawlessness, hate and
criminality that is destined to implode. And the current U.S. policy,
born of desperation and defeat, means that when Iraq goes up, the U.S.
military will have to scurry like rats for cover.
The supporters of the war, from the Bush White House to Sen. John
McCain, tout the surge as the magic solution. But the surge, which
primarily deployed 30,000 troops in and around Baghdad, did little to
thwart the sectarian violence. The decline in attacks began only when
we bought off the Sunni Arabs. U.S. commanders in the bleak fall of
2006 had little choice. It was that or defeat. The steady rise in U.S.
casualties, the massive car bombs that tore apart city squares in
Baghdad and left hundreds dead, the brutal ethnic cleansing that was
creating independent ethnic enclaves beyond our control throughout
Iraq, the death squads that carried out mass executions and a central
government that was as corrupt as it was impotent signaled
catastrophic failure.
The United States cut a deal with its Sunni Arab enemies. It would pay
the former insurgents. It would allow them to arm and form military
units and give them control of their ethnic enclaves. The Sunni Arabs,
in exchange, would halt attacks on U.S. troops. The Sunni Arabs
agreed.
The U.S. is currently spending hundreds of millions of dollars to pay
the monthly salaries of some 600,000 armed fighters in the three rival
ethnic camps in Iraq. These fighters -- Shiite, Kurd and Sunni Arab --
are not only antagonistic but deeply unreliable allies. The Sunni Arab
militias have replaced central government officials, including police,
and taken over local administration and security in the pockets of
Iraq under their control. They have no loyalty outside of their own
ethnic community. Once the money runs out, or once they feel strong
enough to make a thrust for power, the civil war in Iraq will
accelerate with deadly speed. The tactic of money-for-peace failed in
Afghanistan. The U.S. doled out funds and weapons to tribal groups in
Afghanistan to buy their loyalty, but when the payments and weapons
shipments ceased, the tribal groups headed back into the embrace of
the Taliban.
The Sunni Arab militias are known by a variety of names: the Iraqi
Security Volunteers (ISVs), neighborhood watch groups, Concerned Local
Citizens, Critical Infrastructure Security. The militias call
themselves "sahwas" ("sahwa" being the Arabic word for awakening).
There are now 80,000 militia fighters, nearly all Sunni Arabs, paid by
the United States to control their squalid patches of Iraq. They are
expected to reach 100,000. The Sunni Arab militias have more fighters
under arms than the Shiite Mahdi Army and are about half the size of
the feeble Iraqi army. The Sunni Awakening groups, which fly a yellow
satin flag, are forming a political party.
The Sunni Arab militias, though they have ended attacks on U.S.
forces, detest the Shiite-Kurdish government of Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki and abhor the presence of U.S. troops on Iraqi soil. They
take the money and the support with clenched teeth because with it
they are able to build a renegade Sunni army, a third force inside
Iraq, which they believe will make it possible to overthrow the
central government. The Sunni Arabs, who make up about 40 percent of
Iraq' s population, held most positions of power under Saddam Hussein.
They dominated Iraq' s old officer corps. They made up its elite
units, including the Republic Guard divisions and the Special Forces
regiments. They controlled the intelligence agencies. There are
several hundred thousand well-trained Sunni Arabs who lack only an
organizational structure. We have now made the formation of this
structure possible. These militias are the foundation for a deadlier
insurgent force, one that will dwarf anything the United States faced
in the past. The U.S. is arming, funding and equipping its own
assassins.
There have been isolated clashes that point to a looming
conflagration. A Shiite-dominated unit of the regular army in the late
summer of 2007 attacked a strong Sunni Arab force west of Baghdad.
U.S. troops thrust themselves between the two factions. The enraged
Shiites, thwarted in their attack, kidnapped relatives of the
commander of the Sunni Arab force, and American negotiators had to
plead frantically for their release. There have been scattered
incidents like this one throughout Iraq.
If the U.S. begins, as promised, to withdraw troops, it will be harder
to keep these antagonistic factions apart. The cease-fire by the
radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, extended a few days ago, could
collapse. And if that happens, a civil war, unlike anything U.S.
forces have experienced in Iraq, will begin. Such a conflagration,
with the potential to draw in neighboring states and lead to the
dismemberment of Iraq, would be the final chapter of the worst foreign
policy blunder in American history.
Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, was the Middle East
bureau chief for The New York Times. He spent seven years in the
Middle East and reported frequently from Iran. His latest book is
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.
© 2008 Truthdig All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/77873/
Iraq's Deeply Tragic Future
By Scott Ritter
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/76318/
Blood-thirsty ISRAEL seeks "clean break" to ensnare Iran/Syria into
the war after "shoah" attacks on Gaza & Lebanon - see comments section
at the bottom
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/5890
http://neoconzionistthreat.blogspot.com/2008/02/clean-break.html