The Good: Sadr took a step back from his "open war" comment last week and urged his Mahdi Army followers not to target other Iraqis. The mosques in Sadr City forbade attacking other Iraqis during Friday Prayers. The Prime Minister has outlined what the Mahdi Army should do to avoid further confrontations. Time discusses the juggling involved between the main Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, coming back to the cabinet due to Maliki finally getting tough on Shi'ite militias.
The Bad: Another oil pipeline has blown up south of Baghdad. Difficult to say whether it was insurgent caused or just an accident. Oil exports were down for Iraq in March, however revenue increased due to record high costs for that sweet, sweet crude. Despite the fact that the new US embassy is a complete oversized abomination and total waste of taxpayer dollars, it can't even house all the employees! I'm sure the Kuwaiti contractor that made a killing off this thing is shedding some crocodile tears about that.
The Ugly: The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen, had some pretty harsh words for Iran. Some "unnamed" sources in the intelligence community say Iranian arms shipments haven't increased, but that is not the conventional wisdom. Malign Iranian influence is a serious problem in Iraq...but making sharp rhetoric about a potential military conflict?!? Is that really smart with the current conditions...I'm not so sure. There's an interesting story about an Iraq vet who is taking 22 credits a semester while writing a book (a hard worker)...maybe it's time for a new GI Bill?
What Iranian weapons, you crazy Americans?
See what the others have said:
2 comments:
How old is your cache of stock photos? A US Army guy in Desert BDUs?
I think this one was from 2004. Goes to show Iran's had its mitts in here for awhile.
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