09 April 2008

Iraq News (9 April)

The Good: Navy Seal, Petty Officer 2nd class Michael Monsoor, has been posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for courage in Anbar Province in 2006. He's is the fourth recipient since 9/11. Sadr has cancelled the mass protests for today to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, but has threatened to lift the ceasefire. Meanwhile, joint operations continue in Sadr city to target militia thugs, and the Kurdish Peshmerga might join in on the operations according to the KRG President Barzani.
The Bad: A prominent Sahwa sheikh has been assassinated (probably by Al-Qaeda terrorists) in Diyala, while 11 soldiers have been killed since Sunday (mostly in Baghdad). Petraeus said the Iraqi offensive in Basra wasn't adequately planned. I don't think you needed a crystal ball to glean that information. It looks like Grand Ayatollah Sistani is staying mum on the issue of disbanding the Mahdi Army as well.
The Ugly: Not surprisingly, the operations targeting gangs in Basra may have been about oil. In a country where 90% of its revenue comes from oil exports, would you expect any less? The Senate is frustrated that there is no easy exit from Iraq despite their attempts to discredit the well-respected public servants Petraeus and Crocker as a thinly veiled attack on Republican policy-making. Geez, don't shoot the messengers and they don't call it a "quagmire" for nothing. Protestors exercised their "freedom of speech" to perpetuate obnoxious shenanigans at the testimony. Congrats on your tired old hippie lovefests, now say hello to Mr. Taser.
How do these assbags keep getting into Congressional hearings?

0 comments: