His winning response on that thread was “What a load of steaming crap, Robert”.

Spoke like a true intellectual, that was.

Bow before his superiour wisdom.

Your title is accurate, Brad, since your commentary is indeed wingnuttery distilled.

How witty! Next you can go and tell Something Awful that…well you get the idea.

OK, just don’t be surprised if he introduces Mithras-worship among the troops. Ave Sol Invictus! and all that. Ah well, gotta be better than that creepy Christian evangelism.

Isn’t there some kind of shelter or something in Switzerland that America can hang out in until she gets her head together?

After all, Lawrence was one of those nasty homosexuals, so this might just well be a case of a preemptive attack by the homosexual lobby against the righteous might of our Greatest Preznit Evar.

*ahem*

According to Tom Ricks in Fiasco, Petraeus is actually a pretty smart and effective dude.

Its a fools errand, though. So long as Bush continues to operate under the fantasy that an “Iraqi government” exists apart from sectarian and tribal structures, al Maliki will continue to play him for a fool and suck him in to using the US military as a cat’s paw to smash the Sunnis.

“The Iranian ambassador to Iraq has signaled that Tehran will expand its economic and military ties with Baghdad, The New York Times reported.”

“Iranian ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qumi said Tehran is prepared to offer training for Iraqi forces, as well as equipment and advisers for what he called ‘the security fight,’ the Times reported.”

Iran signals more ties with Iraq

Well, Iraq is a sovereign nation.But I can’t help wondering how this is all going to work out for the Sunnis. And what Saudi Arabia will think of it.

Love,
Lucy

Hmm. “Securitizing”? Do Bush supporters add extra syllables to long words in honor of the Great Miscommunicatorizor?

I think al Maliki is in the forefront all right.
Heated debate temporarily shuts down Iraqi parliament

“Abdul Nasir Janabi, a Sunni cleric and legislator from Latifiyah, responded by protesting a major sweep by U.S. and Iraqi troops Wednesday through Haifa Street, a Sunni neighborhood near the Green Zone that has been dominated by anti-government militants.

“‘There are no terrorists in Haifa Street,’ he said to loud protests from the Shiite-dominated chamber. ‘Aren’t there terrorists in Sadr City or Shula?’ he asked, referring to two Shiite militia strongholds.

“Janabi questioned the sincerity of Maliki’s efforts to reconcile Shiites and Sunnis, citing the purging from government of former members of Saddam Hussein’s ousted Baath Party — many of them Sunni Arabs. He also accused Maliki’s government of sentencing people to death for political reasons, a possible reference to Hussein’s execution last month.

“‘We cannot trust this premiership,’ Janabani said, as the shouting escalated around him.

“Maliki retorted: ‘All I could tell our brother, the sheik, is that he will trust in this premiership once we present his file and hold him accountable for it.’ As Shiite legislators loudly applauded, he said, ‘one hundred and fifty kidnapped individuals in his area — why doesn’t he talk about that?’

The follow up is:
Death squad chieftains flee to beat Baghdad surge

“A former senior Iraqi minister said most of the leaders loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical anti-American cleric, had gone into hiding in Iran.”

“The former minister, who did not want to be named for security reasons, backed Sunni MPs’ claims that Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, had encouraged their flight. He alleged that weapons belonging to Sadr’s Mahdi Army had been hidden inside the Iraqi interior ministry to prevent confiscation.

“Maliki said last week: ‘I know that senior criminals have left Baghdad, others have left the country. This is good — this shows that our message is being taken seriously.’â€?

Yes, al Maliki. Upon this rock, we shall build the Iraqi democracy.

Wimp.