Freedom’s just another word for funding
sectarian death squads
It seems Iraq has learned more about American democracy than I’d thought (my emphasis):
A department of the Iraqi prime minister’s office is playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and national police officers, some of whom have apparently worked too aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias, according to U.S. military officials in Baghdad.
Since March 1, at least 16 army and national police commanders have been fired, detained or pressured to resign; at least nine of them are Sunnis, according to U.S. military documents shown to The Washington Post.
Although some of the officers appear to have been fired for legitimate reasons, such as poor performance or corruption, several were considered to be among the better Iraqi officers in the field. The dismissals have angered U.S. and Iraqi leaders who say the Shiite-led government is sabotaging the military to achieve sectarian goals.
Learnin’ from the master, baby.
I would love, love, love it if Maliki described the generals’ firings as an “overblown personnel matter.”
You know, even if the Republicans ran the Norris/Warrior ticket in ’08 I’m not sure it would be as messed up as this.
Well, all we need now are some American nuns to be killed and our work in Iraq will have reached its ironic potential.
“El Salvador, meet Iraq. Iraq, El Salvador. You two talk while I go see if I can get Iran to come over and join the conversation.”
Those commanders serve at the pleasure of the Iraqi prime minister. Duh!
You know, even if the Republicans ran the Norris/Warrior ticket in ‘08 I’m not sure it would be as messed up as this.
At least they’d be able to maintain their foke.
I don’t think Alberto should wear red neckties anymore. They just bring out the flop sweat and the I-been-pushed-under-the-bus eyes.
Funding sectarian deathsquads is still way cheaper and more cost efficient that funding Blackwater USA security.
I always thought that the Reagan and now Reagan II (Bush Jr) innovation was to bring home to the USA the same kind of undermining of democracy, disrespect for human rights, and theft of elections the US has practiced in Latin America for a century.
Gimme a break; this is a non-story completely fabricated by the Sunnis and the media. Besides everyone knows that Clinton did the same thing!
Funding sectarian deathsquads is still way cheaper and more cost efficient that funding Blackwater USA security.
Well, we can’t have that, now can we?
i don’t think the term “overblown personnel” is used in iraq in the same way it is used in DC. there, i believe, it refers to the actual blowing up of people, who are indeed over one’s head (in parts) if one was lucky enough to both duck and not be standing next to the IED.
and the biggest death squads are the US and UK armies
and the biggest death squads are the US and UK armies
That’s pretty dumb. Atrocities happen here and there, but by and large those are not there to just kill anybody who’s Iraqi.
Most soldiers started out as good people (although with the increased recruiting of felons and white supremacists, who really knows?), but like the Stanford prison experiment, the situation they were thrust into led them to commit terrible atrocities like the Haditha and My Lai massacres and others we’ll never learn about.
It’s despicable.
Whoa, whoa, slow down a little there, big fella. “Soldiers” are just people. It’s a very large sample size, so it’s gonna include all manner of folks. Now that said, before you start deciding it all goes like the stanford prison deal, I really need you to think about it. These are men in combat. People are trying to kill you. You frequently try to kill them back. The My Lais and Hadithas are exceedingly rare. But from the dirt and mud and smoke and blood at the wrong end of a rifle as an eleven bulletstop, it’s real hard to tell the difference. If you spend all night fighting for your life, and you kill multiple times that night, not just with your gun, but with your hands, is that an atrocity? How bout the next morning, when you come across an enemy soldier and he tries to surrender, but you’re strung tight and you give him three rounds in the chest, is that an atrocity? How bout you find one of ’em gutshot, mostly bled out, sobbing with his guts in the dirt and you give him a round in the forehead. Is that an atrocity? Or one of your guys gets torn up, he’s a bloody mess and he’s not gonna make it. So you hit him with six full hits of morphine and he just goes to sleep. Call it, son. Right or wrong?
I could go on and on (ok, you know that), but the point is you gotta be careful about making judgments in the most extreme, insane, chaotic place humans can find themselves, in combat. Some things are just wrong, but in fact, almost nothing that happens in war isn’t…
mikey
And now it turns out that the Iraqi government has learnt the ultimate lesson from the Master hisself: the Iraqi parliament is taking the entire months of July and August off for a grand vacation. Remind you of anybody?
“Wait, where are you all going?”
“Er… we’re going on holiday.”
“Wow, those are some big bags you’re carrying.”
“What about it?”
“Nothing. So where are you guys going?”
“Switzerland. For the skiing, you know.”
“Cool. When will you be back?… You are coming back, right? … guys?”
Love the inclusion of the Gonzales picture. Great minds think alike:
http://highclearing.com/index.php/archives/2007/04/30/6322