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It’ll Be A Cold Day in Baghdad

Good question:

“This is so unusual, and I don’t know whether or not it’s a lesson from God,” Karim said. 

Local blog reax:

Iraqpundit: “To us it’s like manna from heaven.”

In Iraq Sex Is Like Snow has the snow part out of the way, anyway.  

At Days of My Life, Sunshine doesn’t mention snow, but despite some heavy gunfire and an explosion, she had a bangup Eid and Christmas.

A lot of things have been happening lately that no one thought they’d ever see.

Here’s Bush at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Balt Sun:

President Bush, telling American troops stationed here that history will judge the United States as victorious in Iraq, is discussing with his commanding war general possible scenarios for withdrawing more troops than the numbers already planned for drawdown by July.

…

“Long-term success will require active U.S. engagement that outlasts my presidency,’’ Bush told reporters with a brief statement and then questions and answers in an Army Central Command center where the Army monitors logistics in the region.

Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, also told reporters in a base briefing that Syria has cut by about half its support of foreign fighters flowing in to Iraq, but that it is difficult to assess if Iran’s contribution to fighting inside Iraq has abated.

The president, based on Petraeus’ recommendation, announced with his “new way forward’’ last fall that the U.S. will withdraw five Army brigades, two Marine battalions and a Marine Expeditionary force from Iraq by July – about 21,500 combat troops, in addition to thousands of supporting forces. One brigade and the expeditionary force already have returned home. The plan will leave 15 Army brigades in place in Iraq by July.

“The only thing I can tell you we’re on track for, is to follow through on that which he recommended last September, and that we’ll be on track getting down to 15’’ brigades, Bush told reporters standing beside a bank of tall computer displays on which supplies in the region are monitored. “So the only thing I can tell you we’re on track for is, we’re doing what we said was going to happen.’’

But Bush insisted here, as he has many times, that any determination about further withdrawals will be based on ground conditions in Iraq, where Petraeus maintains that violence has subsided by 60 percent during the past year’s troop buildup.

Maintains? I thought even the Bush-bashing press had been forced to concede that violence, regretably, has plummeted. But it’ll be a cold day in … hey, it already was. Can’t sit around all day wait for some people to notice the snow.  Moving on, Radio Free Europe:

President George W. Bush has said hope is returning to Iraq and the withdrawal of 20,000 U.S. troops by the middle of the year is “on track” but that no decision has been taken to bring home more troops.

…

“There is no doubt in my mind that we will succeed,” Bush told some of the 15,000 troops stationed at Camp Arifjan, which serves as a staging ground for forces deploying to Iraq. “There’s no doubt in my mind, when history is written, the final page will say: ‘Victory was achieved by the United States of America for the good of the world.’ And by doing the hard work now, we can look back and say the United States of America is more secure and generations of Americans will be able to live in peace.”

Uh oh. There’s a pisshole in that snow. EFPs linked to yachting-enthused partner for peace on the up. CNN:

Attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq with bombs believed linked to Iran — known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) — have risen sharply in January after several months of decline, according to the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Iraqi and U.S. officials indicated just a month ago that Iran was using its influence to improve security in Iraq by restraining cross-border weapons flow and militia activity. The U.S. military had said in recent months that the number of EFP attacks had gone down.

Gen. David Petraeus disclosed the reversal to reporters after a meeting with President Bush who was visiting troops in Kuwait.

“In this year, EFPs have gone up, actually, over the last 10 days by a factor of two or three, and frankly we’re trying to determine why that might be,” Petraeus said.

Some people thought this kind of political progress had a snowball’s chance in hell. Reuters:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq’s parliament passed a law on Saturday to ease restrictions on mostly Sunni Arab members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party returning to public life, one of the main political benchmarks set by the United States.

Washington has been pressing Iraq’s Shi’ite Islamist-led government to pass the law in an effort to draw the minority Sunni Arab community that held sway under Saddam closer into the political process.

“The law has been passed. We see it as a very good sign of progress and it will greatly benefit Baathists. It was passed smoothly and opposition was small,” said Rasheed al-Azzawi, a Sunni member of the committee which helped modify some of the language of the law.

Sunni sees it as a “very good sign of progress.”  That’s going to be hard for some progressives to throw cold water on.

Meanwhile, AP:

“We must do all we can to ensure that 2008 will bring even greater progress,” Bush said. He said long-term success in Iraq in vital to stability in the Mideast, and warned that the United States should not turn its back on its friends.

Sad commentary. Who thought we’d ever see something as chilling as a president compelled to warn that the United States will not turn its back on its friends.  Again. 

Welcome, Captain Ed’s scurvy crew, etal, so good to see you.   Warm up by the friendly fire.  Wonder at the shiny object. Enjoy el guacamole y los chips.

Topics: Iraq

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:15 am on Saturday, January 12, 2008

7 Responses to “It’ll Be A Cold Day in Baghdad”

1. Robert Says:
   January 12th, 2008 at 10:30 am

   Was Al Gore in Baghdad.

2. RebeccaH Says:
   January 12th, 2008 at 1:51 pm

   Perhaps the Iraqis should take the unusual weather as a sign that more oil is going to be needed, and if they want in on the prosperity, they should concentrate on their infrastructure and stop fretting about politics so much.

   And they should zero in on every Iranian and Saudi provocateur in the country.

3. El Cid Says:
   January 12th, 2008 at 4:29 pm

   From Iraqpundit

   Because while it does snow in the north of Iraq, nobody had seen it snow in Baghdad for perhaps 100 years.

   On to Robert

   Was Al Gore in Baghdad

   The flake (pardon the pun) must have been somewhere near…Like Planet Earth.

4. Sierra Faith Says:
   January 12th, 2008 at 4:32 pm

   Snow in Baghdad!

   Break out the skis!

5. MentalFloss Says:
   January 13th, 2008 at 7:09 am

   I shall have to reconsider any future utterance of “When Hell freezes over!”

6. OBloodyHell Says:
   January 13th, 2008 at 7:38 am

   GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!! GLOBAL WARMING!!

   {pst! spssspssppsssppspspspp!} Eh?
   {spssspssppsssppspspspp!!! psspps! pssssss!!} …But!?!?
   {psps! ssss! pspspssspppsspsp!!! ps! ps!!} Oh. OH!!

   GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!! GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!!

   .
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7. The Sandbox Says:
   January 13th, 2008 at 10:43 am

   Iraqi Parliament Passes “Seismic” De-Baathification Law

   Here’s more proof that the surge has utterly failed and all is lost in Iraq been a remarkable success, sending casualties plummeting (both Iraqi civilian and U.S. military) and paving the way for political progress:Iraq’s parliament passed a benchmar…

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