The Forgotten War
It ain’t bleeding (much), it ain’t leading … much. No shortage of irony as Baghdad blast walls tumble like Wall Street stock portfolios … only in orderly fashion, due to a sense of security, not panic. It must be safe to start reporting on good news in Iraq. Iraq roundup starts with NYT:
BAGHDAD — Market by market, square by square, the walls are beginning to come down. The miles of hulking blast walls, ugly but effective, were installed as a central feature of the surge of American troops to stop neighbors from killing one another.
“They protected against car bombs and drive-by attacks,” said Adnan, 39, a vegetable seller in the once violent neighborhood of Dora, who argues that the walls now block the markets and the commerce that Baghdad needs to thrive. “Now it is safe.”
The slow dismantling of the concrete walls is the most visible sign of a fundamental change here in the Iraqi capital. The American surge strategy, which increased the number of United States troops and contributed to stability here, is drawing to a close. And a transition is under way to the almost inevitable American drawdown in 2009.
There are now more than 148,000 United States troops in Iraq, down from the peak of around 170,000 a year ago, and President Bush has accepted the military’s recommendation to remove 8,000 more by February.
Iraqis are already taking on many of the tasks the Americans once performed, raising great hopes that the country will progress on its own but also deep fears of failure.
Five graphs in and nary a “yeah, but.” Article goes on to note difficult realities, obstacles, distrust … all amid an overriding Iraqi desire to move on, risk normalcy.
Yeah, but …
Baghdad is having a bad morning today. As I sit here watching the sun rise in the eastern sky working on my first cup of coffee there have been several near-by explosions, punctuating the post-dawn stillness. Smoke rises in the distance somewhere between the buildings, marking the location of the carnage. Out there amid the cityscape someone has lost a husband or a daughter, a young girl walking to school or a man heading out to work.
LA Times: Shiite fighters clash with Iraqi, U.S. troops in Baghdad.
BAGHDAD — Clashes between Shiite Muslim militants and U.S. and Iraqi troops erupted in east Baghdad on Thursday night when groups loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr accused Washington of orchestrating the assassination of a popular lawmaker.
An official at Iraq’s Interior Ministry said Sadr’s Mahdi Army militiamen fought with U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in the sprawling Sadr City district after mosques broadcast accusations that coalition forces were behind a bombing hours earlier that killed Shiite lawmaker Saleh Uqaili. Explosions and gunfire could be heard in adjacent neighborhoods.
…
Baha Araji, a lawmaker with Sadr’s bloc, accused the Iraqi military of lapses in security and suggested two reasons that the assassins may have targeted Uqaili’s convoy: as punishment for the Sadr bloc’s opposition to renewing a security agreement extending the U.S. troop presence in the country, and to weaken the bloc’s representation in parliament in the upcoming elections.
“There will be a battle in the elections and this [killing] is indeed a liquidation,” Araji told Al Arabiya TV. “We have warned that the Sadr movement has been targeted, especially in seats where they already hold office.”
Closely watched elections. Iraq the Model re another key election’s perils. Iraqi concerns about the American one.
I mentioned this past summer that pressing priorities in Iraq made Iraqis show little if any interest in the upcoming U.S. election. That was the case when November seemed too far to worry about. We’re almost in October now and things are changing.
Comments made by MP Sami al-Askari are evidence of such a trend. As an adviser to Prime Minister Maliki and member of his Da’wa Party, al-Askari’s comments are definitely indicative of what’s being discussed in that small circle and probably reflect Maliki’s own viewpoints.
As recent as June, al-Askari’s position echoed Maliki’s approval of a 16-month timetable for withdrawal. But three months can indeed make a difference, “Iraqis are better off with Republicans.” al-Askari said in an email to Kathleen Parker at NRO last week.What I understood from the MP’s statement is that the Da’wa Party now thinks it would be better off with Republicans. As for ordinary Iraqis, they have always been in favor of determined allies who want to correct the mistakes of the past and help Iraq pass the bottleneck — quitters have never been popular.
Bomb blasts, birthday cake and fear in Mosul, where it isn’t over yet. Days of My Life.
Hey, it turns out my friend Capt. Wolford was right that day out in the desert in March 2003, when he said in five years, the Iraqis will be driving tanks like these … even if I was right that what we were doing, invading Iraq, was going to be the easy part. Iraq the Model, Iraq requests $11 billion worth of US arms, including Abrams tanks.
Reuters: Iraq ready to take bids on oil field development.
In Iraq: AKs to plowshares, swords to asphalt. Industrial zone to employ Sons of Iraq.
Long War Journal: Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle, Oct. ‘08.
John Matel, when the dust washes off … don’t expect anyone to give a damn.
Another quarter heard from: Via IHT, Iran opposes US-Iraqi security deal.
Tehran Times, spider to fly: Iran ready to assist Iraqi peace.
And there’s the news. Interesting, ironic, that the issue that helped propel Barack Obama into national prominence … OK, that and the message’s medium … has become a non-issue as the state senator who would be president is seen as the best hope of happy days again at home. Interesting, ironic, given how utterly wrong he was on Iraq.
With thanks to Mudville, Small Wars Journal on the roundup.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:22 am Comments (9) on Friday, October 10, 2008
9 Responses to “The Forgotten War”
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October 10th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
What, no “Iraq is a quagmire!!!!11!!1!!!” comments?
Well, the day is young. Maybe someone not up on the current leftie talking points will drop in.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
It’s just hilarious how Obama’s stance on Iraq got him the nomination, and now with Iraq off the table, the financial crisis that he and fellow Democrats created will probably win him the election. Oh, the irony of it all. I’m laughing so hard that tears are coming out of my eyes.
October 10th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I wonder what the Iraqis will do if Obama wins. Knowing they can’t rely upon or trust B.H. Obama, I guess they will start to cut the best deals they can get with Iran, Saudi Arabia and A.Q. We can’t blame them. What would we do in their shoes?
When it all shakes out, there is a good chance that post Obama Iraq will look a lot like pre Bush Iraq.
October 10th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I guess that is what the leftists want.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I really think Iraq is past that point, George. Could be wrong, of course, and certainly I would feel much more comfortable about that with McCain at the helm. Still, the Iraqi security forces have finally had the time to develop, and they’ve been trained by the most effective military in the world. Even under Obama, we’re going to be there for at least another 1 1/2 to 2 years, and, as noted above, we are in the process of selling quality weapons to the Iraqi government. I don’t think they will feel that they are in such a weak condition that they have to make whatever deals they have to with the other regional powers.
Of course, if Iran finishes their work on a nuclear bomb, that could change the scenario dramatically. I still don’t think that Iraq would allow itself to become a regional pawn of Iran, but certainly it would alter the balance of power between the two countries.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
We won in Iraq, and the economy soured completely, just in time to hand things to “The One.”
Life’s not fair, but I’m certain thing’s have gotten so much better over there that “Carter 2.0″ can’t screw it up.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
…I’m certain thing’s have gotten so much better over there that “Carter 2.0″ can’t screw it up.
Assuming the The Mighty O! doesn’t go out of his way, you mean. Even Carter v1.0 could ruin a good thing if he put his mind to it.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
You’ve got a point, Real_Jeff …
The One may just do that!
October 11th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Upon further reflection, I’ve decided this: If Obama 2008 is the price we have to pay for Bush 2004 and a free Iraq, then so be it. I’ll take that deal gladly.