Monday, June 18, 2007

Interesting News From Iraq

60 people were injured and 8 killed in Nasiriyah in fighting between Iraqi police and Madhi Army fighters (Shiite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr). But here is the interesting part ... local tribesmen came into the fight, siding with the Iraqi police. Seems they wanted to help throw the militia out of their town. Seems like the Iraqi people realize who is hurting their chances and are now starting to actively support their security forces. I hope this sort of thing spreads.

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10 comments:

Mike Minzes said...

They are going to wise up. It's just a matter of time.

Shibari said...

Wow! I am impressed!!! I hope it is a trend that continues to happen.

Paul Champagne said...

mike ... you have to remember, they have had thousands of years to get the way they are now ... change doesn't come quickly in this part of the world

shibari ... If this trend continues, we may see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Anonymous said...

As per the senior GI on the ground [General Petreaus] we are making slow progress in IRAQ. So, there is NO light at the end of the IRAQI tunnel [unless we are talking about that train coming from IRAN]. As far as the SAMO [surge, accelerate, and move out] plan to take over the capital, as of this weekend approximately 40% of the capital of IRAQ is under control, but things are NOT going to be under FULL control by the month of September [as it was expected by our incompetent administration]. And the real bad news is this; General Petreaus is NOT painting a rosy scenario, he is talking about another TEN YEARS to KILL the insurgency [so, we do have a LONG way to go ... but we have made some progress, and "some" is better than "none"]. tlrb

Paul Champagne said...

tlrb ... stop bringing me down ... bummer. I did hear General Petreaus on Fox News Sunday, and what I took out of that was that in that 40% that is under control ... Iraqi children were out in the evenings (too hot during the day) playing soccer and living a normal life. 30% of the city is dangerous and the other 30% is a living hell. Those numbers will improve ... but you and he are right, there is no quick fix to this mess. As long as we are finally heading in the right direction, I'm happy.

Jenny! said...

They need to find a way to keep that trust going. About time!

Superstar said...

HMMMM new tactic???
~raises eyebrow~
Well see.
HMMMM

I do like your blog better than the news. I really get depressed w/ the news.....

Paul Champagne said...

jenny ... I don't know if the Iraqii police have built up a trust yet (that part of the world is a little lacking in the trust department), but it does seem that they do not want the militia around.

bambi ... not necessarily a new tactic, but maybe one that is finally working. We assumed when we toppled Saddam that we would have the cooperation of the Iraqi people ... but you know what they say about ass-u-me.

David said...

I hope more news like this starts filtering out of Iraq!

Paul Champagne said...

david ... there is good news coming out of Iraq all the time ... most of the time it is overwhelmed by the bad news, and sometimes the press just doesn't want to cover good (boring) news.