Antiwar.com Blog

Iraq’s Shi’a community is in the ascendency after decades of Baathist suppression, and whether this bodes well or bodes ill for the future remains to be seen. Is there really as much animosity between the two Islamic sects as we have been led to believe? Is civil war inevitable, or is that being used merely as a justification for America’s continued presence in the country?

When asked about the difference between Sunnis and Shiites, most people gave a similar answer: Mako farq, or there is no difference. There have been many intermarriages between families from both sects.

“It is Saddam who worked constantly to create divisions between the two sects by benefiting Sunnis and appointing them in high-ranking posts,” said Hamid al-Mukhtar, a writer who was detained and tortured in 1999 by the former regime.

From the Daily Star (Lebanon): Shiites emerge from shadows of Iraq’s Baathist regime

According to Canadian military reporter Scott Taylor (“NATO in Kosovo, a place of divided goals” – The Halifax Herald Limited, Monday, April 19, 2004), various units among Kosovo’s NATO occupiers reacted quite differently to the March 17-19 pogrom.
For example, German troops offered no resistance to Albanian rioters, to the great disgust of their fellow peacekeepers:

“If Georgian troops were stationed there we would have defended this holy site,” said a young corporal from Tiblisi. “We understand the importance of such things. The Germans, on the other hand, are only intent on maintaining friendly relations with the local Albanians.”
Swedish troops, on the other hand, seem full of fight:

“My platoon suffered 14 wounded outside the village of Caglovica,” said Cpl. Anderson of the Swedish battalion. “While the incident took us by complete surprise, we are now looking forward to Round 2 with these Albanians – it will definitely be payback time.”

Czech troops also fought the Albanians, and don’t hesitate to give them a piece of their mind:

At the NATO checkpoint on the administrative boundary between Serbia and Kosovo, members of the Czech battalion now routinely flash Albanian motorists the three extended fingers hand-sign that symbolize Serbian nationalism. In response to these deliberate provocations, Albanian drivers draw a finger across their throats at the Czech troops.

And then there’s the British… Continue reading “Pogrom divides Kosovo occupiers”

US General calls Fallujah a “rat’s nest.”

“We went in because we had to to find the perpetrators and what we found was a huge rat’s nest that is still festering today. It needs to be dealt with,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

All right. It’s time to call BS on this Fallujah farce. This so-called “truce” is unilateral. The “civic leaders” supposedly undertaking the thankless task of communicating to the rebels the American demand that they lay down their arms – and that is the one and only demand the Americans have left, they’ve already caved on everything else – are likely nobodies. Anyone who thinks the rebels are going to comply needs to lay off the Kool-Aid.

All signs point to the fact that the Americans were fought to a standstill at Fallujah. They made a big mistake trying to lay siege to Fallujah because now their supply lines are cut and they’re the ones under siege while rebel forces move at will to conduct ambushes on the highways, mortar the prison at Abu Grahib and attack the Marines who claim to be “shutting down the Syrian border.” That’s a joke.

The Marines at Fallujah and Ramadi are rationing MRE’s. There hasn’t been a supply convoy for over a week.

Today, even Rumsfeld is admitting that the truce talks are a farce:

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says there’s only a ”remote” possibility that negotiations will bring peace to Fallujah, Iraq.

Rumsfeld says he never rules anything out. And Joint Chief Vice Chairman Peter Pace says talks among U-S military leaders, Iraqi Governing Council members and Fallujah’s town elders will continue as long as they’re fruitful.

But Rumsfeld says the problem is that the people wreaking havoc on Fallujah aren’t involved in the negotiations. He says former Iraqi intelligence officials, Republican Guardsmen and foreign terrorists are inside the city but aren’t part of the talks.

Pace says U-S troops are holding back to allow politicians to try diplomacy in Fallujah. But he says the Marines are poised to go back on the offensive if talks fail.

The only way they’re “going back on the offensive” is by bringing in massive airpower. The rebels have had a week to reinforce their positions and bring in more fighters, and you can bet they’ve been doing just that. The Marine position has deteriorated because of lack of supplies. They’re going to have to make a move soon and it is likely going to be one of the worst bloodbaths of the invasion because IF they go on the offensive again they’re going to bomb Fallujah to rubble from carrier-based aircraft.

Jo Wilding took a second trip into Fallujah Saturday. Here’s how it went:

Sergeant Tratner of the First Armoured Division is irritated. “Git back or you’ll git killed,” are his opening words.

Lee says we’re press and he looks with disdain at the car. “In this piece of shit?”

Makes us less of a target for kidnappers, Lee tells him. Suddenly he decides he recognises Lee from the TV. Based in Germany, he watches the BBC. He sees Lee on TV all the time. “Cool. Hey, can I have your autograph?”

Lee makes a scribble, unsure who he’s meant to be but happy to have a ticket through the checkpoint which all the cars before us have been turned back from, and Sergeant Tratner carries on. “You guys be careful in Falluja. We’re killing loads of those folks.” Detecting a lack of admiration on our part, he adds, “Well, they’re killing us too. I like Falluja. I killed a bunch of them mother fuckers.”

I wish Sergeant Tratner were a caricature, a stereotype, but these are all direct quotations. We fiddle with our hijabs in the roasting heat. “You don’t have to wear those things any more,” he says. “You’re liberated now.” He laughs. I mention that more and more women are wearing hijabs nowadays because of increasing attacks on them. … read more

Marcus Epstein spares us the drudgery of re-reading what the kids at National Review were saying about war and Wilsonianism last year. Arthur Silber re-reads Jonah Goldberg and gets the willies.

UPDATE: I fixed the second link. Sorry.

Sadr’s Army Has a Humvee

Gutted Humvee becomes trophy for cleric’s troops

Raed Jarrar writes:

A funny image of AlMahdi Army soldiers going around Kufa today driving an American Hum-vee, the military Hummer was left behind after some clashes around the city. That happened after AsSadr announced that no more attacks on the Spanish army are going to happen, and that Shia are happy with the withdrawal thing. I don’t think things would be funny or happy next week though.

I think it’s likely that Sadr’s Mahdi Army is in way better spirits than the miserable American soldiers around Najaf. I’m going to put some more information on this situation together later, but for now, here’s a quote from an LAT piece:

When 2,500 American troops swung south from Baghdad to confront the militia, it responded with ambushes that left at least one soldier dead and destroyed bridges over Iraq’s wide rivers.

The new troops arrived to Forward Operating Base Duke, an empty swath of desert outside the holy city of Najaf, to find a logistical nightmare.

Military buyers had signed contracts with local vendors to supply everything from water to portable tents. But the contractors were balking at delivering the goods.

“When the security situation gets bad, they don’t want to deliver, and that’s what’s happening now,'” said Army Capt. Ron Talarico, who is helping coordinate supplies.

A temporary water shortage was remedied, but the camp still has only six portable toilets for the 2,500 troops because the company that provides them is reluctant to travel the highway.

There are no showers or laundry facilities. A shortage of tents forces soldiers to sleep in their vehicles in 100-degree weather and blistering sandstorms.

“It’s a wasteland here,” said 1st Lt. Matt Nethers, 24, of Los Alamitos. “The Army logistical system isn’t what it could be.”

Doesn’t camping out around Najaf sound wonderful? These troops have been there a week now.