Re; “Today, however, the page has been turned, and despite what Winters’s Vatican leakers may be telling him, the people who make the decisions tell me, as they have told the Bush administration, that a precipitous U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would be a disaster for both Iraq and the entire Middle East.”

In other words, Bush Administration incompetence has made such a complete hash of the occupation ofIraq that America will have to continue the occupaiotn for another decade just to get back to a point wher they can form a stable government.

What a wonderful recommendation: George W. Bush has insured his policies will continue by being a coplete failure at implementing them.

And Conservatives love him for it!

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I guess it won’t be too long on who is right, Weigel…

…
In my own conversations with senior Vatican officials over the past 18 months, I have been struck by the fact that the debates of 2002-2003 are over. That there was serious disagreement between the U.S. government and the Holy See prior to the invasion of Iraq is, and was, obvious. Today, however, the page has been turned, and despite what Winters’s Vatican leakers may be telling him, the people who make the decisions tell me, as they have told the Bush administration, that a precipitous U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would be a disaster for both Iraq and the entire Middle East.
…

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjYzY2UxZjAyYjQ0YWRkNTFlMjJmYzVmNWVkNmY3ZDk=

…or Winters:

But that harmony is long gone. During his U.S. visit next month, Pope Benedict XVI will show how much his worldview differs from President Bush’s when he denounces the continuing U.S. occupation of Iraq before the U.N. General Assembly — a denunciation that’s expected to be especially harsh after the recent martyrdom of a Chaldean Catholic archbishop killed by insurgents in Mosul.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/OPINION01/804020306/1008

I find Weigel’s perspective interesting with the Popes’ harsh remarks to Bush here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jun/05/usa.iraq

…and his comments on Iraq here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jun/05/usa.iraq

Now with Mosul’s bishop murdered, the recent civilian Barsa deaths and the US military considering invading the city of Mosul, you have to wonder if the Pope might have something to say about the US occupation.

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The “racially liberal” think-tank, the Heritage Foundation, has acknowledged that Maliki didn’t win in Basra:

Thirty-thousand Iraqi soldiers were sent into the city by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to retake control from the Mahdi Army led by Iranian-based firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, but they struggled to gain a foothold and defeat the heavily armed militias.

Al-Sadr has since declared a temporary cease-fire and has ordered his men off the streets, but there is no prospect that they will lay down their arms, and the militias remain in control of large swathes of Basra. There have been reports of some Iraqi forces either deserting or defecting to the Mahdi side. The fighting spread to other towns in the south, including Nasariyah and Hilla, as well as to Baghdad, with more than 250 people killed across Iraq and several hundred injured.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Iraq/wm1876.cfm

Their solution to aiding a strong ‘cease fire’? Maintain British deployment and surge with 2,000 more British troops. There is no mention of Maliki’s own Basra troop surge– Shame. Would have liked to hear their thoughts.
http://www.rttnews.com/FOREX/gblnews.asp?date=04/01/2008&item=15

So, now everyone is concerned about Basra. But for well over a year the province has been in total disarray:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/iraq/4032367.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1217/p06s01-woiq.html

So why now all the ‘timely’ concern? Three words come to my mind: money, provincial elections.

If Maliki’s forces cannot retake Basra, his government will probably only have ‘conditional cash’ from the oil port city; of course, it’s ‘conditional’ because the oil infrastructure and its cash is now, and will be even further, prone to siege, terrorism, smuggling and lots of mob rule. So, now it’s timely to fight for the money.

Enter Sadr: if Maliki’s forces can’t retake Basra from Sadr’s non-state military force, Maliki stands to have this southern province wrenched from his ally and incumbent, Abdul Hakim in the Oct. provincial elections by Sadr. If Hakim loses in Oct., Maliki loses, too. If Sadr’s party wins, which is expected, he may, in time, rule Basra and its oil infrastructure and therefore keep Iraq’s purse. In ’05 the Sunni’s and Sadr’s party sat out the election’s. So, now it’s timely to fight for the elections.

Here’s what else could happen:

If Oct. goes against Maliki, a probable shift in the Iraqi political landscape could further deplete political power from Maliki and may, probably, even affect the Iraqi parliament, pushing it against the US occupation, and into a clear majority.

Consequently, this coming election, in part, pivots off Sadr’s party that’s opposed to the occupation and them gaining political access to the heart and lungs of Iraq via it’s pocket book.

–Just more reasons why a ‘cease fire’ in the long-term is will be very hard to achieve.

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Probably a nice couple. If I wanted to learn about elementary education and business administration, I would consider listening.

http://www.plumbbobblog.com/?page_id=2

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[...] this article about the mainstream press’ routinely inaccurate response to the fighting, and this one about Iranian influence in the cease-fire, from Flopping Aces; and articles about the Mahdi Army [...]

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Seems like all the newspapers are talking about the Iranian angle here:

…
Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni lawmaker who oversaw mediation in Baghdad, said representatives from al-Maliki’s Dawa Party and another Shiite party traveled to Iran to finalize talks with al-Sadr.

Iran has close ties with both al-Sadr’s movement and al-Maliki, who spent several years in exile there. Al-Nujaifi said the agreement was brokered by the commander of Iran’s al-Quds Brigade, which the United States considers a terrorist organization.

Haidar al-Abadi, a Dawa legislator who is close to al-Maliki, confirmed that Iranians played a role in the negotiations. Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to al-Maliki, said he could not confirm or deny Iranian involvement in the deal.
…

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080331/1a_offlede31_dom.art.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Yes, Curt, it “is fascinating.” Amazing how much access Maliki’s associates have to the head of Iran’s Quds force, and how much influence and support Al-Nujaifi has hosting a deal like this.

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What it means is exactly what I’ve been saying:  That Iran is the biggest winner out of the US occupation of Iraq.  Neither the US, nor the Iraqi “government” can stop the civil war combatants, but the Iranian government can broker a peace deal.

Add to that the fact that Osama bin laden is safe and al Qaeda is easily recruiting around the Islamic world with pictures from Abu Graibe.Everything that Conservative keep telling me is “going to happen” if we get out of the Civil War is already happening.

(Of course the White House approved answer is:  But if anyone but a Republican is President it will be worse.  Unfortunately it appears that the results of occupation of Iraq will get worse, no matter what.So I’m in favor of the US stopping sacrifing $300 million a day and thousands of lives to pay for it happening.  I see no advantage to us in “Staying theCourse”.

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