Patters

Oh well, the reports of progress in Iraq may have been too hopeful. The righties should never get their hopes up with this administration, given it's awesome record of failure. And, sadly when it comes to Iraq, McCain is a clone of Bush.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...061302019.html

The Bush administration's Iraq policy suffered two major setbacks Friday when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki publicly rejected key U.S. terms for an ongoing military presence and anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for a new militia offensive against U.S. forces.

During a visit to Jordan, Maliki said negotiations over initial U.S. proposals for bilateral political and military agreements had "reached a dead end." While he said talks would continue, his comments fueled doubts that the pacts could be reached this year, before the Dec. 31 expiration of a United Nations mandate sanctioning the U.S. role in Iraq.

The moves by two of Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders underscore how the presence of U.S. troops has become a central issue for Iraqi politicians as they position themselves for provincial elections later this year. Iraqis across the political spectrum have grown intolerant of the U.S. presence, but the dominant Shiite parties -- including Maliki's Dawa party -- are especially fearful of an electoral challenge from new, grass-roots groups.

otis p. driftwood

McCain might also be (depending on your point of view) better on Iraq. Don't forget, he's been calling from the beginning for more troops and more force, get the job done.

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cupofjoe1962

Liberals love it when things don't go as planned for our military.

If the news was positive.....You would never see it posted by a liberal.

otis p. driftwood

And mostly a right leaner wouldn't post negative news. What's the point really?

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PressCoverage

Not good...

Maliki's comments came as Sadr called for a new armed wing of his Mahdi Army militia to fight U.S. troops. Sadr had ordered the militia to cease carrying weapons last August -- a leading factor in the recent decline in violence -- although U.S. military officials have asserted that renegade militia units have continued the fight under instructions from Iran.

Sadr aides, some of whom appeared surprised by the cleric's announcement, said he wanted to issue the order now to avoid seeming as if he was responding to a U.S.-Iraqi agreement if one is reached by the July deadline.

...

The new group, Sadr's statement said, would operate in "total secrecy" and attack only American forces. "The resistance will be restricted to a group authorized by a written letter from us soon," it said. "Arms will be restricted to them and they may only point them towards the occupier."

Patters

This is a politics forum, not a history forum. Thus, bad news and good news is political fodder. Should Obama becomes president, I'm sure the righties will be posting similar stories if he has any failures, military or otherwise. Regardless, though, this is bad news. The best news would be for Iraq to stabilize as an American ally and Obama to get elected, but really I don't think Iraq will be stabilized for at least a generation regardless of who is president. War does that.

otis p. driftwood

Well, at least you were half right...

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Stokes

Wow Patters, you really think stalled negotiations, and rantings from Sadr (who's been getting his ass kicked by both US and Iraqi forces) negates the military and political gains that have been made? These things are problems to overcome, they don't undo all the progress that has been made since the time the surge began. Of course maybe you WANT there to be no progress, and that's where your assessment comes from.

Patters

There's naturally some satisfaction when one's point of view is vindicated, but peace would be equally satisfying. I think what you're doing is called "projection."

otis p. driftwood

And what is your point of view? You want a stable, peaceful Iraq, and you want US soldiers out.

Guess what--so do 90 odd percent of us. The only question is the best way to do it, and leaving flat-footed now, like we bugged out of Vietnam, isn't the way to do it.

So wouldn't it make more sense for everyone to work together as hard as we can to "win" and get out?

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