Baghdad Governor assassinated

[bluestateguy]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Baghdad Governor Ali Al-Haidri was assassinated Tuesday morning in Baghdad, according to an Iraq Interior Ministry official.

Wire reports said al-Haidri was shot to death as he sat in his car.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/04/iraq.main/index.html

[rooboy]

1. Great news...

this is a sign that things are getting better in Iraq, because the insurgents are killing more and more senior people :eyes:

[merwin]

2. BUT THE ELECTIONS MUST GO ON! They will be free by feburary!

sure...

[Supersedeas]

38. Countdown to Total Freedom--let the FOX backdrop begin with the spinning

hands of a clock.

[chicagojoe]

3. Can't the PNAC, er, Bush admin. see that these attcks are

just going to escalate?!?!

[MnFats]

5. oh, yes. Rummy & bush said so.But it's just because they....

...(drum roll) hate our freedom!

after the wonderful elections are successful, Iraq will be just like an old-time western democracy.

[Phoebe_in_Sydney]

17. Or maybe

... they'll be as satisfied as you guys are with your result.

[peacebird]

35. oh now that's a low blow phoebe_in_sydney! just too cruel (and too true)

sigh, WAY too true...

got any room in Oz for a few more blue yanks?

[Phoebe_in_Sydney]

53. You're welcome

... but we have a Bush-butt-kissing government here. And they just got re-elected.

The only difference is I think they really got re-elected. They didn't rig the election :-(

[aikido15]

6. Doesn't seem like it does it?

They can see, they just will NEVER admit defeat. Same way it was with Vietnam. We, the people, are going to have to end this thing they way we did Vietnam...public outrage, protests, letters to our Reps..etc...

Protest in DC day of Bush's inauguration!

www.answercoalition.org

[UpInArms]

16. and if things escalate, it will just be another sign of our success!

Freedom is on the March!

Your pessimistic attitude is going to undermine the morale of our military.

Off to the re-education camps for you! :eyes:

[d_b]

4. Yikes

[purduejake]

7. Who in their right mind would want to run for office?

[Old and In the Way]

8. Perhaps the neocons are beginning to see why Saddam ruled

with an iron fist? It's a hellofachoice, but either the country will be balkanized or another Saddam will be needed to keep the factions from assassinating each other's leaders.

[maxsolomon]

44. i believe most of the violence is baathist in origin

so it would be saddam's minions destabilizing our glorious oil empire, not those he clamped down on.

yes i know that there are many other players in the iraqi resistance. but baathist sunnis ARE a major part.

[Old and In the Way]

46. No doubt, but the floodgates are opened in the power vacuum.

But there are lots of interests at play in Iraq now. Saudis might even be helping to cripple Iraq's oil infrastructure.....doesn't hurt their product's market price to have Iraqi oil unavailable. Iranian's have their own agenda, too.

I guess my point is that the general characteristic of any leader in Iraq would have a heavy handed approach towards civil order to keep the natural factionalism in check. Personally, I think the future of Iraq now may be in a break up that allows each region it's own autonomy and sphere's of influence.

[lebkuchen]

9. The only reason the "elections must go on" is fear of public backlash

Bush knows he lost the election, this most recent one and the one previous. The press doesn't report it, but you can't keep recycling the same military units on year long unaccompanied tours to war zones without creating a huge public (and military) fallout.

Obviously, the trumped up Iraqi election is supposed to make Americans feel good about themselves and their sacrifices, assure them that they were successful in bringing "democracy" to Iraq. Right. Like we left Vietnam with a thimbleful of honor. :eyes:

As more Americans learn what we here already know, that its the Saudis, not the Iraqis, who "hate us for our freedom," it's then a question of which will come first: Bush's "success" in shoving a very big circle (representing his oversized ego) into a smaller, pulsating triangle (representing the triumverate of Sunnis, Shites and Kurds out for US blood), or, an American public, still scratching its head over Rummy's machine signatures, finally deciding that they've been had by the Bush administration.

[plasticsundance]

28. Wait until Americans wake up and smell the coffee

to find out that Bush also hates us for our freedoms.

[Barrett808]

39. And the little matter of Sistani's insistence

January 30 is basically pandering to the Shi'a. Sistani can turn them out by the millions, so * is just doing the mullah's dance.

[Be Brave]

10. Oh geez. What a fine mess this has turned out to be. n/t

[Wilms]

11. Democracy and Freedom are on a march.

And the hits :nuke: keep comin'.

(Oh, but why don't they report about the school that was built to replace the one they bombed?) :eyes:

[pa28]

12. Public officials in Iraq.

It seems like they have the average lifespan of a civil war flag-bearer.

Really, I just laugh at how the media portrays incidents such as this as isolated and the work of non-representative extremists. The fact is we have chaos in Iraq and nobody in the press wants to be the first to use the "Q" word.

Sometimes I even wonder about about the safety of our entire occupying force. 300-1 is a bad ratio when you've lost the battle for "hearts and minds".

[merwin]

13. Q Word?

Quaint? No... that was the Geneva Conventions
Quack? No... that's the White House staff
Queer? No... that's the head of the RNC
Quagmire? Yup... think that's the one

[amber dog democrat]

26. Yes . Q word.

and there is another one: Quit while we can.

[TolstoyAndy]

41. Quisling ?

I feel bad for this guy's family and all, but if you work for the Americans, you are a traitor.

I just keep coming back to the question, "what would Americans do to other Americans if we were occupied by a hostile power that had come to steal our resources and erase our culture"?

[tabasco]

42. Quite profitable.

OK, two words. But that is why we are there. Military spending is the only thing propping up our economy right now.

I wonder if the Iraq war supporters will ever realize our troops are dying for corporate profits.

[pa28]

57. I might even add Quixotic.

But that denotes chivalry as well as foolishness so nevermind.

[two gun sid]

14. If I didn't know better

I'd think this insurgency was broad based and well coordinated, not the final spasms of a couple of "dead enders".

[pinniped]

15. He wasn't running for (s)election was he?

.

[MSgt213]

18. In most of Iraq the Governor wouldn't have been killed. Too bad he could

not get to most of Iraq before the assassination.

[Cooley Hurd]

19. Anyone with ties to the US or a record of collaboration is wearing...

...crosshairs.

Please tell me how our presence there is anything but derogatory at this point. JUST WHY THE FUCK ARE WE STILL THERE????:grr:

[saigon68]

20. Another One Bites the DUST

We will make a Democracy here </sarcasm>

[Massachusetts]

24. Reply #19/#20

You are correct, and the worst is yet to come.

[DemonFighterLives]

33. Another trippy day in Iraq

Hi Saigon, I was beginning to wonder where you were. I always like your posts but I haven't been in the LBN lately.

The b*sh regime cannot admit to any mistakes, so the gunmen must have made a mistake. I bet a good portion of Iraq might like Saddam back, kind of like b*shlite.

[saigon68]

50. Hi and Thanks

Been in "Hibernation" for a few days here in the Frozen Tundra.

Yes, it is like being in HELL for an ETERNITY.

I suspect sooner or later--Uncle Sugar is going to run out of $$$$.

In the meantime-- THE KING HAS "NO CLOTHES". You can see HIS BARE-NAKED "ASS".

LOL

[KingChicken]

21. I remember his interview from the last attempt on his life...

He sounded glad that he wasn’t killed, but I guess Allah wasn’t so gracious this time.

It's amazing how commanders continue to define operational success amid a situation in which insurgents can take out high level officials at will. This war is a catastrophic failure in any definition.

Meanwhile Americans continue to lie to themselves...

[sushi]

22. Allawi better stay home

and if he does need to go out, he should take three dozen bodyguards.

[leftchick]

23. Iraq Governor Killing Shows Desperation - Foreign Office !!!

omg... unbelievable!... :crazy:

The assassination by gunmen today of the governor of Baghdad province was a sign of the increasing desperation of insurgents trying to prevent democratic elections in Iraq, the Foreign Office said.

But a spokesman said that the murder of Ali al-Haidari and six of his bodyguards would not be allowed to knock plans for nationwide elections on January 30 off track.

Gunmen opened fire on Al-Haidari’s armoured BMW and two support vehicles as they passed through the Hurriyah district of northern Baghdad. He was the highest-ranking member of the Iraqi authorities to be killed by militants since May last year.

The Foreign Office sent “sincere condolences” to the family of Mr Al-Haidari.

A spokesman said: “We obviously abhor these sorts of incidents. We have always said that the lead-up to elections at the end of January is going to be tough and we should, unfortunately, expect incidents like this as the desperation of those who don’t want elections to take place increases.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3958264

[pokercat999]

29. armoured BMW

Wonder what they cost and how many middleclass tax payers it takes to buy one.

You know how the repugs have their "tax day" sometime in spring or early summer when you've worked long enough to pay your taxes and now the money you earn is your own. We need to have a similier day for the Irqa war.....big problem is that we would never reach the day when our "share" would be "paid".

[tanyev]

30. Ah, yes.

Increasing desperation. Their "desperation" has been increasing and increasing and increasing for over a year now. Maybe that word doesn't mean what they think it means.

[Just Me]

48. Is that anything like "catastrophic success"? eom

[Barrett808]

54. It's comforting to know Blair treats his citizens with as much contempt

as Bush treats us.

[amber dog democrat]

25. But by all means we MUST hold the elections

or the fig leaf of legitimacy that justifies the invasion and occupation is in danger.
Meanwhile....its business as usual as long as the oil keeps flowing.

No one in their right mind will want to help the American occupiers, but I am grateful to know we continue to do such wonderful things over there.

[Judi Lynn]

27. Colin Powell had something not too brilliant to say about this.....

Voicing sadness at Haidri's assassination, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said: "It once again shows that there are murderers and terrorists and former regime elements in Iraq that don't want to see an election.

"They want to go back to the tyranny of the Saddam Hussein regime and that is not going to happen," he told a news conference in the southern Thai resort island of Phuket as he began a visit to tsunami-hit countries in Asia.
(snip/...)

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=648186



Please, Colin. Don't insult our intelligence. Most Americans aren't as stupid as you _Bush pirates think we are. "They want to go back to the tyranny of the Saddam
Hussein regime.....yadda yadda....."

[peacebird]

36. how many of those "former regime elements" and dead enders are left?

we claim to have killed many thousands of evil insurgents and yet there appears to be no end in sight...?

maybe, just maybe this is because with our heavy handed brutal tactics we aren't
actually shock'n'awe-ing them into cowed submission but are instead actually increasing the ranks of the "insurgents" (aka freedom fighters and true Iraqi patriots) exponentially?

doh!:grr:

[maxrandb]

40. Yes!

Just look at the splendid success Israel is having with the Palestnians. Why, if it weren't for a few bad Palestinian "insurgents", the land of milk and honey would be just like paradise.

"The true sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results"

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

45. now the oil isn't even worth it for the greedy bastards

If these idiots hadn't tried to "take over" they may have been able to negotiate some really good deals eventually on that "sweet crude" they so desperately crave.

Now, no matter how hard they try, the Iraqi Resistance will pre-occupy their efforts and their money making schemes ultimately become unprofitable.

Any good entrepreneur realizes when the cost outweighs the yield then it's time to move on.

...which is what will eventually happen.

It might just be easier to nuke Iran and take their oil instead-at least there will be no "resistance" if there are no people.

Nukes are our friends:nuke:

[Old and In the Way]

52. I'll bet the country where 15/19 9/11 terrorists came from isn't

complaining. Think about it. The Sauds were alledgedly behind 9/11 so what did we do?

(1) We attacked a bordering secular neighbor and removed their leadership who may have been a real destabilizing threat to the House of Saud.

(2) The Iraqi oil infrastructure is a mess and that only helps the current market value of the SA product.

With penalties like this, it makes sense to me why they attacked us. I'd like to know if the Sauds were actively involved in Cheney's secret Energy policy meetings. I still want to get those meeting minutes released (if they still exist). I think that will show us that this was the set-up/invasion planning part of the process....and, most importantly, how the fields would be divvied up among the US Oil companies. They were so mesmerized with how much money they were going to make, they never thought that the Iraqi people or other countries in the region might have other ideas on what a post-Saddam Iraq would like.

[Barrett808]

55. I used to think the NEPDG participant list would have Lay, Skilling, and

...the various heads of Dynegy, Reliant, El Paso, and Co., all busily constructing an energy policy that rigged the West Coast power market.

Now I'm thinking it's more likely that we would see Karzai, Chalabi, Allawi, and other even more embarrassing figures.

[Old and In the Way]

47. Did he poll the 100,000 or so that have died since we invaded?

Bet if they had a choice, a majority would vote for Saddam.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

31. Look over there!!!! Evrything's fine over here. LOOK OVER THERE!!!!!

God damn these people and their evil war.

[underpants]

32. WHY ISN'T THERE ANY GOOD NEWS?!?!??!

Idiots

[karlrschneider]

34. It's a little untidy.

:eyes:

[KansDem]

37. Well, one less vote for the Bush puppet...

I hope the Bushistas will take this into consideration when "performing maintenance" on their voting machines. :eyes:

[arikara]

43. On CBC this morning they were speculating that he was on the ballot

Nobody even knows who's running for election over there yet because they're afraid that they'll be assassinated.

Yep, free elections, democracy in action...

[0rganism]

49. Yet another casualty of Freedom's March to the Sea

How would Jon Stewart put it?

"This won't end well."

[symbolman]

51. I laughingly joked with a pal the other day

that they should just install Vending Machines on the corner to dispense "grand and illustrious leaders of the week" since they seem disposable at this point..

"Just slip your Halliburton Credit Card into the machine and you will be vended your new and Temporary "leader" - Inflate, and place immediately into a well shielded vehicle and take him to the nearest propaganda station to begin installation.."

[warrens]

56. We just had our 10,000th wounded

Makes you sort of swell up with pride. According to NPR, more than half were wounded badly enough that they could not return to duty.

But, lucky Ducky 10,000 got a lovely dinette set, gift certificates for free turkees for every thanksgiving for the rest of his life, dinner for four at Red Lobster, a beautiful bound edition of Encyclopedia Americana and a NEW WASHING MACHINE. And season's tickets to the debut season of the Washington Nationals baseball team.

That'll probably take the sting out of that missing arm.