Death set to ignite tinderbox in Iraq

[JoFerret]

http://www.sundayherald.com/41410

Iraq was last night poised on the edge of a full-scale religious uprising as the assassination of Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi fed oxygen to the tinderbox siege of the holy cities of Najaf and Falujah.
Hundreds of foreign fighters, including Palestinians, have already poured into Iraq....

Just as crowds of Hamas supporters gathered outside Gaza City’s Shifa hospital vowing revenge after the killing, so too would the foreign fighters within the walls of Najaf stiffen their resolve against what will be seen as the latest attack on the Arab world.

Last night supporters of the wanted Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said talks with the US troops encircling the holy city of Najaf had collapsed and that an attack was imminent.

.... al-Sadr’s militiamen were not in full control of what is an explosive situation.

.... peaceful resolution looked unlikely.

.... the US faced the nightmare scenario of an uprising by the two main muslim denominations in Iraq.

.... the US has risked further instability in Iraq over the death of Rantissi. Israel’s full frontal assault on the Hamas leadership has already been exploited by Osama bin Laden to lever further violence against the US and its allies....

Even moderate Shiite clerics have declared that if there is bloodshed in Najaf there will be fury across Iraq....

<more>

[Wright Patman]

1. Cui bono?

eom

[wtmusic]

2. Hey Wright Patman

Welcome to DU!
:bounce: :toast: :bounce:

[LittleApple81]

17. Somebody must be making out like a bandit...too much devastation

to have it for nothing.

[Mari333]

3. yet another blunder, death of hamas leader by Sharon equals

our troops being killed because of Bush/Sharon blunders.
God help my husband, he can hardly bear one more day of worrying about Michael.
Its like Bush is setting the troops up to be slaughtered.
How can so many people make so many mistakes and still keep getting away with it.
http://www.bringthemhomenow.com

[Media_Lies_Daily]

6. IMHO, Sharon would do anything to keep American troops in the...

...Middle East, including the assassination of leaders that would escalate the fighting.

When's the last time you heard from Michael?

[Mari333]

18. Not for over a week now. it makes us crazy. n/t

[bemildred]

19. I'm sorry Mari.

I've noticed a lot of the Baghdad blogs are stalled around
Wednesday too. I think things are just not working there. He may
not have the means to communicate now. Keep hope alive.

[yardwork]

35. Mari, I am thinking of you, Michael, and your family.

Sharon has done this kind of thing before. One of his first actions as PM was to visit a mosque and incite an uprising. He loves to stoke the fires.

[JoFerret]

10. If it is not a deliberate pattern

...then it is surely beyond incompetence..

[maddezmom]

4. saw that earlier

does anyone know anything about the Sunday Herald?

[GCP]

7. I've seen stuff by them

They seem to be mavericks - by that I mean they print stuff other papers don't dare - but which is later shown to be true. They've done a bunch of stuff on the run-up to Iraq and 911, stuff you'd see on here. I believe they even mentioned the Caspain pipeline, for instance.

here's a link http://www.sundayherald.com/27735

[maddezmom]

9. thanks

:)

[0007]

12. 'Tis an okay news source

Scotland's independent newspaper

[drfemoe]

5. Don't ya think

if any "terrorists" had WMDs, they would be using them any minute now?

[NMDemDist2]

8. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.


O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

[janx]

20. Very appropriate. Thank you. n/t

[G_j]

22. amen n/t

[brokensymmetry]

11. It appears we are pursuing a consistent foreign policy.

It can be summed up as "Bring it on."

This is not good...

[kera]

14. Have you seen *

talking about consoling the family member who died in iraq?

no body wants to see death people on TV ,I don't. Well switch channel he should have added

[brokensymmetry]

23. No, I haven't seen that.

And I'm glad I haven't....

[leQ]

13. there's just something so fundamentally wrong when a country

is named in the same sentence as assassination. isn't this basically what state sponsored terrorism is all about?

[jmcgowanjm]

15. ok, can we agree that the US will be holding a Draft in '05

regardless of who the President of the US is?

[JoFerret]

21. It's a strong possibility

and * will saddle Kerry with an impossible mess to clean up.

[janx]

25. I don't particularly want to, since I have a son who is 22.

I am watching, but I refuse to get paranoid about it.

[jmcgowanjm]

27. Nothing paranoid about it.

It's going to take 500000 soldiers to
police Iraq-see Gen Shinseki

Kerry likes the US in Iraq.

Noone, not NATO, no one is coming to help
us.

They're pulling out, Watch what happens July 1.

Two equations:

We're 6% of the world, using 25% of the hydrocarbons, borrowing 75% of the cost, from the world.

And :What Iraqi Commanders think:
How many USsoldiers need to die before they
leave?

[koopie57]

41. I'm paranoid about it

my son has asthma and instead of nagging him to take the medicine that will help him grow out of it, I don't hoping that the asthma will keep him out of the service. It is not severe, he is a 2nd degree black belt and has never had an asthma attack, even at tournaments, but he needs to keep his inhaler close by like if he is jumping on the trampoline. Would asthma keep him out of the service? Would his karate maybe keep him stateside teaching? He is only 15, but I am terrified. I guess I watched my brother go to Vietnam.

[murielm99]

42. My son is also 22.

And he is a computer specialist. They will probably take those types first.

Funny thing...my generation worked for civil rights. We worked for laws to protect the environment. We worked to change pubic opinion about Nam.

Now, the worst of our generation becomes the leader of the free world. Everything we worked for is trashed.

He is not trashing my family along with everything else. He is not taking my son.

[bemildred]

26. As we used to say in the 60s and 70s:

"What would they do if they held a war and nobody came?"

The government is between a rock and a hard place and
running out of time fast. It will be interesting to see
what lengths they are willing to go to in order to hang
onto power.

[jmcgowanjm]

28. We are living in interesting times, bemildred

[bemildred]

29. I've been waiting most of my adult life for this.

Long unfinished business. Let's hope we are not too feeble
as a nation for the job before us.

[JoFerret]

33. What is the business you see that needs to be done?

.

[bemildred]

47. The removal of the Democratic and Republican oligarchies

and their replacement with the truly democratic and republican
(little 'R') form of government that the Constitution specifies.
The Constitution specifies that the people shall rule through
their representatives, not be ruled by their representatives.
That means that the will of the people, on drug law, on abortion,
on conduct of war, on corporations, on guns, on health care, etc.,
should be the law of the land, and liberty consistent with
the rights of others should be the common rule and so enforced.
The introduction of third parties that provide true political
alternatives would be a big step in the right direction. The
restriction we now have to the two entrenched parties in power is
a form or restriction of the terms of debate; and the collusion of
the two parties to maintain their power, while not total, is quite
extensive.

Edit: consider the manner in which the White House was able to drag
the whole country off to this silly war unilaterally. Does that
seem like the way a "democracy" should be run to you?

[FlaGranny]

49. So true, bemildred

except I don't think third parties are an option until after the corruption is gone. Any third party, under the system we have now will just, in turn, get corrupted too. The only way for democracy to be restored and survive is to get the money out of it. There is no other way. Until the money goes, evil, self-serving "leaders" will reign supreme.

[bemildred]

50. That is true, and it was known 100 years ago,

but the progressives of that time were defeated and subverted.
The source of power is supposed to be votes, not money, and
power is supposed to be accountable in a direct way.

[bobbieinok]

30. those of us who were young adults in the 60s HAD OUR INTERESTING TIMES

too old for version #2

the right learned

this time they control

...all 3 branches of the federal govt and the media

...this time they are DETERMINED to win and don't care how many will die to show 'those whiney losers' of the 60s and today

[jmcgowanjm]

31. Well hello young60'sadult

young60'sadult-that almost sounds illegal.

You musta been doin' somethin' wrong.-Ha!

[Beaker]

38. well, those of us who came of age in the 70's haven't had ours yet-

unless you count grenada, i suppose.

but then, we Generation Jonesers have had to live our whole lives looking up the ladder we're climbing, only to have our view of the show blocked by the ever-increasing ass of the all-hallowed Baby Boomers...

when does our day come?

[jmcgowanjm]

48. Sooner than you think

I felt like I missed the Boomers. I had a choice between
Yuppies and Boomers.

The next opportunity is always the best one.
Luck comes to the prepared.

Cliches are the poor man's philosophy.
Myths are his/her history.

[silverchair]

16. shit...

all kinds of things going wrong in the middle east.

[makhno]

24. Thanks,

Israel! What a helpful ally you are! :puke:

[janx]

34. It's not Isreal. It's Sharon and his party.

There are plenty of Isrealis that disagree with him and Chimpy.

[aneerkoinos]

44. It's Israel, sadly.

There are many Israelis that condemn terrorism and fascism, but not enough. The majority of Israelis support their fascist governement and it's terrorist policies. Fascism means having no shame about the violent crimes that are committed in your name, and the majority of Israelis has moved beyond shame long time ago.

[FlemingsGhost]

32. Screw it... assassinate Arafat next. Then al-Sadr

Since Bush et al. simply do not want peace in the Middle East, let's initiate our stunning defeat as soon as possible.

[boobooday]

36. Can't there be a cap on the rank stupidity?

The only answer is that they are deliberately inflaming the entire region to suit their evil purposes. They can't be that clueless, so they must be just incredibly evil.

Hope you hear from him soon, Mari.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[NMDemDist2]

37. that's what my hubby says

usually at the top of his lungs at the TV

[Beaker]

39. bringin' in the sheaves, and bringing on the apocalypse...

that's what them fundies really want.

they were put here to carry out the prophecy.

[Tellurian]

40. I believe you're right about that-

"The only answer is that they are deliberately inflaming the entire region to suit their evil purposes."

"They can't be that clueless, so they must be just incredibly evil."

Incredibly evil IS right!

This is a very dangerous time for US. It seems Bush/Rove could/would use this situation as a viable excuse for another attack on the US.

Right about now would be a convenient time for some catastrophic event to happen creating the perfect diversion to distract from Bush's recent fall from grace. And Kerry's building momentum.

Bush dons the hero role suit when an overheated political climate threatens the illusion of his presidency.

This gang is so transparent. When you want to know what will they do next(?), just look at the headlines generated by the WH.

[dbt]

43. Kick!

A shaking-in-the-boots kick! A wondering-how-much-shit-is-REALLY-about-to-hit-the-fan kick!

:scared:
dbt

[Layman]

45. How short can the wick get...

before this mother of all powderkegs goes Ka-boom.

[Tellurian]

46. George Mitchell appeared on Today, this morning...

trying to assure everyone, he doesn't feel the WH "one" time defense of Israel should bring any major repercussions. A Palestinian leader(?) reinforced Mitchel's words with the caveat stating 'as long as the US continues to seek peaceful resolution for both sides.'

So, the WH continues to hold the spoon that stirs the pot. Another intentional explosive, gaff by Rove or whoever should trigger a Demo outcry for removal of the charlatans..