Murtha: "Situation in Iraq IS Civil War"- & al-Hakim showed this yesterday

[Nothing Without Hope]

Rep. John Murtha has blogged at the Huffington Post to make a very clear statement of his position on the Iraq War:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-murtha/situation-in-iraq-is_b_13706.html
Rep. John Murtha

Situation in Iraq Is Civil War

01.12.2006

According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, the definition of a civil war is a "war between political factions or regions within the same country." That is exactly what is going on in Iraq, not a global war on terrorism, as the President continues to portray it.

93 percent of those fighting in Iraq are Iraqis. A very small percentage of the fighting is being done by foreign fighters. Our troops are caught in between the fighting. 80 percent of Iraqis want us out of there and 45 percent think it is justified to kill American troops.

Iraqis went to the polls in droves on December 15th and rejected the secular, pro-democracy candidates and those who the Administration in Washington propped up. Preliminary vote results indicate that Iyad Allawi, the pro-American Prime Minister, received about 8 percent of the vote and Ahmad Chalabi, Iraq's current Oil Minister and close associate of the U.S. Iraq war planners, received less than 1 percent. According to General Vines, the top operational commander in Iraq, "the vote is reported to be primarily along sectarian lines, which is not particularly heartening." The new government he said "must be a government by and for Iraqis, not sects."

The ethnic and religious strife in Iraq has been going on, not for decades or centuries, but for millennia. These particular explosive hatreds and tensions will be there if our troops leave in six months, six years or six decades. It is time to re-deploy our troops and to re-focus our attention on the real threats posed by global terrorism.

In fact, as Arianna Huffington points out, a major step has just been taken toward outright civil war in Iraq, and the US news media have yawned about it:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/iraq-moves-a-step-closer-_b_13705.html

Iraq Moves a Step Closer to Civil War; the MSM Yawn

Arianna Huffington
01.12.2006

Will yesterday's in-your-face decision (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/12/international/middleeast/12iraq.html?ex=1294722000&en=e03041049e4d745e&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss) by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, Iraq's most influential Shiite leader, to renege on his pledge to amend the new Constitution in a manner acceptable to Sunnis be the shove in the back that sends Iraq over the brink into all-out civil war?

It certainly has that potential.

Before the constitution was put to a vote in October, Sunnis were threatening to boycott the referendum. The problem? The charter contains provisions that decentralize political power in the country in a way that leaves the vast majority of Iraqi oil under the control of Kurds and Shiites -- and the Sunnis facing an impoverished future. See Juan Cole for more on this (http://www.juancole.com/2006/01/al-hakim-warns-sunni-arabs-on-changes.html).

(snip)

Now it is clear that the Shiites were just saying what the Bush administration wanted to hear, never meant it, and never intended to follow through. "We will stop anyone who tries to change the Constitution," said al-Hakim yesterday.

(snip)

A huge development - yet as the article points out, the US media hardly mentioned it - after page 10 in both the NYT and Wash Post. It was not mentioned at all in the LA Times or USA Today and apparently not on any cable or broadcast news shows.

Looks like Bush's "only MY kind of discussion of the war is allowed" speech wasn't even necessary - or maybe they were listening. To hear Jon Stewart's take on Bush's outright attack on the very basis of free speech, see the second half of the VIDEO posted in this entry at Crooks & Liars:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/12.html#a6676

Less entertainingly, it is also reported here in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/politics/11prexy.html
title: In Strong Words, Bush Tries to Redirect Debate on Iraq
By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: January 11, 2006

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. kick - I hope this gets read n/t

[cliss]

2. Very nice, NWH

It's hard to argue Rep. Murtha's points. Notice - they're not.

They're not even trying. When Murtha burst upon the scene a while back, the White House immediately tried to attack him. It didn't work. A few days later, the Maggot Dick Cheney came out and said he was "a fine man".

Bush grudgingly said it was OK to debate the war.

HAH! It goes to show you, when the TRUTH comes out, they can't fight it.

Thanks for posting.

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. The truth about Iraq isn't allowed - the WH tried a secret smear campaign

against Murtha:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x123401
thread title (1-12—06 GD): HuffPo: Bush Admin. Launched Secret Smear Campaign Against Murtha…

But in the current thread, we see that the US corporate media obediently stays away from what is a huge development in Iraq, a clear step toward civil war and an outright reversal on the publicized stand on the Iraq constitution. John Murtha told the truth about this, but the major media stayed away in droves. NOT A SINGLE BROADCAST OR CABLE NEWS REPORT OF THIS MAJOR DEVELOPMENT WAS MADE.

And so the slide into fascism and a police state continues with the active and passive encouragement of the corporate media.

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. Come on, people - isn't this big step toward Iraq civil war important?

The US corporate media don't care, but we need to. John Murtha does.

[Nothing Without Hope]

5. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. kick n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. Kick!

and Recommended!

Thanks NWH! Sometimes we are a little slow, but we catch on eventually.

[kster]

10. K&R...nt

[Leopolds Ghost]

11. The Hakim statement is especially important... Thanks n/t

kick

[DemReadingDU]

12. K&R

[mopinko]

13. go john murtha

and watch your back.

[TacticalPeek]

14. Kick.

:patriot:

[mopaul]

15. Representative Obvious strikes again

[McCamy Taylor]

16. Olberman called it a Civil War in December

[wicket]

17. God bless John Murtha

He's got credibility that the Bushies can only wish they had.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. So, The Elections Were A Resounding Success, Except For. . .

. . .the results? More dumber than dirt nonsense from the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
The Professor

[leftchick]

19. excellent post NWH!

I think this should be sent to all of the Democrats in Congress!

[Cults4Bush]

20. If you want out of Iraq, K&R this thread!

This should have a ton more reccomendations behind it. C'mon friends. Its war we are talking about here.

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. kick n/t