Daring Jailbreak Suggests Guerrillas’ Power
Sistani, Senators press Jaafari on new Government
Up to 200 Iraqi guerrillas in the Sunni Arab city of Miqdadiyah north of Baghdad mounted a sophisticated military operation to 32 free prisoners in the local jail, some of them guerrillas. They succeeded. In the fierce firefight, guerrillas killed 18 policemen while losing 10 of their own. The kill ratio and the success of the operation suggest that the guerrilla insurgency is gaining in capability and boldness as never before. The guerrillas have seldom dared to field more than a platoon (say 28 men) for fear of attracting fire from American helicopter gunships. Here, they fielded an entire company or perhaps two companies. The provincial authorities in Diyala seem convinced that the Miqdadiyah police chief was a double agent working for the guerrillas.
It doesn’t do any good for US forces to fight and capture guerrillas if they can be freed so easily.
US troops faced mortar fire and roadside bombs in Anbar province on Tuesday. There were casualties.
Bush let slip that he thinks US troops will be in Iraq through 2008.
Bush also tried to deny that he had persistently attempted to link Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda and 9/11 before the war. The brave Keith Olbermann is among the few journalists who called Bush on this lie. Bush and Cheney made the connection by constantly hinting around and using phrases close to one another.
Iraq reconstruction has stalled, and quality of life indicators are below pre-war levels.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani met Tuesday with representatives of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq:
‘ Talking to reporters in the holy city of Najaf, Abdul Mahdi said Grand Ayatollah Sistani recommended all political groups to work based on the Constitution.
The Iraqi vice-president added Ayatollah Sistani also stressed speedy establishment of the new government and reinforcement of unity and solidarity to promote Iraq’s political trend in cooperation with political partners. ‘
US Senators agree with Sistani, and warned Ibrahim Jaafari that the patience of the American people is not infinite.
Tomdispatch.com has Chalmers Johnson on our military empire.
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