Fallujah & Elections in Iraq

[Peeping Tom]

ummm, do you not miss that terrorists, or whatever one desires to call this bunch storming around Iraq, are actually doing the fighting? What I am addressing are those actions and the motivations behind them.

Bad decisions on part of the administration did not force the terrorists to blow shit up and lop off heads. Many peaceful Iraqis handed over stuff collected during the invasion.

 

[Peeping Tom]

bbk, what are you going to say after the elections?

I suggest you stock up on tinfoil if that's the best you can do.

Linky: All you need to know about the foil hat

 

[Manji]

When I meant successful, I obviously meant from a military point of view. Needless to say, from a humanitarian point of view its a disaster but it always is with armed conflicts.

I think the term "insurgents" is a much better term than "terrorists" in regards to how to label the anti-occupation forces in Iraq.

Its true that some of the insurgents can be labelled as terrorists because of their violent and dispicable actions but the Iraqis who are fighting the occupation are a diverse group. Some are religious; from crazed fanatics to believers of Islam who regard the American presence as an affront to Islam. Some are nationalists who cannot stand to see Iraq occupied by a foreign nation. Others are Saddam loyalists, foreign fighters, criminals, mercenaries, etc....

Sometimes these groups work together and sometimes they work against each other.

Iraq is a nation that is not just suffering from bloody acts of terrorism and must be considered a country that is still experiencing a low level war (or guerilla war).

 

[Peeping Tom]

IIRC, that might qualify as WMD ...

I was thinking of hanging my bare arse out the window.

 

[Manji]

Shouldn't it be WAD - Weapons of Ass Destruction

 

[Asterix]

Great. Now it appears 15 political parties, including Sunni, Kurd and secular, are calling for a delay in the Iraq election by as much as six months. If the US tries to press Iraqis to stick to the January deadline the Ukraine election might end up looking like the model of democracy by comparison. One billion a month and counting.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/26/iraq.main/index.html

 

[assoholic]

...5 Billion.

 

[Asterix]

...5 Billion.

Yup. I stand corrected.

 

[Manji]

I think the United States would be quite happy if the elections were postponed. The key to any change in election date is if the Shiites and Al-Sistani agree to an extension.

Having the elections in January is a logistical nightmare for the United States military. I'm sure that the US and Iraqi interim government are more than willing to have the elections six months later in the hopes that Iraq will be more secure and there will be less violence to hinder the electoral process.