A Better Approach to Sadr

by: LT Nixon

Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 14:48:45 PM EDT


Brandon was right on with his post about Condi Rice emulating John Wayne in her cowboy comments on Sadr. Mr. Sadr and his people (the Mahdi Army) may be a group of thugs, but they are not a pariah terrorist organization like the Islamic State of Iraq.  Rather, they have enjoyed wide support from the poor Shi'ite populace way before US forces ever showed up in Iraq, since they see Sadr as providing services and jobs in lieu of a government that they see as completely apathetic towards their plight.  The crackdown on militia extremism will ultimately be beneficial if Iraq is able to provide humanitarian aid, jobs, and services to a sector of the Iraqi population that has seen the government as completely aloof.  While significant tactical victories have been accomplished by US and Iraqi forces, the situation right now is pretty abysmal for Sadr City's citizens.  That's why it's much more diplomatically coy for Lt. Gen. Austin to state the following (from AP):

"We do not attribute what we've seen to JAM," said Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, using the Iraqi acronym for the Mahdi Army. But he acknowledged that al-Sadr could stop the attacks. "We certainly hope that Sadr will choose the road of peace and responsibility," Austin, who commands day-to-day operations in Iraq, said Wednesday at a news conference.

More violence in Iraq is not in anyone's interest, and Austin understands this at a time when there is substantial political pressure on the Sadr Trend to reform. While Condi's jingoistic comments were probably pandering to an American audience to rile up more support for the Iraq war, it is a relief that our leaders in Iraq aren't that boneheaded.

LT Nixon :: A Better Approach to Sadr
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Agree completely that Austin is (0.00 / 0)
taking the right track.

Now if only... (0.00 / 0)
...we would adopt a smarter policy on Iran...

[ Parent ]
Speaking of a smarter foreign policy... (0.00 / 0)
I hope you'll have a chance to check this out! Hopefully, c-span.org will be there for gavel-to-gavel coverage.

http://foreign.senate.gov/hear...


[ Parent ]
I sure hope you didn't miss... (0.00 / 0)
...the anecdote about the young marine and the State Department guy...it brought a smile to my face. I'm sure it would have done at least the same for a Navy man in the Green Zone!

[ Parent ]
If I were you, (0.00 / 0)
I would focus more on what the chairman has to say about all of this...

So far, in this hearing, Senator Biden is the only one who seems to understand the challenges AND the opportunities and how to meet and take advantage of both by fundamentally changing how we think about and approach these issues from both a national and global perspective.


[ Parent ]
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