LBN: Ruling Shi'ite Alliance Demands US Return Security Control to Iraq

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC747056.htm

RULING SHI'ITE ALLIANCE DEMANDS US RETURN SECURITY CONTROL TO IR
27 Mar 2006 13:03:04 GMT

Source: Reuters

RULING SHI'ITE ALLIANCE DEMANDS US RETURN SECURITY CONTROL TO IRAQ GOVERNMENT AFTER "MASSACRE"

Update:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC747056.htm

Iraq ruling Shi'ites demand control over security

BAGHDAD, March 27 (Reuters) - Iraq's ruling Shi'ite Islamist Alliance bloc demanded on Monday that U.S. forces return control of security to the Iraqi government after what it called "cold-blooded" killings by troops of unarmed people in a mosque.

"The Alliance calls for a rapid restoration of (control of) security matters to the Iraqi government," Jawad al-Maliki, a senior Alliance spokesman and ally of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, told a news conference.

Isn't this good news? :sarcasm:

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. Looks like

the Shi'tes are hitting the fan.

[Teaser]

12. We need a new shiite based pun

nt

[coalition_unwilling]

33. Shiite happens? (n/t)

[zbdent]

2. Sounds to me like

they're requesting that the US leave . . . wasn't that one of the "stipulations" that Rummy or whomever said we would leave if it came up?

"We'll leave when they ask us to leave . . ."

[UpInArms]

30. 1/29/05: US will leave if Iraqis ask: Bush

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/01/29/2003221422

ELECTION CAMPAIGN: For the first time, the US president promised that coalition forces would withdraw if it is asked by the new Iraqi government

AGENCIES , BAGHDAD AND WASHINGTON
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005,Page 7

US President George W. Bush said in an interview published yesterday in The New York Times that US troops would pull out of Iraq if the new leaders to be elected Sunday requested it.

The statement came as insurgents stepped up attacks against polling centers across Iraq, killing at least a dozen people, including a US Marine, in the rebel campaign to frighten Iraqis away from participating in this weekend's election.

Also, a car bomb exploded near a Baghdad police station yesterday, killing four people and injuring two others, police said.

<snip>

Asked by the daily in its 40-minute interview, conducted Thursday, if the US troops should be withdrawn if the new Iraqi administeration requested it, Bush said: "Yes, absolutely. And this is a sovereign government -- they're on their feet."

...more...

[cantstandbush]

35. We may as well get out. We haven't stopped a damn thing since we

invaded. All our troops do is react and over-react and kill a lot innocents in the process.

[robertpaulsen]

36. Thanks for the link. We need a countdown on the home page here.

You know, something like:

_ days _ hours since the Iraqi government asked US to withdraw our troops.

Then underneath your link to the pResident's phony promise.

[Dhalgren]

3. Didn't one of the leading Fascists (Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice) say

at one time that if the Iraqis asked for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, that the Fascist government of the US would comply? I am almost positive I remember that statement...

[bemildred]

4. Dang, this isn't how the script reads.

After all the "sectarian violence" it was supposed to be "Shane, come back Shane!"

[megatherium]

6. No that's not how the script read.

The script was we would quickly establish a stable, friendly Iraqi government and then we could leave. This, according to the NY Times report this morning concerning the five-page memo detailing Bush and Blair's conversations. What happened instead is we uncorked a new and nastier Yugoslavia (likely with al Qaeda's help). And we are losing control of the situation. It would take a much greater commitment of manpower to secure the unfortunate country. No one in our command ever thought, I know, let's trigger a civil war so that we can come in as big heroes and rescue everyone. Bad idea, even if we were that evil. Instead, hundreds of often-mutilated bodies a week are turning up, we are hunkered down in our bases, and Sunni neighborhoods are trying desperately to defend themselves against the Shia militias.

[Kagemusha]

10. And the Sunni civilians are begging the insurgents for protection.

Which is, by my understanding, EXACTLY the result the bad guys were looking for all along.

How's the insurgency in its last throes again? Looks like first throes to me.

[rodeodance]

15. yes, this is not the BushCo script!!---and I think we have very little

control--when all need guards just to go outside green zone, etc ect


.... What happened instead is we uncorked a new and nastier Yugoslavia (likely with al Qaeda's help). And we are losing control of the situation. It would take a much greater commitment of manpower to secure the unfortunate country.

[saigon68]

28. we uncorked a new and nastier Yugoslavia

How prophetic

[leftchick]

9. the US will retreat to four US bases

with about 60,000 US troops and call it a withdrawal. :eyes:

[coalition_unwilling]

34. That strategy will also fail ultimately, I believe, b/c

it will require ground troops to guard the bases and then those ground troops will have to go out on local search-and-destroy missions to counter the resistance attacks on the facilities.

Read how the U.S. combat troops got involved in South Vietnam. LBJ first sent in the Marines to guard an airbase at Danang, then authorized local search-and-destroy missions against the Vietcong, ad nauseum.

[rocktivity]

39. Yep, and they'll do it by November

just in time to make Bush look good (a withdrawal with honor, not a cut and run) and help the Repubs running for office.

:headbang:
rocknation

[maddezmom]

5. looks like it's time to bring home the troops

[maddezmom]

7. updated link: Iraq minister says US, Iraqi troops killed 37

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's security minister, a Shi'ite political ally of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, accused U.S. and Iraqi troops on Monday of killing 37 unarmed people in an attack on a mosque complex a day earlier.

"At evening prayers, American soldiers accompanied by Iraqi troops raided the Mustafa mosque and killed 37 people," Abd al-Karim al-Enzi, minister of state for national security, said.

"They were all unarmed. Nobody fired a single shot at them (the troops). They went in, tied up the people and shot them all. They did not leave any wounded behind," he told Reuters.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060327/wl_nm/iraq_mosque_dawa_dc

[Kagemusha]

11. ...He accused US *AND* Iraqi troops?

Iraqis under the command (or 'advice') of US advisors, I take it? Just saying.. that reads weird, doesn't it?

[maddezmom]

14. agree, this entire story is hard to piece together

here's a link from yesterday:

Iraqi police major held for death squad role
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities on Sunday arrested a police major accused of taking part in death squads, Interior Ministry officials said.

They said Arkan al-Bawi, who works in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, was detained after visiting the Interior Ministry.

Sunni Arabs accuse the Shi'ite-led government of sanctioning death squads, a charge the government denies.

Bawi, whose brother is the chief of police in Diyala, was accused of operating in death squads in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2188876&mesg_id=2188876

US troops arrest Iraqi govt forces, find bunker
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops on Sunday arrested at least 40 Iraqi Interior Ministry forces who were holding 17 foreigners in a secret bunker complex, political sources said.

A Reuters reporter who approached the bunker complex on Sunday was turned away by Shi'ite militiamen.

It was not clear who the foreigners were but the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government has launched a crackdown on Sunni foreign fighters from Arab states it accuses of carrying out suicide bombings which have killed thousands of mostly Shi'ite Iraqis.

U.S. troops last year found 173 mostly Sunni Arab prisoners held in a secret Interior Ministry bunker. They showed signs of torture and malnourishment in a scandal that embarrassed the government.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060326/ts_nm/iraq_bunker_dc

[Delphinus]

38. OMG!

For what purpose did we murder 37 innocents in cold-blood??????

[wookie294]

8. They want their civil war

Pollyanna America thinks its military is preventing a civil war. LMAO!

[Barrett808]

13. K & R

[HeatherDawn]

16. Bush said we would leave when the Iraqis asked

:popcorn:

[UpInArms]

31. he said that in January 2005 - see my post #30

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2190412&mesg_id=2191163

[Barrett808]

17. Our imminent surrender to Iran will be one of the most humiliating moments

...in US history.

I imagine they'll demand US backing for their nuclear program. Maybe Rumsfeld's ABB will get some contracts, though, so there's an upside for the Bush mafia.

[Just Me]

20. I believe the neoconsters would rather force a world war than,...

,...allow that to happen.

Don't you? :shrug:

[Barrett808]

21. Sure, but they're delusional

I think realpolitik is about to make a big comeback. And that means doing a deal with Iran over Iraq. Iran has played it brilliantly, and the weekend's unconscionable snafu at the Mustafa Husayniyah just plays straight into Iran's hands. Imagine million of Shi'a on strike throughout Baghdad and the South. That will reign in the neocon's delusions real fast.

[Just Me]

22. They'll just start bombing the f*ck outta' the alliance --> pacification,.

,...neocon-style. They're not gonna' give up control over Iraq.

Did ya' see the new LBN about the rocket attacks on Shia political parties?

[Barrett808]

23. Certainly a possibility, but it's not really a matter of giving up control

Because the occupying forces don't have much control, with less and less each day. US political and military control are waning, and the only freedom we have left is to negotiate the terms of our withdrawal. Thank neocon madness for painting us into this corner.

They might decide to go out in a blaze of gratuitous, petulant destruction, but out they'll be going in any case.

[Just Me]

24. I appreciate your confidence.

I guess I lost mine somewhere amongst the muck of the last five years or so. ;(

I hope "real politik", as you say, does come to fruition. I'm sick of the insanity.

[Barrett808]

29. Not necessarily good news, as there will be much attendant suffering

I think the most likely possibility is that US forces will withdraw to the four megabases surrounding Baghdad. There they will brood, like crusaders in their fortresses, surrounded by people who hate them. The Iraqi Parliament, whenever it manages to meet, will invite the US to leave immediately, but delusional neo-cons will hang on until we're essentially driven out. The disposition of the Green Zone will be quite interesting, as there is the real possibility of hasty, Saigon-style evacuations.

It all hinges on the negotiations with Iran. The Persians can make life somewhat easier for the occupation, or they can make life immensely worse. It's really the only choice remaining to us, and no matter how it goes, many more Iraqis and US soldiers will die in the endgame of Bush's vanity war. It will be difficult to hide this from the American public, and we may hope this will be remembered in November.

[Just Me]

37. I rather dread how long this will drag out, the suffering and all.

I wonder if the removal of the neoconsters, either legally or by vote, will be enough suave to begin the road to healing and recovery in the Middle East. How will we overcome all the injustices?

[Just Me]

18. shit meets fan

(((eek)))

How's Rummy gonna' react to this demand? Betcha' he's P-O'd!!! Neoconsters want permanent military presence in Iraq and they're NOT gonna' be happy about this demand.

[rodeodance]

19. well, good, they don't want us. Lets leave. Seems simple to me.

[IndianaGreen]

25. Exactly, let's bring the troops home now!

Things are so FUBAR that there is no point in keeping troops in Iraq.

[Roland99]

26. So, the US backs the Shia and fights/shuns the Sunni....

Then the Shiite militias, finally in power after years of repression, start killing Sunnis in retribution.

US now fighting against the Shiite militias.


Rinse, repeat.

[arewenotdemo]

27. Well, the knuckle-draggers that gave the world the Cheerleader twice

will just argue that the only good Iraqi is a dead Iraqi.

That's been the underlying supposition all along.

[MGKrebs]

32. Press briefing should be interesting tomorrow.

Didn't come up today, but it was a lively session anyway.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060327-2.html

[Judi Lynn]

40. US asked to cede Iraq control

US asked to cede Iraq control
From: Reuters By Omar al-Ibadi and Alastair Macdonald in Baghdad
March 28, 2006
IRAQ'S ruling parties have demanded US forces cede control of security as the government investigated a raid on a Shiite mosque complex that ministers said involved "cold blooded" killings by US-led troops.

US commanders rejected the charges and said their accusers faked evidence by moving bodies of gunmen killed fighting Iraqi troops in an office compound. It was not a mosque, they said.

As Shiite militiamen fulminated over Sunday's deaths of at least 16 people in Baghdad, an al-Qaeda led group said it staged one of the bloodiest Sunni insurgent attacks in months. A suicide bomber killed 40 Iraqi army recruits in northern Iraq.
(snip)

After 24 hours of limited communication, US commanders mounted a media offensive to deny Shiite accounts of a mosque massacre and portray instead a bold and disciplined operation by US-trained Iraqi special forces that killed 16 fighters and freed a hapless Iraqi hostage being held to ransom for $US20,000 ($28,400).
(snip/...)

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18631622-38201,00.html

[MadMaddie]

41. This is it....will the * adminstration keep its word

(I mean we arlready know the answer)

But it's gotta be asked...Is the US willing to leave those mulit billion dollar bases?

The world is watching *!!!

[tularetom]

42. WTF I thought we were going to "stand down"

whhen the Iraqi's "stood up'. Sounds to me like that's what they want to do. If I were * I'd take advantage of this opportunity to get the f**k out of there before anybody realized what happened.

[hwmnbn]

44. That would be the smart thing to do .......

but you know this dumbfuck chimp will never do the smart thing.

[villager]

43. Wow! "Mission accomplished" "Last throes," etc.

No civil war now -- if we refuse to leave, it's clearly them against us...

[wtmusic]

45. Pretty soon all those forces we've trained

are going to be turning their gun barrels on us.

Gonna get ugly.

[NoodleyAppendage]

46. But...but...but... what about the others who weren't killed in cold blood?

I mean what's up with this damned liberal media that they don't recognize that almost 40 survived the US-led MASSACRE in the mosque? Can't we get some good news around here?

J