More good commentary on the Iranian insurgent/Shiite militia story here, here, and especially here.
Comments
a part of Gordon's NYT piece that caught my eye (and pisses me off):
While the group is seen by the American military as the most serious near-term threat, there are other signs that Shiite militias remain active.
As Anonymous Liberal indicates, 'the group' seems to refer to al Queda, but only a careful reader would catch that since the preceding paragraph mentions both (Sunni) al Queda in Iraq and Shiite militias.
Both the US military and BushCo have done yeoman work in confusing the media (aided and abetted by the Michael Gordon's of 'journalism') and the US public about which groups are doing what to who - sometimes making all insurgents into al Queda, and sometimes making all Sunnis members of al Queda.
I think there is ample evidence this is very deliberate manipulation, not just lazy language and lazy journalists.
What seems clear to me is that the US government doesn't want our population to know:
- that al Queda is a small group with a Sunni orientation - with some Irai participants and some foreign jihadists,
- that we are arming the Non-al Queda Sunnis - even though they fight against the US and the Shia population,
- that the Sunni militias (and Iraqi government Army and Police) are sometimes opposed and sometimes supporting the government
- that the Iraqi (Shia) government (like the Afghan government) views Iran as a partner, not an opponent
- that the largest Shia militia (the Maudi Army) under Muktada al Sadr is hostile to the Iranians and often hostile to the government
- and assorted other facts (like the intra-Shia battles in Basra and the south)
In summary, this is not a white hats/black hats faceoff, but a massive fuckup where US forces can't tell who in the hell they are fighting. We are arming 'both' sides with weapons we can't account for and in River City that spells trouble - and not from pool halls.
a part of Gordon's NYT piece that caught my eye (and pisses me off):
While the group is seen by the American military as the most serious near-term threat, there are other signs that Shiite militias remain active.
As Anonymous Liberal indicates, 'the group' seems to refer to al Queda, but only a careful reader would catch that since the preceding paragraph mentions both (Sunni) al Queda in Iraq and Shiite militias.
Both the US military and BushCo have done yeoman work in confusing the media (aided and abetted by the Michael Gordon's of 'journalism') and the US public about which groups are doing what to who - sometimes making all insurgents into al Queda, and sometimes making all Sunnis members of al Queda.
I think there is ample evidence this is very deliberate manipulation, not just lazy language and lazy journalists.
What seems clear to me is that the US government doesn't want our population to know:
- that al Queda is a small group with a Sunni orientation - with some Irai participants and some foreign jihadists,
- that we are arming the Non-al Queda Sunnis - even though they fight against the US and the Shia population,
- that the Sunni militias (and Iraqi government Army and Police) are sometimes opposed and sometimes supporting the government
- that the Iraqi (Shia) government (like the Afghan government) views Iran as a partner, not an opponent
- that the largest Shia militia (the Maudi Army) under Muktada al Sadr is hostile to the Iranians and often hostile to the government
- and assorted other facts (like the intra-Shia battles in Basra and the south)
In summary, this is not a white hats/black hats faceoff, but a massive fuckup where US forces can't tell who in the hell they are fighting. We are arming 'both' sides with weapons we can't account for and in River City that spells trouble - and not from pool halls.
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | August 08, 2007 at 01:19 PM