April 17, 2005
JUST WIN, BABY:
Iraq militias 'could beat rebels' (Jim Muir, 4/17/05, BBC News)
Iraq's new president has said the insurgency could be ended immediately if the authorities made use of Kurdish, Shia Muslim and other militias.Jalal Talabani said this would be more effective than waiting for Iraqi forces to take over from the US-led coalition.
Mr Talabani, a Kurd, also told the BBC he would not sign a death warrant for captured former leader Saddam Hussein.
And he warned that any attempt to impose an Islamic government on Iraq would break up the country.
He said the Shia religious parties with whom the Kurds have struck a partnership to underpin the new government have agreed to a compromise whereby Islam will be one of several sources for Iraqi law. [...]
He admitted that the Americans remained opposed to the idea of a role for irregular forces.
"But we are independent now," he added.
Screw the Americans--there's a war to be won. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 17, 2005 6:05 PM
What do you expect? The Fed piggy mentality doesn't even think that airline pilots should have guns. I remember a counter-insurgency lecture in Quantico in the early '70's which touted destruction or degredation of non-governmental associations--in other word, of civil society--as a means of fighting insurgency. Never forget that the policeman is NOT your friend: he has his own axe to grind and his own nest to feather.
Posted by: Lou Gots at April 18, 2005 3:36 PM