April 30, 2007
WHICH IS THE POINT OF THE SURGE:
Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces: Some Commanders Had Pursued Militias (Joshua Partlow, 4/30/07, Washington Post)
A department of the Iraqi prime minister's office is playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and national police officers, some of whom had apparently worked too aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias, according to U.S. military officials in Baghdad.Since March 1, at least 16 army and national police commanders have been fired, detained or pressured to resign; at least nine of them are Sunnis, according to U.S. military documents shown to The Washington Post.
Although some of the officers appear to have been fired for legitimate reasons, such as poor performance or corruption, several were considered to be among the better Iraqi officers in the field. The dismissals have angered U.S. and Iraqi leaders who say the Shiite-led government is sabotaging the military to achieve sectarian goals.
Why did they think Mookie agreed to the deal? Posted by Orrin Judd at April 30, 2007 7:31 AM
If the Sunnis were smart, they would stop their "insurgencies" right now, save their fire power and man power to threaten the Shiites with the "big" one after the Americans left. Mutually assured destruction.
Sadly, the Sunnis are pretty stupid. They let the Americans do the Shiites' dirty work.
Posted by: ic at April 30, 2007 1:44 PMThey are justifiably terrified of the Shi'a they've abused for centuries.
Posted by: oj at April 30, 2007 3:02 PMIc: What the Shiites say to that threat is, "Bring 'em on!"
Posted by: Lou Gots at April 30, 2007 3:26 PM