After weekend offensives against the city of Fallujah failed to unseat al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which captured it from the central government late last week, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is hoping that simply demanding someone else do the job will work.
In a statement today Maliki demanded that the citizens of Fallujah forcibly expel AQI from the city themselves, saying they faced a harsh military offensive if they refuse.
Maliki played up the “danger” that the locals would face if they didn’t expel AQI, but since the Iraqi military has so far failed to do so, it seems unlikely that the tribal leaders in a city of a couple hundred thousand people can muster a force able to do so either.
Couching the military action against AQI as a punishment against the Fallujans for failing to oust al-Qaeda also seems risky as a narrative, particularly with the Sunni cities in Anbar Province already protesting against the Maliki government for heavy handed crackdowns on them.
Surprisingly the author neglects to point out that what Maliki is doing now with respect to Fallujah is very similar to what the US occupation army did with respect to Fallujah a decade ago — inform the residents of Fallujah that a general assault on Fallujah was forthcoming and anyone remaining in the path of the assault would be presumed to be one of the "terrorists" against whom the assault was aimed. Let us hope that Maliki's assault on Fallujah will not be as merciless and lethal as our US assaults (there were two) against Fallujah.
Malackey will soon be kicked away by the Iraqis or by his US masters.
I hope the Iraqis manage to capture and hang him first.
Malackey will soon be kicked away by the Iraqis or by his US masters.
I hope the Iraqis manage to capture and hang him first.
Iraq is broken. Instead of (fixing) the problem, the US is sending its stooge, Maliki, drones and hellfire rockets. "I'll have another one of those beers," said the tinhorn cowboy, George W. Bush, on his ranch in Crawford Texas.
I don't believe we are being told the whole story . Everyone talks Al-Qaeda. They are responsible for everything…somehow. It is like the organization of S.M.E.R.S.H re james bond. I believe it is simply a case of insurrection against the central gov't.by the people of that city. Iraq may be in danger of being divided into three parts.
I would have chosen Dr. Claw and M.A.D. for this comparison, though of course the imbecile crew in Washington makes Inspector Gadget look highly intelligent and competent. This is of course the Sunni heartland rebelling against the US imposed Shiite ally of Iran. How awful.
A "blame the victims" strategy may have worked well for Israel's aggression against Palestinians, but Maliki doesn't have an Iraqi equivalent of "sayanim" to sell the story. Perennial warmongers McCain and Graham are pushing to reinsert US troops into Iraq to "help" by killing thousands more of Fallujah's citizens (see John Glaser's Wash. Times article), apparently hoping to erase past failures with newer failures.
Trust the US to add more fuel to the fire by sending more weapons to that butcher Maliki, I bet al-qaeda will get a share of those weapons.