Speaking today in a televised address with what remains of the Iraqi Army forces in Samarra, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki threatened to punish deserters “to the utmost, with punishments that rise to execution.”
A pandemic of desertion seems to be hitting the Iraqi Army as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) advances on their positions, with major cities falling with little opposition as most of the defenders take off their uniforms, drop their weapons and run away.
Maliki tried to paint this as a positive situation, saying “frankly this was our chance to get rid of those cowards and weaklings,” and that it will result in an improved army in the long run.
Assuming there is a “long run.” The US-trained Iraqi military has folded like a house of cards in every confrontation, and Maliki is forced to rely on an Iranian general to command the defense of the capital city, while Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s volunteers are trying to form militias to do the fighting the army isn’t.
Just like South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese forces always had cripplingly high desertion rates.
I did not hear much about this, but I remember, that a pilot escaped to Hanoi, and before did bomb his "own president's palais".
I believe the one who faces execution is Maliki. Unless the U.S. or Iran bales him out.
What comes to mind is the picture of Qaddafi being held spread-eagled on the hood of a car by his adoring subjects…waiting for the kill-shot.
US special ops inside Libya called in the air strikes on Gaddafi's escaping convoy and then after NATO jets blew it up, they called in the hapless "revolutionaries" and handed him over. Months before that, Gaddafi attempted to handover Libya and sneak away into the dark, but the US chose assassination.
That's the only way Iraq will fall again–if US/NATO does the job. Everything is just drama queens of pop cult.
In the meantime, the deserters in Mosul are being executed not by Maliki, but by ISIS/ISIL regardless if the gave up, regardless if they are Sunni.
He'd better watch out. Maliki really isn't killing enough of his own people to be consider a reliable Western ally. I'm sure by now he's been told that he really needs to up the body count rate if he wants to be considered alongside Egypt, the Kiev regime, and the Syrian rebels as true and reliable American allies. Fortunately, the US has announced a new plan to help struggling franchisers by allowing his government and the Syrian rebels to kill each other and both get credit for the body counts towards being considered members of the US ally Gold Circle Club.
Hell, it worked for Stalin. 🙂
Same thing Hitler did in the final weeks of WWII in Germany. Strung 'em up. The SS were happy to do it.
Looks like Dr. Chomsky may have been right when he said "Iraq may never recover from the US invasion."
that was the neocon plan from the beginning…
Tony Blair just came out and said; "Iraq crisis not a result of 2003 Iraq invasion." He blame it on insurgents from Syria……go figure.
Army Deserters should Threaten to Execute Maliki !
USA delivers weapons to both sides.