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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Please......

I was against the Iraq war almost from the beginning. I thought it was a bad idea from the day of Colin Powell's UN presentation when El Baradei pointed out that that the Niger documents were forgeries. This war was poorly planned, poorly executed, and with an unreachable goal.

But at this point I say please, please, please please please, let the Iraqis stop the violence. There is a very small window here through which a peaceful political settlement, and end to this war, might be achieved. And that would benefit the US, the world, and the vast number of Iraqis who just want to walk down the street without being kidnapped or blown up.

I recognize these hopes may not be realistic at this point with a civil war already underway, but still, I'm crossing every finger I have.
KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers killed at least 85 people and wounded more than 100 in the Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Ramadi on Thursday in one of the country's deadliest days for months.

The attacks raised fears of an escalation in sectarian tensions, coming as they did in one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest cities, Kerbala, and the Sunni Arab stronghold of Ramadi. ....

Soon afterwards, another bomber blew himself up near a group of police and army recruits in the western city of Ramadi, a day after seemingly coordinated attacks across Iraq killed at least 58.


UPDATE: There's a newer Reuters report.
KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers killed at least 110 people and wounded more than 200 in the Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Ramadi on Thursday, the second consecutive day of concerted insurgent attacks.

Later: Reuters is reporting seven US soldiers killed by roadside bombs, five in Bagdhad, two more in Najaf. No mention of other casualties.

5 Comments:

  • i obviously hope the violence on all sides stops but US and UK violence is far more devastating when it occurs. Also, i have never been convinced about who these bombers really are. try this for example...

    http://tinyurl.com/cexva

    By Blogger michael the tubthumper, at 7:46 AM  

  • Thanks, Pink-y, I take a look, and welcome to my blog.

    And, Michael, yeah, that whole Basra thing stunk. I blogged pretty extensively about it at the time. The British guys who were caught and put in that prison to later be freed in that weird event, had a trunk full of weapons, explosives and detonators. They were dressed as terrorists and carrying terrorist weapons. They might have just been undercover, but the whole thing looked pretty strange to me.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 8:31 AM  

  • "We're mak'n progress."

    By Blogger liberal_dem, at 1:58 PM  

  • As you know, I was against Aghanistan, must less invading Iraq and nobody wishes the violence would stop more than I do -- maybe the Iraqis who have to live with it but I'm afraid it's too late. It's taken on a life of its own.

    Mark my words, before it's all over they will have effectively split into three regional gov'ts with some nominally functional national body for show.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:48 PM  

  • Libby, I agree with the breakup possibility, but the problem is that there are no agreed upon boundaries for these ethnic groups. Even the fairly geographically distinct Kurds have 10,000 men trained and under arms preparing to take Kirkuk and it's oilfields.

    And then there's the issue of mixed areas like Bagdhad, for instance. Certainly it would probably end up in Shia hands, but through some sort of ethnic cleansing tehy will have to push the other groups out.


    Not to mention the fact that the Shias want to push the Sunnis out into the poor western deserts.

    I think it's already started as well, but if there is a chance to stop it, no matter how slim, it will happen in the next few weeks.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 3:05 PM  

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