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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

There is no security in Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunman abducted about 85 workers Wednesday as they left an industrial plant north of Baghdad, police and a witness said. The workers were thought to be mostly Shiite and the plant is located in a predominantly Sunni Arab area.

This isn't just some small scale drive-by shooting or IED, this is a major operation, and it's this type of massive violence that undermines the legitimacy of the Maliki government. If the government of Iraq cannot protect the people from this sort of violence, the rank and file "true" civilians in Iraq have little choice but to turn to their various factional militias for protection.

The Maliki government is on the knife's edge right now, and it's looking more and more possible that it may go the Afghanistan route where President Karzai has so little influence he is derisively called "the mayor of Kabul."

It's hard to call at this point, but whatever credibilty the Iraqi government has in the area of security is being quickly spent.

(By the background of this, Shia workers in a predominant Sunni area, I would guess this is more activity by the new claimant to Zarqawi's title, although at this point there's no way to tell.
Taji, you might remember from the series Off to War, is the location of a major US base.)

2 Comments:

  • I had a little confidence when the new President sent thousands of troops into Bagdad to clamp down.

    This is probably a reaction to that, to let him know that he is not in control.

    I was against invading Iraq, but we did and now we are responsible to help the Iraqi's get control of their country.

    As long as Iraqi's are willing to go out by the thousands and die for their country, we should be there to help them.

    I think this is the worst incident so far in this mess.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 2:56 PM  

  • You inspired the next post up.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 5:35 PM  

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