Kindermord bei Bagdad
By trevino Posted in War — Comments (17) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
As at Beslan, so too in Baghdad: today, a car bomb targeting small children who had gathered for candy and sweets from American soldiers. Thirty-four of the little boys and girls slaughtered; and then, as the rescue and relief crews arrived, another car bomb, massacring the very angels of mercy. If the en masse murder of children was a tactic of Chechnya-based Islamists (and justified, perhaps, by the collaborator-killing rhetoric of Yusuf al Qaradawi), then the double-bombing timed to kill medical personnel and helping passers-by is a Palestinian innovation. As both tactics are employed at once in Baghdad, it becomes increasingly obvious that the conceit that the war in Iraq is a "distraction" from the war on terror is wholly false. It's the central front.
Look to the map of the past month's guerrilla and terror attacks in Iraq. Whatever the official line, a remarkably vigorous campaign is undeniably underway. As you study the pattern of attacks, note three things:
First, that there are multiple examples in the history of warfare wherein a spasm of violence accompanies the end. From the Battle of Berlin to the Tet Offensive, enemy tenacity and audacity often peak as both reach their culminating points.
Second, that the munitions and logistics required for these thousands(!) of attacks almost certainly exceeds what was available in unguarded Iraqi arsenals at the fall of the Ba'athist regime.
Third, that the overall geographic pattern of attacks forms a curious sort of double trail, snaking up from its bloody cluster around Baghdad toward Mosul and Qaim -- and thence to the Syrian border.
Therefore, tenacity -- political and military -- is called for. As an unnamed US military officer notes, "The only way we can lose this battle is if the American people decide we don't want to fight anymore." Therefore, we can be sure that the insurgents receive external logistical support. Therefore, we know the truth of this war: is is not merely part of the war on terror -- it is also a proxy war, and just as we've known for some time that Iran is actively involved in the aid and resupply of Sadrist guerrillas, so too does it increasingly appear that the Syrians are active conduits for men and materiel headed into Iraq to kill Americans. And the children who take candy from them.
It seems certain that the Administration is aware of this. The recent mission to Syria and its result appear to confirm it. But no deal struck with the Assad regime will last for long, and so there will be a reckoning in the fullness of time. If the war in Iraq cannot be won within Iraq, then it will have to be won outside it. One of Rumsfeld's Rules is an apt quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower: "If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it."
Things to anticipate in the second term? Toss in a nuclear Iran, and I'd say count on it. The alternative is already on display in the corpses of dead children on dusty streets.
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Kindermord bei Bagdad 17 Comments (0 topical, 17 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Pretty interesting indeed, especially the given link to Yusuf al Qaradawi indeed.
It states that (I quote):
In the days after September 11, for example, Qaradawi denounced the murders of innocent civilians and encouraged Muslims to donate blood to the victims. "Our hearts bleed" for those who died in the attacks, Qaradawi said at the time.
He turned from somebody who was against terrorist acts to somebody who is preaching violence against the Americans.
He's probably not the only one.
Long history of saying one thing to Arabic-language audiences, and another to the international press. Suffice it so say he's hardly always been against terrorism.
the same thing? whatever it is... it means... hey, we were right. we did the right thing. all is well... oh, it is not well? Well that proves it is even better than well.
As both tactics are employed at once in Baghdad, it becomes increasingly obvious that the conceit that the war in Iraq is a "distraction" from the war on terror is wholly false. It's the central front.
Make sure to visit the battlefields outside of Phoenix, L.A., and D.C. from the last devastating attacks these nice fellows were able to launch on U.S. soil.
Regardless of the military consequences on the ground it was then clear that American leaders had been deceiving the public about the strength of the resistance.
It was clear that they were wrong -- not that they lied.
He has actually always (even pre Iraq invasion) been pretty comfortable with murdering children, as long as it is jewish children.
Calling this guy a moderate is using a definition of moderate that I haven't encountered before: He would seem to be happy with only killing half of us rather than all of us like OBL. That is not a moderate, half a psycho is still too much.
If our war is against terrorism then guys like this are also the kind of people that we are at war with.
Allah pundit has a pretty good takedown on this guy. http://www.allahpundit.com/
Some of the nicer bits (Pre Iraq):
6 Nov 2001 - States (On Al Jazeera) that if the Taliban issues a fatwah against the US it is the duty of every muslim to fight America.
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA7501
1 Oct 2002 - Prays (Public Prayer Call) for continued resistance in Afghanistan and for their fighters to defeat the US.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=4296
3 Nov 2002 - Prays (Public Prayer Call) for the destruction of America.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=4610
Post Iraq Glory:
27 Jun 2003 - Condemns AlQ attacks on Saudi Arabia because some of the victims were Muslim, was OK with Americans and forigners being killed.
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP53103
09 Mar 2004 - "We will Conquer Europe, We will Conquer America !"
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=10101
My apologies. My point is, I'd rather everyone have their eyes firmly fastened on the Sunni Triangle than on downtown L.A. as a large, lurking potential target. Whether this was deliberate or a fortunate result of the Law of Unintended Consequences is largely irrelevant to me.
Or, to continue the Tet analogy, I'd rather the jihadis came at us in a rush, rather than stabbing at us out of the shadows.
I hope that they keep coming and dying, until the benefits of martyrdom are outweighed by the costs of dying pointlessly.
....the kill ratios we're achieving can't handle.
I clicked on the graphic and realized too late that I was on a NY Times site. Thanks a lot. ;)
Thanks for the tip on those paths -- I hadn't even looked at that. If he's funding this little experiment in cutting edge lunacy, I say we cut the funding off at the source.