Maliki needs to stop shaking hands with American troops, and start with the Iraqi people.

STOP KILLING THE SISTANI SHIA ! DO IT NOW !!!!!!!!!!

Iraqi gov't welcomes Al-Sadr peace offer (click title to entry)

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Sunday , 30 /03 /2008 Time 6:43:39

Baghdad, Mar30, (VOI)-The Iraqi government on Sunday welcomed an order by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to pull his fighters off the streets of Iraqi cities. "The order to pull off gunmen off Basra along with all Iraqi provinces and to disavow those who has taken up arms against government officess and security forces is reponsive and patriotic", Ali Al-Dabagh, spokesman for Iraqi government, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).Al-Sadr's offer was contained in a nine-point statement issued by his headquarters in Najaf.The cleric also called on the government to stop what he called "haphazard raids and release security detainees who haven't been charged".Clashes and heavy fighting broke out in Basra and spread to several Iraqi cities following the announcement of a major crackdown on gunmen in the southern city and Iraq's main hub for oil exports.
AM

We don't belong in Iraq !

We never did !

Shiite cleric al-Sadr offers Iraqi government peace accord

STILL YET ANOTHER peace initative !

BAGHDAD — Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is offering to pull his fighters off the streets of Basra and other cities if the government halts raids against his followers and releases prisoners held without charge.
The offer is contained in a nine-point statement issued by his headquarters in Najaf.
Al-Sadr is demanding that the government issue a general amnesty and release all detainees. The statement said he also "disavows" anyone who carries weapons and targets government institutions, charities and political party offices.
There was no immediate comment from the government.

The Shia believe in Ahl al-Bayt. "The Five and not just The One." They believe in 'the family' of Mohammad which includes women. Community.

Ahlul Bayt (Ahl al-Bayt) or household members of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) refers to his daughter Fatima Zahra, his successor and son-in-law, Imam Ali, their two sons Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain, and the nine Imams from the lineage of Imam Hussain.

The Sunnis are far more patriarchal in their structure. The 'man' is the household. The Shia grow up believing 'family' is paramount in the concept of religion. That sounds very "Western" to me.

The British left Basra. It was a good idea then. It's a better idea today !

There was a ceasefire. No one was dying. What the heck do you think is going to happen now? The oil? There is a preoccupation with the oil? So, therefore the Iraqis just can't seem to get along. Even with provincial authorities set up in the Iraqi Constitution. Amazing.

Out of Basra: A convoy of British armoured vehicles on the ten-mile trip from the city's palace to the airport base (click link to entry).

British jets fire on Basra militia (click here)

British jets have unleashed a hail of cannon fire around Basra, forcing militia to take cover as fighting in the city continued for a fourth day.
The show of force came after US pilots strafed suspected insurgent positions in the first air attacks since the launch of the Iraqi-led clampdown on Shia insurgents which has sparked violence across Iraq.
But the US strike prompted confusion when British officials initially said that coalition planes had dropped bombs in the city.
Major Tom Holloway, British military spokesman in Basra, later clarified that "incidences of weapons release" from the US aircraft in fact referred to strafing suspected insurgent positions.
Pilots swept low to unleash a hail of cannon rounds on a militia mortar firing point and a building believed to be being turned into an insurgent stronghold, he said.
During the course of the fighting, RAF aircraft - believed to be Tornado jets - followed suit, strafing patches of waste ground in a dramatic warning shot to suppress militia activity, the Ministry of Defence said.
It is understood that RAF aircraft carried out four separate shows of force on a day of sporadic fighting in the city which was handed over to full Iraqi control by British forces just three months ago....

Sporatic fighting deserves Tornado Jets and bombs? Are they crazy? Do you know how many innocent people die when met with bombs? The American and British forces are using outrageous power to compensate for an Iraqi military and police that were wrong to start this in the first place.

This car has appeared in innumberable amount of newspapers globally.

Residents look at a destroyed vehicle after an attack in Basra on Saturday.


Baghdad: The death toll in clashes between the military and Shiite rebels escalated on Saturday, with health workers saying two hospitals are overflowing with the wounded.
At least 133 bodies and 647 wounded have been brought to five hospitals in eastern Baghdad over the past five days, eastern Baghdad's health chief Ali Bustan said on Saturday.
More than 200 people have been reported killed and hundreds wounded in the five days of fighting across southern Iraq and Baghdad since a crackdown on militants in Basra....


The Gulf News reports the 'discovery' of BODIES. Not people, but, bodies. Wow. What is it like to have 133 people dead within five days time?

What is it like to have war a daily routine?

No child can count on their future and in Iraq's war zones they count on growing up fast, to learn to carry weapons and destroy any entity that will seek to destroy them.

You know what is interesting about the picture above?


Its a car.


A car in Basra.


A bombed car in Basra.

A bombed out car in Basra that was NOT destroyed by a suicide bomber, but, by an American jet fighter.

When have we ever seen the Sistani Shia mount a suicide bomber attack into any place in Iraq or otherwise? They aren't capable. One of the grestest criticisms of militias such as Hamas is the FACT that children are recruited into 'martyr brigades.' That isn't happening today in Basra. The Iraqi military and it's USA components aren't receiving suicide bombers to deal with. Don't you find that odd?


Has there been one report of a suicide bomber attacking even The Green Zone? Not a one. Its almost as though they can't 'imagineer' themselves doing that. Its almost as though that is a distasteful way to defend their hamlets in southern Iraq or in Baghdad.

Could it be that the Grand Ayatollah al Sistani loves his flock so much that he cannot conceptualize their death to incur the deaths of others? Could it be that the Grand Ayatollah could never mandate a fatah to lead against any other person? Could we actually be looking at an Islam VOID of the ability to do anything beside live in peaceful practice of their faith?


That is my belief of the Sistani Shia. It has been a long held belief. No, they aren't pacifists. They will rise up against authority to defend themselves, but, that is nearly a genetic predisposition for them. They are damnably autonomous, but, they are survivors. The Maliki government, Iraq's military and police, the USA military and the British military need to be brought up on war crime charges because of their 'aggressive' initiatives against 'a people' that was actively seeking resolve of issues with a declared and sustainable ceasefire !

It's like he doesn't really belong in Washington, DC. How long have the Democrats waited for that? Definately play the video at this link.

He'll never win over the Neocons, so forget about that. He has too many 'pickable' points that they will seek to "W"rongfully exploit, yet, in that reality is reassurance that 'change' is a grossly obvious agenda for him.

Like him. I think he's a great man. On top of that, he's Harvard. His wife is as well. They are interesting people anchored in 'the best education' in the USA. They walked in halls where people like Benazir Bhutto walked and learned leadership. That reality is scary. A FIRST Black President of the USA will be in danger. Bigotry exists in the USA and if there is one aspect that is true of the Obamas, it is that they stand in defiance of any of it.

Obama's record tough to assess (click here)
When he came to the Senate, his party was in the minority. Then he started his campaign.
By Margaret Talev and David Lightman
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama says that if he were president, he'd take politically courageous stands while forging the consensus needed to enact universal health care, immigration revisions, global-warming legislation, and a withdrawal from Iraq.
His three-year record in the Senate, however, offers little evidence that he can do what he's promising. His party was in the minority for his first two years, and in the third he began campaigning for president and missed lots of time on Capitol Hill. He was absent from or only partly involved in some key bipartisan efforts to head off stalemates on judicial nominations, immigration, and Iraq war policy.
"He is asking us to believe he can do something he has yet to do," said Michael Fauntroy, assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University.
Being one of 100 senators, especially a junior one, is very different from being president, of course, and Senate records - impressive or mediocre - haven't always been good indicators of a candidate's fitness or readiness for the White House....

Barak, if elected president, will stumble, no different than in his campaign. But, that is 'being real.' He is definately genuine. And although he may stumble, he will never faulter so much that he will fail. It can easily be stated that any Democrat entering the White House following the Bush/Cheney executive years, is going to be challenged with an America that is exploited and exploitive. The Bush/Cheney War Machine will have many 'trip wires' that only can be known once they are GONE from the White House.

I do like his view of the Iraq governing processes beyond the war. I do believe once the USA has set itself on a path of diplomacy throughout the entire world, there will be little that will need the escalation of our military footprint. The change that is to come in 2008 is anticipated by most of the world. Stability through peace initiatives is the venue of tomorrow's America. The question remains who will be the 'best' to conduct those peace initiatives.

This shows the complete moronity of the USA military in Iraq.

A PLEA The leaflet, dropped by helicopter, urges Basra residents to welcome government forces who are battling militiamen for control.



This 'strategy' to win over the citizens of an area worked successfully in Afghanistan. It was before the initial invasion when the 'military intelligence' units were on the ground first. As a matter of fact, the Afghan citizens responded so positively to this type of 'outreach' that they provided donkeys to the USA military to assist them in the mountainous terrain. In the beginning of the Afghanistan invasion it was the Pashtun that greeted the USA military.



There are a lot more 'players' (which is a crude word to describe people struggling with control of their own culture) in Iraq. The 'leaflet' is a joke. It won't be well received. This is NOT Afghanistan and that seems to be a huge incompetency Bush's military can't seem to come to terms with in regard to 'war vs. diplomacy.'

As a matter of fact, the opposition movement to the Maliki 'death initative' is 'creating' a coalition of militias. The strength of the opposition is growing.



FACTBOX-Main players in Iraq's Basra (click here)
...* SADR MOVEMENT:-- Sadr loyalists are widely seen as the most influential group on the streets of Basra. Sadr's political movement and Mehdi Army militia have popular support. -- The Sadrists recently signed a truce with other major Shi'ite parties, agreeing that militia members would not carry guns openly as long as security forces do not target them.-- Unlike the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, Sadr opposes the idea of federalism for the south.-- The militia has kept a low profile since Sadr called a ceasefire last August and extended it last month.-- But gunbattles in Baghdad and the southern city of Kut last week have raised fears that it may be unravelling at a time when the U.S. military is withdrawing 20,000 troops.*


SUPREME ISLAMIC IRAQI COUNCIL:-- The Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) has a strong following in Basra and, like the Sadrists, has built up support by running charities to help the poor.-- The party, engaged in a power struggle with Sadr's followers across much of the south, joined Sadr in opposing the governor of Basra, who belongs to the smaller Shi'ite Fadhila Party.-- The Supreme Council favours the creation of a large federal region with wide autonomy that would include the nine southern mainly Shi'ite provinces.*

* FADHILA PARTY:-- The Fadhila Party is a small Shi'ite Islamist party which has little clout in other parts of the country but controls the position of governor in Basra. Fadhila is believed to have influence in the Southern Oil Company, which through exports from Basra supplies nearly all of the government's funds.-- The party's spiritual leader is Sheikh Mohammed al-Yaqoubi, a student of Moqtada al-Sadr's father, a connection that has heightened rivalry between the groups.-- Fadhila, fearful of plans for a Shi'ite super-region which might be controlled from the holy city of Najaf, favours autonomy for Basra.



I find it fascinating that the 'Sadr' folks were developing their own ideas to promote a more 'democratic' region. The Sheikh mentioned above was a student of Moktada. Yet, he is alive and well and favoring an autonomous region for Basra. THAT is democracy at work. He was/is developing his own political opinions and seeking elections to foster those opinions in leadership.


This is typical of the Sistani Shia of Iraq. They love each other enough to form militias that are loyal to their own concepts of culture and faith. They foster intelligence and wrap it in loyalty. I think they are incredible people and all the Iraqi government wants now is to kill them. I don't think so. They must be left to their own attempts at government and the formation of political parties. The existance of militias is a reality in Iraq. They have grown out of need and fear. The fears of the Sistani Shia are real, even today. The role of the USA in Iraq needs to be to work through peaceful initiatives WITH the leaders of these political parties, seeking answers that bring about change and stabilize the region.

McCain states he will bring war to Iraq for 100 years. That is a 'war crimes' violation to the will of the people that have lived in southern Iraq for millenium. The Iraqi 'process' to secure their country might take another 100 years, but, through diplomacy and initiatives that identify their strengths to govern themselves, NOT through death of their people and destruction of their culture.

Clinton says China holdings threaten U.S. security

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton (L) speaks with a supporter at a town hall meeting in Indianapolis March 29, 2008.

Yep. China holds most of the 'debt' notes on the Iraq War. Who holds the 'debt' notes on the reconstrution?

A typical home in Basra, before the war. (click here)

"We have simply lost the virtue of self-discipline." - Oh, is that what it is?

The Republicans always state "The less government, the better." I seems that would not be the case.
I also don't believe the responsibility for the USA economic collapse is the responsibility of consumers. They were doing what their government wanted and gave permission for them to do, through deregulation and opportunistic exploitation of 'the hope' of home ownership in the face of poor credit standing.
Otherwise, Bush wouldn't have had an economy or 'the premission' to continue in DC in 2004.
If this was the status of the USA economy in November 2004, Bush would never be president. The USA debt is more the issue than any consumer issues.

2006 - "The president's budget, now pending before Congress, is a poor expression of our nation's values...." (click here)


Paulson to Propose New U.S. Financial Regulators (Update1) (click here)
By Jesse Westbrook and John Brinsley
March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is likely to call for the creation of new regulatory agencies with broad powers over lending, the securities industry and business conduct, according to the draft of a study he commissioned.
The report, which recommends more power for the Federal Reserve, also proposes combining the Office of Comptroller of the Currency -- which dates back to the Civil War -- and the Office of Thrift Supervision into a single banking overseer. In addition, the draft, which was circulated to government agencies this week and obtained by Bloomberg News, calls for the merging of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission....



It's been awhile since our country has had to seriously worry about hard times. But the cost of today's grand national experiment in living beyond our means is finally coming due. How will the nation respond?

Basra air strike kills 8 as Iraq fighting rages

"Hi, Mom, got my tea ready yet? Things are pretty slow right now."

A Shia gunman in Basra. (click here)
Photograph: Esssam Al-Sudani/AFP/Getty images

...Earlier that morning, Sadr City had been eerily quiet. Cars moved slowly. Residents ferried food and water, preparing for the worst. Rubbish littered the charred streets. On one road, two green Stryker vehicles were parked.

Outside Um Falah's house, Mahdi fighters gathered, standing against the walls, peering down the street. Clashes were unfolding on an adjacent road. One group joined the fighting, but the others remained in place. Their job was to protect their end of the block. Um Falah continued her chores: 'I have got used to war, to all the battles in our lives.' It was not the first time her son had gone to fight US troops and in her heart, she said, she knew it would not be the last. 'I have sent my son on the right path,' she said.

In their living room, her husband and Abu Mustafa sat on red carpets set with colourful pillows. The room was prepared for battle, with plastic windowpanes and drawn curtains. On the wall hung tapestries depicting Imam Ali and other saints.

Thahabi, slim and gaunt-faced, said the Mahdi were not fighting only the Americans but also their Shia rivals - the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the ruling Dawa party. Thahabi believes the government launched an offensive in Basra last Monday to weaken the Sadrist forces ahead of provincial elections scheduled for this year. He thought Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who leads the Dawa party, was taking advantage of a ceasefire imposed by Sadr last August....

The Ludicrous Nature of the American Media - People die in Iraq as a Political Volley

The Glamour of war is too tempting for the CBS news network. They have today declared John McCain the next president of the USA.

...McCain replied, “Make it 100. We’ve been in South Korea . . . we’ve been in Japan for 60 years. We’ve been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me. As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, that’s fine with me. I hope that would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al-Qaeda is training, recruiting and equipping and motivating people every single day.”

Bush's Decisive Puppet - He lost his political standing overnight and cast forward a genocide of the Sistani Shia

Tom Hayden (click at title to entry)
Sat Mar 29, 2:35 PM ET
Central to the Bush-Petraeus Iraq strategy is to pacify and confuse American public opinion during the 2008 elections, an approach Gen. Petraeus calls "slowing down the American clock" to gain time for the counterinsurgency to continue. This week's events in Basra suggest that US strategy is collapsing amidst its own contradictions....



I can't call it anything else. It's a genocide of an enclave of Iraqi citizens. Genocide of a political constituency. Trashing a legitimate 'ceasefire' to opt for death raids into Basra is an outrageous move against the Iraqi Shia. There is no legitimate government directive, simply an attempt by the Green Zone Iraqis to kill off the 'organized' militias of the south that have been standing watch over their people since Bush's 'instilled' anarchy of five years ago. This is hatred, not government 'rule of law.'

Where does Maliki ever get 'the permission' to simply start killing Shi'ites? That's a Saddam 'thing.' Like, what? The Shia didn't start this, the Iraqi government did. The Green Zone Iraqis wouldn't be sitting safely in their armored clad lobbies if the Brits and USA warplanes weren't killing their people to stop the overthrow.

If "The West" weren't there to kill the Sistani Shia, this would never have begun. This is about "The West's" control of Basra and its oil. This isn't about peace or a unity government for Iraq.

"It's Sunday Morning"

Civil War by Guns and Roses

"What we've got here is failure to communicate.
Some men you just can't reach...
So, you get what we had here last week,
which is the way he wants it!
Well, he gets it!
N' I don't like it any more than you men." *

Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land

And
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war

Look at the shoes your filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

"We practice selective annihilation of mayors
And government officials
For example to create a vacuum
Then we fill that vacuum
As popular war advances
Peace is closer" **

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
And I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
I don't need one more war

I don't need one more war
Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway




Drinks on Dr Pepper if Guns N' Roses release new album (click here)
© 2008 The Associated Press
DALLAS — For long-suffering Guns N' Roses fans, it's come to this — putting their faith in free soda.
Fourteen years after frontman Axl Rose and his '90s bandmates started recording the now-mythical "Chinese Democracy," soft drink maker Dr Pepper says it will give away a free soda to everyone in America if the album is finally released in 2008.
The offer didn't escape the attention of Rose. Fans of the blockbuster rock group have been virtually taunted over the last decade with perpetual rumors of the album's completion.
"We are surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr Pepper with our album 'Chinese Democracy,' as for us, this came totally out of the blue," Rose said in a statement on the band's Web site.
Greg Artkop, a spokesman for Plano-based Dr Pepper, said the company is simply fans of the band. But with "Chinese Democracy" into its second decade of recording, he wouldn't put odds on the offer succeeding.
"Only one man knows," Artkop said, referring to Rose.
Rose is the only remaining original member of Guns N' Roses, whose albums "Appetite for Destruction" and "Use Your Illusion," Vols. 1 and 2, vaulted the band to worldwide popularity.

The Circumstances with Iraq have become ludicrous. It's time to composite the issue and move on. I'll be back at 8:30 am.