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.
