Discussion for article #223927
“By God’s will, we will be victorious.” said one volunteer
Oy! How many times have we heard that?
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Ali Sistani, medieval theocrat that he is, is still one of the great statesmen in the world today. That guy held Iraq together by his fingertips for years, although the situation ultimately proved too difficult even for him.
I have confidence in the peshmerga. I have confidence in Sistani. Nouri al-Malaki? Grab a suitcase full of the money you stole, pal, and retire somewhere in Iran. Give the ball to the coach, kid. You’re done.
Like I said, this is the Iraqis war, let them fight it. Especially now that it is even clearer than ever this is a religious war, Sunni versus Shiites. We would lose no matter what by allying ourselves with either one of those religious fanatics.
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I guess my read on this would be that if the Shiites can mount a limited “Gulf War I” style offensive, push the ISIS forces back to, but not try to retake, Mosul, then declare victory, that maybe the Kurds, Sunni’s and Shiites, could have a chance at reaching some accommodation.
Why do I doubt that it could be that straightforward?
One of your more rational posts.
Thank you.
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Because it’s not. While ISIS is in command now and is leading the charge, their numbers are small and there are a lot of other armed groups involved. Tribal militias, what the US would have earlier called “moderate Sunni elements”, Baathists, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re waiting for the ISIS vanguard to break at Baghdad in order to take over themselves (the Baathists in particular, of whom there are a lot in Mosul).
Also, while Mosul is a largely Arab city, the area around it is mostly Kurdish. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Kurds took the opportunity to seize that land, if it looks like Humpty Dumpty isn’t going to get put back together (as they’ve already done with Kirkuk).
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If it was, it was either a misinterpretation or an anomaly.
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“…men gripped by religious and nationalistic fervor…”
Boy, this’ll bake conservative’s cookies. They won’t know whether to blame Obama or absolve Bush.
This is a translation issue. Literally, that is what he said (“insha’Allah” or “if God wills it”), but in the Arab world, when you ask your cab driver how long the ride will be he says “20 minutes, insha’Allah”.
It’s a phrase they use in practically every sentence. You shouldn’t read any particular faithfulness into it. Even completely secular Arabs say it all the time.
Clusterfuck Accomplished.
This is, of course, ridiculous. They need a trained, organized military. Maybe the Iranians will supply one.
Religious people of many denominations say something similar when they feel justified in going to war. Religious belief has been the motivation for so much war and destruction, that I am sick of hearing that phrase in any form.
Ignoring the Kurds would be the biggest mistake.
Well goddamn…I guess the way we should’ve trained those dickheads was to unleash a bunch of terrorists upon them.
Who knew! Coulda killed two bastard birds with one stone: Empty Gitmo, ship those fuckers to Iraq, let them loose on Maliki’s minions, and train the Iraqi security (har, har) forces the quick and dirty way. Fuckin’ SYNERGY, people.
SYNERGY.
Regardless, Iraq’d is three countries pretending to be one country. The sooner that place self-selects into three autonomous regions, the better off they’ll be. Biden had it right.
Some facts about Mr. Isis: http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-iraq-baghdadi-20140614-story.html#page=1
He was imprisoned by US forces, perhaps if one of the USA’s private prisons had been requisitioned, he would be rehabilitated /s
My point is that it has nothing to do with war or violence or religion.
“You going to that party tonight?”
“Insha’Allah!”
It’s like saying “with any luck”. It has no religious connotation here.
Give it up. You aren’t convincing.
Sorry, you’re the one who’s not very convincing. I’ve been an atheist all my life and I still say “thank god!” as an expression of relief or “oh good god…” as one of exasperation. Some thing are just ingrained in the culture, without the meaning of the actual words…