Afghanistan Prison Riot
25000 Protest in Pakistan
The Bush administration cannot even control the al-Qaeda operatives it has in prison! Much less the many walking around free because Bush wasted our resources on an Iraq War instead of polishing off al-Qaeda.
Meanwhile, the furor over the Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad has not died down. Some 25,000 pretested in Karachi on Sunday.
Many Muslims are convinced that the caricatures of the Prophet and the attack on the Askariyah Shrine in Samarra were both US plots against Islam.
posted by Juan Cole @ 2/27/2006 12:27:00 AM
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2 Comments:
You write: "Many Muslims are convinced that the caricatures of the Prophet and the attack on the Askariyah Shrine in Samarra were both US plots against Islam."
Do senior Muslims, regardless of sect, equate the cartoons and the bombing in gravity? Do any senior Sunni Muslims openly acknowledge that some of their own might have done the bombing and should be apprehended and punished? Any Sunni calls for Sunni constraint in attacks on Shia?
Violence? Chaos? Tut-tut. Stick with the plan. Better yet, time to expand the struggle.
The "stay the course" and "next year in Teheran" crowds continue to rule. Their Vision looks undaunted. Only a faithless loss of nerve will bring defeat. And, if a stalemate persists, surely liberals and conservative turncoats are to blame. Karl, Ruppert, Rush, and the Rev. Pat will set folks square with what the neocon wonks proclaim.
Conservatives may also be able to argue (and persuade?) that the alternative proposals are even worse.
1) Defeatist myths all hogwash, charges Kagan. Myths of the Current War. Frederick W. Kagan. NATIONAL SECURITY OUTLOOK. AEI Online. February 24, 2006
[Refutes six "ideological and rhetorical cudgels" which distort discussion and harm the Administration's (wee mistakes aside) fundamentally sound goals and vision.]
2) Eisenstadt & White:
a) Stay the course and smash the insurgents, Assessing Iraq’s Sunni Arab Insurgency. Michael Eisenstadt and Jeffrey White.
Policy Focus #50 | December 2005
"[T]he insurgents ... are not unbeatable. The war may yet yield an acceptable outcome—a relatively stable, democratic Iraq—provided that the political process is not derailed by escalating civil violence or undermined from within, and that the United States does not withdraw prematurely."
b) Sunni insurgents will only become more violent if US withdraws. In Their Own Words: Reading the Iraqi Insurgency, Middle East Report N°50, 15 February 2006
[Bloody SOBs or worse? Worth a sober assessment!]
3) Can do attitude is key, writes Cohen. Will We Persevere? ELIOT A. COHEN. COMMENTARY , Wall Street Journal.
February 24, 2006; Page A12
"Success in Iraq is certainly possible. … When American officers tell me that they think we are succeeding in Iraq, I trust their sincerity, and much, though not all, of their judgment. … Whether we do, however, depends partly on our skillful intervention, more on the attitudes and behavior of the Iraqis themselves, and even in the best case, on our willingness to persevere."
4) Iran behind all the mosque mischief: time to take on Teheran. Are We Playing for Keeps?. MICHAEL RUBIN, Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2006; Page A14
[Says Iran is the prime cause of woe in Iraq and is winning the propaganda war. Says that US State Department is blindly helping Iran. Time to "play for keeps" or face a repeat of Hezbollah's victory in Lebanon. Somewhat arguments in 1951 to nuke China to win Korea or to blame traitors at State for US losses. Rubin does not say how the US could possibly counter a mix of nationalism, religion, and militias. At this stage, anything to embattle the US with Iran, is good enough.]
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