26 March 2008
News and Comments - 03/26/08
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: What's News .
13 Comments so far...
Cameron Says:
26 March 2008 at 9:00 am.
Why aren’t we in control of Basra?
Iraqi PM gives Basra gunmen ultimatum
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s prime minister on Wednesday gave gunmen in the southern oil port of Basra a three-day deadline to surrender their weapons and renounce violence as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and Iraqi security forces erupted for a second day.
At least 55 people have been killed and 300 wounded in Basra and Baghdad after the fighting spread to the capital’s main Shiite district of Sadr City, police and hospital officials said.
The ultimatum came as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was in Basra to supervise a crackdown against the spiraling violence between militia factions vying for control of the center of the country’s vast oil industry located near the Iranian border. The violence has raised fears that the cease-fire declared in August by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr could unravel, presenting the gravest challenge to the Iraqi government in months.
Suspected Shiite extremists also unleashed rockets or mortars against the U.S.-protected Green Zone in central Baghdad for the third day this week.
Three Americans were seriously injured in the attacks on Wednesday, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said. At least four Iraqis also were killed after at least two mortar or rocket rounds fell short in Shiite areas of Baghdad.
A resumption of intense fighting by al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia could kill more U.S. soldiers and threaten — at least in the short run — the security gains Washington has hailed as a sign that Iraq is on the road to recovery.
The burgeoning crisis — part of an intense power struggle among Shiite political factions — also will test the skill and resolve of Iraq’s Shiite-led government in dealing with Shiite militias, with whom the national leadership had maintained close ties.
The Sadrists are angry over recent raids and detentions, saying U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken advantage of the cease-fire to crack down on the movement.
They also have accused rival Shiite parties, which control Iraqi security forces, of engineering the arrests to prevent them from mounting an effective election campaign. The showdown with al-Sadr has been brewing for months but has accelerated since parliament agreed in February to hold provincial elections by the fall.
Jesse Says:
26 March 2008 at 9:09 am.
This war just isn’t going well. The Iraqi government seems reduced to issuing ultimatums.
Terrie Soberg Says:
26 March 2008 at 9:20 am.
From the Politico Playbook Daily:
Gallup.com shocker: “A sizable proportion of Democrats would vote for John McCain next November if he is matched against the candidate they do not support for the Democratic nomination. This is particularly true for Hillary Clinton supporters, more than a quarter of whom currently say they would vote for McCain if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee.” 28% of Clinton supporters would go to McCain rather than Obama, and 19 percent of Obama voters would go to McCain over Clinton.
T. Fan Says:
26 March 2008 at 2:37 pm.
Shows how acceptable John McCain is to liberals.
E.E. Says:
26 March 2008 at 4:22 pm.
I do not like what Mitt Romney is saying on Sean Hannity’s show right now. Sean asked if Washington is broken can McCain fix it. Mitt is saying yes he can when that is not what he said before about changing chairs. I think he is kissing up and I think he is going to far to promote himself as VP.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Mitt but it makes him look a little wishy washy to me.
CindyL. Says:
26 March 2008 at 4:51 pm.
We can’t depend on one man to save the whole conservative movement. Mitt is great but he isn’t perfect. I just can’t agree with him about falling in behind a man who has a few things right but more things wrong. Yeah he is better than Obama but Obama will at least get conservatives to wake up and start working for what we want. McCain will put us to sleep and while we are sleeping he will stick it to us.
Saddened Says:
26 March 2008 at 4:53 pm.
I don’t know what to think any more. Obama is so radical and I think he is probably a closet racist. I don’t like McCain at all but Obama is even scarier.
Jan W. Says:
26 March 2008 at 5:19 pm.
Mark Levin says we don’t have a candidate running. McCain will get in his liberal agenda in because we won’t be watching. He doesn’t trust him either. Why trust someone who has proven he hasn’t been trustworthy?
Conservatives in Phoenix can’t stand McCain. Levin was there last month and they told him that.
McCain talked today in L.A. and here is what he said, “New International Institutions necessary to advance peace and freedoms that we all cherish.”
Levin says just what I think. This takes our sovereignty away from us. John McCain is totally behind the New World Order and I will not vote for anyone who is a traitor to our country.
Cavetrollhead Says:
26 March 2008 at 8:55 pm.
I don’t really mind Mitt “falling in” behind McCain on the war issue. I guess I part company with almost everyone here in that I don’t think McCain has the war thing that wrong. In my mind he has been right on the war since it began. The war may have been a mistake but fighting to win is not. You got to clean up your messes and that mess is our responsibility. I know I am a broken record, but if we pull out of Iraq prematurely, it will get much uglier for much longer. I hate to be the lone ranger on this. I think there a lot of people reading who agree with me on that.
McCain has almost everything else wrong though and he is a liberal on many fronts.
Ghost Says:
26 March 2008 at 11:22 pm.
I thought almost everyone here thought we should win the war. Pulling out prematurely would be like Vietnam. That’s what most of the comments I read have said. I think what Mark Levin was talking about was totally separate from the war. International treaties that supercede our constitution and bring about a one world government is what McCain was talking about and I think that is very wrong. It’s the secret combinations we have been warned to try to over throw the freedoms of all lands.
Cavetrollhead Says:
27 March 2008 at 7:53 pm.
OK thanks for the clarification. But I just think McCain saying we need to stay in Iraq a long time is not a bad thing. We still have people in Korea and that is OK I think. The alternative is Viet Nam I think, as you say Ghost. I think he is doing a good thing by setting the date of withdrawal for 100 years. It is a good negotiating position to declare his determination to win.
Benjamin Says:
27 March 2008 at 8:04 pm.
The South Koreans asked us to come. Iraq didn’t. Besides that, they feel very differently about the sacredness of their lands and about us infidels than the South Koreans do. The Koreans looked upon us as protectors, the Arabs see us an invaders and if we stay they will not see it as protection but occupation. It will eventually bring about Armageddon but since that is prophecy, I guess we can’t be too surprised.
Cavetrollhead Says:
27 March 2008 at 8:13 pm.
I think those are good points Benjamin. But as far as Armageddon, I think pulling out has more chance of causing that. If you think they have fuel for hate now, just wait until they can blame us for created the genocide to follow a premature pullout.
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