Woo hoo - new thread! This is a critical day for the coalition, for two reasons. First, there's the continued push into Baghdad, which could fall today according to some defense dept whispers (3rd bullet down). Second, there's the Bush / Blair meeting in Northern Ireland to discuss post-war Iraq. This could get very contentious before it's resolved. Other news so far today: Iraqi opposition leader to return to the country following exile in Iran -- This guy is anti-US occupation, but not nearly as anti-US as many other Arab leaders. New friendly fire incident kills four Condi Rice meets with Russian officials
I find it a little worrying that they are flying in this character Chalabi so quickly. This guy is regarded as a crook by Jordan (sentenced to 22 years in absentia by a Jordanian court), yet it is possible he could end up leading the new Iraq. This would not be a good starting point. The positive news appears to be that the urban resistance is so disorganised and relatively weak. If it doesn't strengthen, then all they need to do is find the senior leadership and the game's up. This could happen very quickly. One British military spokesman said on the radio that "if he were a betting man", he reckoned it would be over by this time next week.
The CIA is very opposed to Chalabi taking the reigns in Iraq. If they don't trust him then you know something's wrong.
Sounds like the US military is keen on this guy. Presumably if this is the beginning of the free Iraqi army, then Chalabi would be the first commander in chief?
Just heard on CNN that there may be some sort of popular uprising within Baghdad. Fox News reporting it also, citing Kuwaiti and Iranian media. Apparently, the people are turning on Saddam's followers, and have killed dozens of Fedayeen already.
As we have discussed here before, there's a big debate around Chalabi within the Administration. State is against him, but the Defense triumverate of Rumsfeld, Perle and Wolfowitz all love him, as does the oil industry. He's been making the rounds to groups like the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation for a couple of years. Chalabi has said that a post-war Iraq would likely quit OPEC, which makes a lot of oil people downright giddy. The thing is, that is most definitely not in the Iraqi people's best interest even if it is in the US'. So you have to ask where Chalabi's real loyalties lie.
The US military is keen on things that explode too. He very well might be a great leader, but I don't know enough about the guy to judge yet. The fact that he's against Hussein only tells me that he didn't like the guy in power. The last thing we need to do is replace one dictator with another.
Which might explain why they're sticking him into this while the fighting is going on, to give him some street cred as a "liberator".
Probably true. Sounds like how De Gaulle and the Free French were inserted after the Normandy landings, so it looked like the French were liberating themselves. (even though the reality was different) The main concern I would have is the quality of this character.
US says it may have WMD "smoking gun", but forces shed protective suits A US infantry unit in Iraq said it may have finally found a chemical weapons site, but marines near Baghdad were ordered to shed their protective gear after being told they were in no danger Well, here goes another attempt at finding WMDs. They are risking a lot of future PR if they keep leaking "possible sites" and then coming up empty-handed. I'm not sure if this article is referencing the same site but there was a report on NPR this morning that said they had found missles loaded with sarin gas. I can't get audio links at work so I can't find a NPR link though. Murf
I heard this on NPR this morning too but couldn't find/hear any other reference to it. IIRC, the NPR report referred to Marines finding the missiles and the general involved using the term "smoking gun".
Old news baby!!! http://www.irna.com/en/head/030407115517.ehe.shtml USWAR/Armed clashes between Baghdad people, army Baghdad, April 7, IRNA -- Sporadic armed clashes broke out between Baghdad people and pro- Saddam Iraqi army following the US ground strikes on the capital. According to IRNA correspondent Baghdad residents particularly in three areas of the city who were under heavy pressure of Baath's army forces and Saddam's Fedayeen over recent months, clashed with Saddam forces. During the clashes, Baghdad people killed at least 35 soldiers and Saddam's supporters while Iraqi soldiers attacked houses in the city and killed or wounded a large number of people. SF/HM End
re: possible find of Sarin... http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1086541,00.html (UK television news arm of Murdoch news empire) They aren't mentioning this on BBC, however. This makes me wonder about the strength of the claim.
OK, so its now "anti-American" to wait for substantiated evidence before placing a related article on your website? Some media organisations do place accuracy above political agenda. I know this is a strange concept to Americans, but maybe you'll understand one day,
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=PUDKPSFKWP3HGCRBAE0CFFA?type=topNews&storyID=2521303 Report: U.S. Finds Missiles with Chemical Weapons
If your main concern is his character, you're going easy on him. I'd be more concerned about: -- His lack of leadership / government experience -- The fact that Iraqis don't see him as one of their own -- The fact that he has alienated nearly every other Iraqi opposition group If Chalabi gets a shot at running Iraq, we might as well just change his government's name to "Vichy".
Let's ignore the fact that the DJ refused to do FCC-mandated station IDs and broadcast NPR News on the hour, telling people instead to "watch Fox" if they wanted to know what was "really" going on in Iraq. You know, when I tell my clients to go to the competition, my company grants me raises and promotions. I don't understand why it's the not the same for this guy.