« Hillary's 'Oprahesq' Listening Tour | Main | The Vietnam History You Haven't Heard But Need To Know Before You Swallow The Dems' Analogy To Iraq »

January 22, 2007

Maliki 'Turn Around' Good Sign For Iraq - Maybe

Topics: Iraq

A few days ago we posted on an AP report on what we said just might be a 'for real' offensive against Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army when we learned U.S. and Iraqi forces had arrested Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, Muqtada al-Sadr's media director in Baghdad. On Sunday we learned from the AP that Iraq's prime minister has now done more than allowed an offensive against the Mahdi Army and has supposedly dropped his protection of al-Sadr's Shiite militia after "U.S. intelligence convinced him the group was infiltrated by death squads."

As promising as these events are, as suggested by Powerline - it's inconceivable that Maliki was ignorant of either the Mahdis' role in sectarian violence or the fact that Iraq's Sunni neighbors were unhappy with his protection of that Shia group, and it's safe to assume that the very real threat that the U.S. might abandon its support for his government clarified Maliki's thinking.

However, even if Maliki has become suddenly 'enlightened' to the existence of al-Sadr's death squads or has come to 'clarity' that he should be concerned over the U.S. abandoning its support of his government, the real 'tale of the tape' is going to be whether Maliki is also going to should down command and control centers for the Mahdi Army militia - operating in Iraqi Hospitals and elsewhere, and whether or not his previous policy of protecting al-Sadr's Shiite militia has in fact been dropped. In the culture of the ME, being told what we want to hear is more often al-taqiyya then truth.

Posted by Richard at January 22, 2007 9:03 AM

Articles Related to Iraq:

• Costs Of Illegal Aliens Approaching Cost Of War In Iraq - Apr 22, 2008
• Iraq Today: By The Numbers - Apr 08, 2008
• WSJ: 'The Petraeus Effect' - Apr 08, 2008
• Report: 'Saddam Transferred WMDs To Syria' - Apr 07, 2008
• Iraqi Christians: Exodus, Ethnic Cleansing and Identity Annihilation - Apr 07, 2008
• Defeatacrats And Surrender-Media Screwed Again - This Time By Sadr Surrender - Apr 07, 2008
• Al-Qaeda Terrorist Leader Arrested SW of Mosul By Iraqi Police; Name Witheld - Mar 29, 2008
• More WaPo Shameful Shrills For The Enemy - Mar 29, 2008
• Michael Yon On Iraq - Mar 28, 2008
• Obama Wrong On Al-Qaeda In Iraq And Iran Connection - Mar 19, 2008