Iraq's Radical Leader Al-Sadr Warns U.S. Soldiers Are Targets For His Followers

Female supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr march in Baghdad in May, with one holding a sign saying, "No, No to the Occupation!". Radio Free Europe

Anti-American Iraqi Cleric Pens English-Language Letter To US troops, Calls On Them To Leave -- Washington Post

BAGHDAD — A powerful anti-American Shiite cleric called Tuesday on U.S. troops in Iraq to leave the country and go back to their families or risk more attacks.



Muqtada al-Sadr’s comments came in a rare statement translated into English and directed at U.S. troops in Iraq. The statement was posted on his website.



In it, the Shiite cleric appealed directly to the roughly 46,000 U.S. troops still in the country and said Iraq does not need their help.



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More News On Iraq's Al-Sadr Warnings Against U.S. Soldiers

Radical Cleric Al-Sadr Warns U.S. Forces to Leave Iraq -- FOX News

Iraq's Sadr tells US troops to go home -- AFP

Iraq’s Al-Sadr Tells US Troops to Leave or Face Resistance -- Voice of America

Moktada al-Sadr Warns U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq -- New York Times/AP

U.S. military trainers could be targets: Iraq's Sadr -- Reuters

Iraq's Sadr warns against post-2011 US presence -- AFP

Iraq's Sadr Warns Of Backlash If U.S. Troops Stay Past Deadline -- Radio Free Europe

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The War Still Goes On In Iraq

Khaula Ghazi, center foreground, 20, mourned the death of her brother, who residents of Al Rufait said was one of three people killed in a joint Iraqi-American raid that also left five people injured. Joseph Sywenkyj for The New York Times

In Iraqi Village, A Raid Sows Distrust Of Americans -- New York Times

AL RUFAIT, Iraq — The American and Iraqi soldiers came to this village of grape farmers and tribal traditions in the dark in search of a suspected insurgent, and left in the morning sunlight.

In the hours between, however, the operation went horribly wrong: the suspect eluded capture, but three men, including a tribal elder, were killed and five people were wounded, among them two young girls.

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Update: After a Botched Raid in Iraq, Competing Facts and Unified Blame -- At War/New York Times

My Comment: While the US is still stating that they are making a difference, and believe that they must stay longer in Iraq .... while demanding legal immunity for it .... the sad fact is that everyone is now predicting even more sectarian violence when the Americans leave.

What is my take .... I have always favored a quick withdrawal .... because I know that if we do not leave this statistic will grow even more.

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No Decision On U.S. Troops Staying In Iraq, But Purchase Of U.S. Jets Is Still On

Five U.S. Air Force F-16 fighters jets fly in formation over the United States en route to an exercise in this undated file photograph. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said Saturday that his government would buy 36 fighters from the United States to strengthen its weak air defenses. (Reuters)

Iraq Boosts Purchase Of U.S. Jets, But No Decision On Troops -- McClatchy News

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki on Saturday signaled continuing military cooperation with the United States, doubling the size of a planned purchase of U.S. fighter jets, but he sidestepped the crucial question of whether American troops will be asked to stay in the country past a Dec. 31 deadline for their withdrawal.

Maliki told reporters that the Iraqi government planned to buy 36 F-16 fighter jets to help the fledgling Air Force defend the country. Baghdad had postponed plans to purchase 18 of the multimillion-dollar jets, diverting almost $1 billion of the money to buying food for impoverished regions in a response to rising anti-government protests.

"We have to provide Iraq with aircraft to safeguard its sovereignty," Maliki said in announcing that the Iraqi military would revive the F-16 contract. "We will make it 36 instead of 18."

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My Comment: The number one priority for any (and every) government is national security. If there is no national security, all the food aid programs in the world will not solve one's socio/economic ills and problems.

Iraq is in this situation today. The security situation is getting worse, and as a result investment, business growth, economic development, etc. .... this is now on the bottom of everyone's priority list. While providing food aid for the needy is noble, this will not solve Iraq's deep political/security/economic ills ... in fact .... it is just creating a dependency class that will only produce more resentment and anger in the future.

Update: Yes .... I know .... 36 jet fighters will not make a difference in Iraq's security situation. I am focusing on the bigger picture, of which having a functioning air force is just one minor but important detail.

Update: Iraq set to double planned purchase of F-16s, but will US troops stay into 2012? -- Christian Science Monitor

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Iraq Is Now More Dangerous Than A Year Ago

Photo: Iraq is a less safe place than one year ago, just months ahead of a US withdrawal a US watchdog warned. Big Pond News

U.S. Review Finds Iraq More Dangerous Than A Year Ago -- Washington Post

BAGHDAD — Increased attacks on U.S. troops, a continuing wave of assassinations targeting government officials and a growing number of indirect rocket strikes on Baghdad’s Green Zone are making the security situation in Iraq more dangerous than a year ago, according to a new government watchdog report issued Saturday.

“Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work,” U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr. wrote in his quarterly report to Congress and the Obama administration. “It is less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago.”

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More News On The Deteriorating Situation In Iraq

US review finds Iraq deadlier now than a year ago -- Yahoo News/AP
U.S. official: Iraq 'less safe' than it was last year -- CNN
U.S. review finds Iraq is deadlier now than it was a year ago -- Stars and Stripes
US watchdog warns Iraq less safe than a year ago, security slipping -- Herald Sun/AFP
Iraq less safe than a year ago -- Big Pond News

My Comment: These findings are confirming the concerns and worries that many have had on the early withdrawal of US troops, and the inability of Iraq's security forces to quell the violence. My prediction .... the US State Departments efforts to train Iraq's security forces will stumble, and the security situation in Iraq (by next year) will have worsened.

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American Allies In Iraq Are Being Replaced

Gen. Nomon Dakhil at a detention facility. He was a key partner in fighting the militias that have been largely responsible for driving American combat deaths to the highest level in three years. Joseph Sywenkyj for The New York Times

U.S. Loses Ally As Iraqi General Waits For Trial -- New York Times

BAGHDAD — When the commander of an elite Iraqi counterterrorist unit escaped arrest on a bribery charge earlier this year, a melee between his bodyguards and the police was captured on video and landed on YouTube. It was leaked, according to the commander and two people involved in the case, by American officials who believed he was innocent and wanted to discredit the Iraqi investigation by portraying it as a circus.

The commander’s fate is a uniquely Iraqi tale of intrigue involving charges of corruption and competing versions of reality, and it shows the tension between a United States now on the verge of withdrawal and an increasingly assertive Iraqi government.

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My Comment: The following paragraph sums up the direction that Iraq is now going ....

.... General Dakhil has been replaced by a new general, who is believed to have ties to the Mahdi Army, the now-disbanded Shiite militia controlled by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who is closely aligned with the Iranian regime that the United States military says is supporting attacks on American soldiers.

Our enemies in Iraq are now running the show.

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