US's June 30 Pull Out

[JAD_333]

What is noteworthy from the article above is the following:

The statements all commanded Iraqis to continue fighting the American military until it had left the country completely; nearly 130,000 troops remain. The statements also insisted, in unusually clear language, that Iraqis not turn their violence on one another.

This appears to be a noteworthy change for the former Hussein ally, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who was deputy chairman of Mr. Hussein’s Revolutionary Command Council and who American officials say has been financing and organizing Baathist insurgents.

We “have decided in this blessed day to direct all combat effort towards the invaders,” Mr. Douri’s statement said, “and forbid absolutely the killing of Iraqis or fighting them in all the formations and organs of the agent’s authority — in the so-called army, police, Awakening and the administration agencies — except for what is required in self-defense, if some spies in these agencies try to stop the resistance or harm them.”

In a way this a victory for the US because it gives hope that Iraqis by and large are prepared to accept the existing government. It's not a good omen for US troops based outside the cities who may begin to experience sustained mortar attacks and whatnot. If we marched to the airport unarmed and left in a purple spaceship, the insurgents would claim they chased us out. Would the average Iraqi buy that? Probably not.

[chakos]

In a way this a victory for the US because it gives hope that Iraqis by and large are prepared to accept the existing government. It's not a good omen for US troops based outside the cities who may begin to experience sustained mortar attacks and whatnot. If we marched to the airport unarmed and left in a purple spaceship, the insurgents would claim they chased us out. Would the average Iraqi buy that? Probably not.

Maybe the urban elites wouldn't buy that but the poor probably will. If the Americans are there one day and gone the next and the replacement is not a strong Iraqi Government force then they would obviously believe that the US was chased out. Especially when thats the news they are getting from their friendly neighbourhood militia.

Dont forget that a lot of the Muslim world places very little emphasis on our "Kufr" media, choosing rather to believe their own groups even if the information is a little on the skewed side so it will be hard to convince them that it truly is an American victory (something i myself have trouble accepting 100%).

[Bluesman]

People used to ask what 'victory in Iraq' would look like. Well, THIS is a huge part of it.

Ah, but you'll never hear the anti-war types admit that they were wrong.

[TopHatter]

People used to ask what 'victory in Iraq' would look like. Well, THIS is a huge part of it.

Ah, but you'll never hear the anti-war types admit that they were wrong.

At the moment we're not hearing the anti-war types say a damn thing...guess they're too busy mourning Michael Jackson at some "vigil" or other.

[JAD_333]

Maybe the urban elites wouldn't buy that but the poor probably will. If the Americans are there one day and gone the next and the replacement is not a strong Iraqi Government force then they would obviously believe that the US was chased out. Especially when thats the news they are getting from their friendly neighbourhood militia.

I was speaking of the "average" Iraqi, not the poor. No doubt all self-respecting Iraqis will be happy when they are once again in control of their own country. That's natural to any patriot. In the long run history will show that the US mission of regime change succeeded.

Dont forget that a lot of the Muslim world places very little emphasis on our "Kufr" media, choosing rather to believe their own groups even if the information is a little on the skewed side so it will be hard to convince them that it truly is an American victory (something i myself have trouble accepting 100%).

The mission defines the victory. Apart from all the strategic reasons, the WMD pretext, the early occupation mistakes, and tactical mistakes the US went into Iraq to effect regime change and install an elected government. Mission accomplished.

But the less than 100% has to do with calculations that hostile countries in the region would moderate their behavior with US forces on their doorstep. Iran and Syria would be cowed into ending their support of Islamic militant groups, Iran would become more willing to negotiate an end to its nuclear programs, and so on. It didn't happen as envisioned.

[Bluesman]

Not all of it (although it COULD have, if the country hadn't been pulled apart and its unity all but destroyed by a feckless and mendacious power-seeking political party whose anti-Americanism is but barely disguised).

But a great deal of good came from it in the end. Our strategic position is very much enhanced from the status quo ante.

[JAD_333]

Not all of it (although it COULD have, if the country hadn't been pulled apart and its unity all but destroyed by a feckless and mendacious power-seeking political party whose anti-Americanism is but barely disguised).

Their antics made it come later rather than sooner which raised the cost. But they got what they were really after, the presidency. Whether they got it on account of their actions or in spite of it remains to be seen.

But a great deal of good came from it in the end. Our strategic position is very much enhanced from the status quo ante.

I tend to agree with you. I don't know if you're thinking, among other things, of the recently unthinkable fact that the Pak army has moved up to the border with Helmand Province to close off Taliban escape routes.

I'd be interested in what you mean by "very much enhanced."

[astralis]

in my view, it's not very enhanced right now-- but IF things go well, it will be in two-three years' time. a stabilized iraq or afghanistan, while not exactly the best of allies, will at a minimum allow us to free up a good deal of combat power, which means a better deterrent against iranian games.

[Merlin]

As we know, the US troops pull out is only from towns and cities. This tape below is reported to be by Baghdadi who has been reported by Iraq to be captured.

Iraq group calls for further attacks on US troops

BAGHDAD, July 8 (Reuters) - An insurgent group linked to al-Qaeda of Iraq urged militants to continue attacks against U.S. forces even after combat troops were pulled from city centres, according to an audiotape released on Wednesday.

"Even if the Americans remain nowhere but a small spot in the Iraqi desert ... so every Muslim should battle them until they are expelled," the voice, reported to be Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, head of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq, said in the recording posted on a website used by jihadists.

The Iraqi government heralded the capture this spring of a man they identified as Baghdadi, just as an uptick in major attacks raised troubling questions about whether Iraq would be able to maintain a sharp decline in the violence unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

It was not the first time Iraqi officials had announced the capture of someone identified as Baghdadi, and the Sunni Arab insurgent group has since denied his arrest.

The Islamic State of Iraq is believed to be affiliated with al Qaeda's main organisation in Iraq, led by Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.

The tape comes a week after the United States pulled combat troops from bases within Iraqi cities and towns, part of a plan to halt combat operations in August 2010 and withdraw all American forces by the end of 2011.

But militant attacks continue, especially in Baghdad and parts of northern Iraq, underscoring doubts about whether local forces will be able to impose order on their own.

The speaker called on Sunni Arab militiamen, who helped drive al Qaeda out of most of Iraq after they began collaborating with American forces in 2006, to rejoin the insurgency and battle Iraq's Shi'ite-led government. ....

[Shey Tapani]

What about Blackwater?

Are they pulling out too?

[Merlin]

Blackwater? I think they are not there anymore. But I'm not sure.

Iraq is looking for black gold.

[Merlin]

This is the worst day since June 30.

Worst violence since US pullback hits Iraq

10 hrs ago BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombs killed nearly 60 people in Iraq on Thursday in the worst violence since U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas last week, ...

The carnage within Iraqi borders Thursday was a sign that insurgents remain intent on destabilizing Iraq as the United States shifts its focus to the war in Afghanistan. Attacks are down sharply from past years of war and militants have been driven from many strongholds, but they routinely inflict casualties in Baghdad and northern Iraq, a cauldron of ethnic and sectarian tension. ...

The day's violence began at 6:30 a.m., when a suicide bomber in a police uniform and carrying a radio and a pistol knocked on the door of an investigator in the anti-terrorism police force in Tal Afar. When the officer opened the door, the bomber detonated his explosive belt, killing the officer, his wife and son, said Maj. Gen. Khalid al-Hamadani, police chief of the northern Ninevah province.

As people gathered in the aftermath, another suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt, al-Hamadani said. The coordinated attack killed a total of 38 people and injured 66. Army Brig. Abdul-Rahman Abu Raghef said the first suicide bomber was a local resident who had been jailed for one year on suspicion of terrorism, but was released in an amnesty in June. .....

[Shey Tapani]

Blackwater? I think they are not there anymore. But I'm not sure.

Iraq is looking for black gold.

They rebranded themselves as Xee.

Could you confirm that?

I havent seen anything in the news what stated that.

[Merlin]

They rebranded themselves as Xee.

Could you confirm that?

Wikipedia says their new name is Xe. Blackwater Worldwide

I havent seen anything in the news what stated that.

From a 'Google News' search, it says they've been kicked out of Iraq but are doing good business in Afghahistan.

Business is Good for Blackwater in Afghanistan

[Shey Tapani]

Owrite then, i remembered correctly.