Iraq: U.S. Troop and Mercenary Escalations

[crackerjack]

Is this the default rolling Iraq thread?

Dunno. It is the mercenaries thread tho.

What does everyone think about the SOFA? 18 months left... happy, cynical, indifferent -- what?

Holding judgement til I see how it pans out. Then claiming I knew it all along*.

you?

*OK then. My guess is that the surge has worked as well as it could, and staying any longer is inviting trouble.

 

[vimothy]

They've just had elections as well, right? And the secularists are in? Finding it hard to keep track of anything at the moment.

 

[crackerjack]

They've just had elections as well, right? And the secularists are in? Finding it hard to keep track of anything at the moment.

They did? Christ, there's nothing like national bankruptcy to make you forget about abroad.

 

[scottdisco]

re the SOFA i'm not entirely dissatisfied because in the end the US had to make some concessions from their start point but it was not as good for Iraqi sovereignty as it could have been, so i was pissed with it. (it is better than the US deserved, and of a piece with the Bush administration's lamentable stonewalling on international courts etc. part of me wonders if a more multilateral minded administration had already been in charge if we would have seen more welcome concessions from the States. of course a more multilateral administration would probably not have administered the surge.)

re the imminent provincial elections one piece is this from the LAT.

"Comrade, come in," the man said, ushering a visitor into the lobby of Iraqi Communist Party headquarters.

there is scheduled to be a general election toward the end of the year. the polls opened early for members of the armed services, prisoners and hospital patients.

the main vote is this Saturday.

 

[vimothy]

national bankruptcy

I haven't been following that, either. There's just too much going on. Maybe it's because we're only three years from the singularity/Mayan endpoint/DMT party in 2012.

 

[crackerjack]

there is scheduled to be a general election toward the end of the year. the polls opened early for members of the armed services, prisoners and hospital patients.

the main vote is this Saturday.

(my bolds)

sorry, but can you clarify what looks like a contradiction

 

[vimothy]

I believe this explains it:

re the imminent provincial elections

 

[crackerjack]

I believe this explains it:

oh right, ta

 

[vimothy]

Hopefully Reidar Visser is going to drop some knowledge re the elections and Basra/the south v soon.

 

[scottdisco]

yeah cheers Vim and sorry Crackerjack: people in those categories voted early in these provincial elections (where 14 out of 18 provinces are taking part in the vote) yesterday, but the bulk of the electorate get to cast their vote in these provincial elections come the weekend, aye yes

 

[vimothy]

Here he is:
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero013009.html

 

[craner]

Great speech.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Great speech.

I like the one by Ann Clwyd on columns 264-5.

 

[vimothy]

Results are in: Maliki wins, Allawi does good, as do the secularists generally. SoI types and the Sadrists do ok. ISCI/Iran, not good at all.

 

[craner]

Where's Chalabi?

 

[craner]

What is he up to? (Said in Colonel John T. Hall-style manner.)

 

[vimothy]

Not sure mate. Still looking for good info, when I'm not pretending to work or actually working.

 

[crackerjack]

Where's Chalabi?

Counting out his followers. If he's got enough, he's gonna ask them to wave palms while he rides into Baghdad on a donkey.

 

[vimothy]

Not a bad outcome at first glance though, eh?

 

[crackerjack]

Not a bad outcome at first glance though, eh?

For Iraq, you mean? Yes, excellent. Move from religious sectarianism to secularism can only be a good thing (no matter what Blair says).