Originally Posted By: Wonder Boy


So I guess it comes down to, for me, what Obama proposes is calm, rational, and vaguely assuring, but I just don't have confidence in the few details I've heard from him. Beginning withdrawal from Iraq while things are just beginning to stabilize doesn't sound as rational to me as McCain's commitment to stay as long as we are needed.



Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) launched a major combat operation in the southern city of Basra today against the Mahdi Army — which is led by anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr – and other Shiite militias.

Violence also erupted in three other Iraqi cities, including Baghdad where “arrages of mortars and rockets pounded the fortified Green Zone area for the second time in three days” and rival Shiite militias exchanged gunfire in Sadr City, a Mahdi Army stronghold.


 Quote:
[b]Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite militiamen Tuesday in the southern oil port of Basra and gunmen patrolled several Baghdad neighborhoods as followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered a nationwide civil disobedience campaign to demand an end to the crackdown on their movement.

Explosions rang out across central Baghdad as rockets or mortars fired from Shiite areas targeted the U.S.-protected Green Zone for the second time this week.

The violence was part of an escalation in the confrontation between the Shiite-run government and al-Sadr’s followers — a move that threatens the security gains achieved by U.S. and Iraqi forces. At least 22 people were killed in the Basra fighting


according to reports, the current wave of violence is endangering a recently renewed ceasefire al-Sadr declared last August – which has been widely credited with helping to reduce violence throughout Iraq. Yesterday, al-Sadr called for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign “in response to what his followers say is an unwarranted crackdown” by the Iraqi government. Yet one Iraqi Member of Parliament and al-Sadr supporter said if the ISF “keep targeting us like this, we’ll know how to respond.”

There is no silver lining in the increased violence. Last week, Gen. David Petraeus said the military “progress in Iraq is fragile” and “tenuous. As it's been ever since "Mission Accomplished" and frankly, American's are against this war precisely because we've had 5 years of rosy pictures painted and promises not delivered and wait 6 more months and see. Year after year after year. Enough!