I have a shirt that I had created when I was in Iraq and the following comment was made by Harry Reid:
“I believe … that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week.”
The shirt says “I’m a ‘loser’…” on the front and “…according to Harry Reid” on the back. After all, as a Soldier fighting a “lost war” doesn’t that make me the loser? Doesn’t that make the enemy the winner? One would think so, but thankfully we on the ground knew better. And now, Muqtada Al Sadr himself is basically admitting defeat.
After a blistering defeat last year and fleeing to Iran for his own safety (Iran, huh?), the Mahdi Army leader and influential Shiite leader is changing his tactics. The fact is that the surge DID work and Mr. Reid, himself, is an ignorant leader playing partisan politics with the lives of American troops. There is no doubt that Mr. Reid’s comments strengthened the resolve of the enemy to continue fighting and only General Petraeus’ and President Bush’s “surge” strategy were able to overcome that.
Al Sadr, realizing he’s quickly becoming marginalized as an influence over Shia Iraqis, has ordered his Mahdi Army to drop their arms and focus on rebuilding, education, and other social programs.
However, Al Sadr has stated that he will maintain a “resistance group” that will exclusively have the authority within his group to maintain arms and continue to resistance American forces if a timetable is not established. What does this mean? It means we still need to find and neutralize Mooki (can I call him Mooki?) Al Sadr if we truly want peace in Iraq.
The fighting cells will be “small and limited” and will only launch attacks under direct orders from al-Sadr in case of “dire necessity,” the cleric’s spokesman Sheik Salah al-Obeidi told The Associated Press in the holy city of Najaf.
What that tells me is that if the Mahdi Army is known to launch an attack against the United States, we have every right to kill their leader. And I would argue we have the right to kill him wherever he is being harbored.
