Monday, March 13, 2006
How disappointing: Civil war averted yet again
Scorched pavement, destroyed shops, burned out cars and four men shot in the head then hanged from electricity pylons — victims of revenge killings — awaited Shiite residents emerging from their homes Monday in Baghdad's Sadr City slum.
The scene, although gruesome, was not what many had feared: That deadly explosions the previous night in Sadr City would ignite all-out civil war, pitting majority Shiites against minority Sunnis.
One might just as easily have written,
The scene, although gruesome, was what many had hoped: That Iraqis would resist the constant pressure from al Qaeda and its allies to take up arms against each other in retaliation, pitting majority Shiites against minority Sunnis.
Just as true, but doesn't it feel quite different written my way?
Maybe some day I will go to journalism school and learn why reporters write things the way they do.
3 Comments:
By 
Gordon Smith, at
Mon Mar 13, 07:56:00 PM:
To paraphrase George W. Bush, "It's a different kind of civil war."
Not a fan of Joe Biden, I did like this roughly remembered quote I heard over the weekend, "Even if you took all the Al Qaeda out of Iraq, you've still got a gigantic insurgency."
But, hey, if it's not Grant v. Lee, then we're makin' good progress!
By Papa Ray, at
Mon Mar 13, 09:51:00 PM:
Here is someone that wants civil war.
Sadr condemns Rumsfeld, turn against his Sunni allies and threaten to kill Shiite women in the UIA.
Why, would someone please tell me, is he not dead and buried?
Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
By Dawnfire82, at
Tue Mar 14, 08:26:00 PM:
He's already been beaten down and humiliated by the US twice. Killing him would make him a high-profile, inspirational martyr; all his little peons who are currently doing what he says are 1) part of a coherent organization and therefore subject to infiltration, manipulation, identification, and possible control and 2) not going nuts on an individual level. 5 Killing him would reverse this. "Death Squads" loyal to Sadr are one thing... 5000 "Death Commandos" loyal to Sadr's memory are another. Better to let his raving isolate him amongst his peers. When the rest of the Shi'i disown him for being a nut case, it will be more effective with less headache and bloodshed.
