Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Funny That
From Slate:
In its inside pages, the NYT reports that, as opposed to other Iraqi politicians, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was relieved after Baker briefed him on the commission's findings.
I said down below that Bush would stay the course unless events on the ground overtake him. This statement is reflective of the possiblity that al-Maliki is afraid of events taking over as well.

The other major audience for the much awaited Iraq Study Group report was the various insurgencies. Once they see that the U.S. is going to basically "stay the course", look for conflict to increase dramatically and for al-Maliki to be in serious danger.

The fall of the Iraq government would not be a surprise, nor would the swamping of the American military. The U.S. has already abandoned one major area ... Anbar ... and retreated back to Baghdad. As an aside, the comment that the U.S. military has not "lost a single battle in Iraq" is false and Anbar is the proof.

But I digress.

Remember this. Moqtada al-Sadr's militia, by itself, is likely double the size of the U.S. military in Iraq. A further pullback to a defensable position may be the next step ......
As if to underscore the urgency outlined by the ISG, everyone notes 10 U.S. servicemen, and at least 84 Iraqis (according to the LAT), were killed on the day the report was released.
Written at 9:26 AM by Greyhair.
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