Well, let’s just say it’s not a good day to be associated with the Barzini family.
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August 25, 2005
WB: Settling All Family Business (+)
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Not to correct Chris who’s doing yeoman’s work trying to report from Baghdad, and if anyone finds out the reason why hostilities erupted I’ll be amazed (I’m at work on that one though), however a little clarfication on the Da’wa, SCIRI, Badr conflation — they seem a bit muddled in your post.
Da’wa is a Shiite political party that has splintered over the last thirty years into several factions, the largest of which is led by Ja’ffari.
SCIRI (The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq) is an umbrella grouping formed in Tehran in the early 1980s of Iraqis opposed to Saddam and supported by Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war. It was made up of many of the factions of Da’wa and several other parties.
Badr, was the Badr Brigade, initially the paramilitary arm of SCIRI trained by the Revolutionary Guards in Iran (including their own heavey weapons) and amounted to (reports vary) between 5,00 and 10,000 men depending on the period (1982-2002) we are discussing — obviously a lot more rotate(d) through and have been trained etc.).
Following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Badr Brigade moved across the border and began to take up positions throughout southern Iraq — I believe they started in Kut and moved on to Basra and Najaf in due course. Through negotiations and coercion they “gave up” their heavy weapons (ya) and became a militia. Shortly thereafter they “broke” with SCIRI and ended up running as a political party in last January’s elections — on the same list as SCIRI, Sadr, Chalabi etc. — put together by Sistani.
The relationship between the various Shiite groupings is not always clear, but make no mistake about it, the true split is not between secular-religious, or ethnicity (Arab-Persian), as much as it is between those who portray themselves as ‘true’ Iraqis (Sadr) and those who (whatever they protest) are seen by many Iraqis as agents of Iran.
Hope that helps.
Posted by: John in Victoria | Aug 25 2005 6:03 utc | 1
from the BBC:
“The outstanding issues:
* federalism, and the way to form [federal] regions
…
* structuring of authority between the presidency, parliament and the government.”
C’mon. I thought these bozos invented civilization. A hundred years living in the fantasy world of a British lesbian scholar (not intended as a tautology) and these clowns can’t figure out simple stuff like this!
They don’t need American troops; they need Karl Rove. He knows this stuff backwards.
Posted by: arbogast | Aug 25 2005 11:02 utc | 2
Almost makes you completely forget the moment Bush conceded Taiwan to China. Democracy on the march (to other places in the world)..
Posted by: dab | Aug 25 2005 15:00 utc | 3
Shit Happens
The best title ever for the Iraq debacle.
President Bush will never withdraw from Iraq. The War on Terror is in God’s hands. The USA has no need for a strategic plan for imposing peace in Iraq. No need for taxes to pay for the war. No need for a draft to get 500,000 to a million troops. No need to ethnically cleanse the Sunni and build concentration camps to house millions. No need for the radical measurers used successfully by the British to win the Boer War and Malayan Emergency.
Trusting in God, the USA is guaranteed defeat. The US withdrawal will either be forced or, if God smiles, negotiated.
Posted by: Jim S | Aug 25 2005 16:01 utc | 4
No constitution today, no constitution tomorrow, ….
Iraq cancels parliament session on charter
Iraq indefinitely delayed a crucial parliament session that was to approve the country’s draft constitution, saying certain issues still oustanding.
“The parliament session has been postponed without setting a new date… until meetings are finished and (leaders) reach an agreement on pending issues,” an official with the national assembly’s media department told AFP on Thursday.
“As the draft constitution has already been submitted to the national assembly, there is no legal problem (in delaying) as far as the interim law is concerned.”
The problem could be, that the “submitted” draft is a draft with lots of blank pages and lots of very wide open questions. All of these essential.
But there is no constitutional court, even though there should be one by now, and therefore nobody will be able to pursue any legal way her.
The constitutional question will be fought out in the streets I’m afraid.