Did you know that many Badr Brigade members are actually drawing pensions from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps? Good things our troops are fighting, dying, and killing to help them consolidate their control over Iraq.
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Weird Iraq Fact of the Day
04 Apr 2008 09:44 am
Comments (18)
Hmmm, isn't this the very same organization that Clinton so enthusiastically voted to label an "international terrorist organization"?
The amazing part is watching Matt say things like this, and then insist that Iran is not aiding and abetting the enemy in Iraq.
The inside of Matt's head must be a fascinating place.
The amazing part is watching Matt say things like this, and then insist that Iran is not aiding and abetting the enemy in Iraq.
But they're not "the enemy," you dumbshit, they're the people we've been aligned with in the fight against Sadr. That was the whole point of the post.
Everybody bitches about how expensive the war in Iraq is, and how we need more international involvement. So, a neighboring country puts up cash to fund arguably one of the most reliable elements of the Iraqi security forces, and everybody bitches about that?
There's just no pleasing you people.
Given what we've experienced in the past, it won't come as a surprise if one day the Republican propaganda machine suddenly insists that we must declare war on Badr as Iranian-backed fundamentalist terrorists. We'll have a good old-fashioned coup, and another 3 trillion pledged to the bloodbath.
Wow, James Robertson, in two short sentences, epitomized all of the stupidity on the right. That's almost amazing.
What a dumbass.
Given what we've experienced in the past, it won't come as a surprise if one day the Republican propaganda machine suddenly insists that we must declare war on Badr as Iranian-backed fundamentalist terrorists.
Recall that old Krauthammer column that Matt put up here a week or so back. In it, Krauthammer starts laying that groundwork. But that was before we figured out that Badr/ISCI were actually our best chance of staying in Iraq permanently.
Then, of course, the tune changed.
And James Robertson, that was one of the oddest comments I've ever read. What, exactly, are you trying to say?
Eric, you're confusing him with somebody who actually thinks.
Sadr's people oppose the Iraqi government, and they are backed by a different government - Iran.
By the most basic definitions available, that makes them "the enemy". There ought to be a refresher course available for Matt, and the people in this thread, who can't qite wrap their heads around that idea.
"Sadr's people oppose the Iraqi government, and they are backed by a different government - Iran."
Saying it in two different messages doesn't make it sound any more intelligent than it sounded the first time. It's still stupid. The Badr brigades are also supported by Iran and Maliki just took a bunch of those guys into the "Iraqi Armed Forces." In fact the Badr militia is more closely aligned with Iran than is the JAM.
I'm guessing that James Robertson doesn't know the difference between Moqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Brigades because Sadr and Badr look similar.
"Everybody bitches about how expensive the war in Iraq is, and how we need more international involvement. So, a neighboring country puts up cash to fund arguably one of the most reliable elements of the Iraqi security forces, and everybody bitches about that?
There's just no pleasing you people.
Posted by Robert Powell | April 4, 2008 2:13 PM"
We would be pleased a bit if the Bush administration would just fucking admit that us and Iran are backing the same side in Iraq instead of blaming all of our problems in Iraq on Iran. You know this, yet you still make this comment, which just shows how you always argue in bad faith and shouldn't be taken seriously.
I am not a supporter of, much less a spokesman for, the Bush Administration. I am, as a matter of fact, rather pleased to see that we are moving closer to recognizing some common interests with Iran.
I can't imagine how this has anything to do with "bad faith", except to the extent that some folks like to think in color-by-numbers terms.
Robert Powell, if you aren't arguing in bad faith, then you're an idiot. Which is it?
"I am not a supporter of, much less a spokesman for, the Bush Administration. I am, as a matter of fact, rather pleased to see that we are moving closer to recognizing some common interests with Iran."
Except that it is the Bush administration that is in charge of this war and has been trying to convince everyone that everything is all Iran's fault. You know that this is a sticking point for war opponents, yet you seem to believe in an imaginary world where you can just wish away the Bush administration's incompetence - and your culpability for the subsequent disaster for supporting their war - by saying "I don't support Bush." If you are going to back this war, you have to back how it has been fought and who is in charge of it. Otherwise, you are just backing a theoretical war out of a Harry Turtledove alternative history novel. At best, this makes you sound like Trotskyite dead-enders who blamed communism's failures all on Stalin, Lenin and Mao and thought communism was a perfect system that was just never successfully implemented.
Read this, folks.
British fear US commander is beating the drum for Iran strikes
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/05/wiran105.xml
Petraeus is going to argue - just as he did last time - that we have to attack Iran to "succeed" in Iraq.
This time, Bush and Cheney are going to play the "surge is working except for Iran" card and get their war. Cheney clearly has decided not to wait for Israel to start it.
Meanwhile, Powell is nothing more than a fucking liar. Everything he says is paid propaganda bullshit, and he deliberately lies about his belief system in order to skirt around taking responsibility for his bullshit.
The reality in Iraq right now is that Iran has apparently decided that the Badr group can't cut it. They would prefer to deal with Badr since they are more amenable to Iranian control. But Iran has seen that Sadr is the power broker in Iraq - and thus they have increased their support for him.
Read this article for a history of Sadr's relationship with Maliki and Iran:
Muqtada out of step in Shi'ite dance
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JD05Ak02.html
As I've said before, Iran will deal with whoever wins in Iraq - as long as it's not the Sunni.
Reality Man--
Actual reality is more complex than, shall we say, idiotic dichotomies. I've been anti-Saddam since GW Bush was ne'r do well baseball team owner in Texas. "This war" has been going on since 1991. However appealing to the simple-minded to think differently, it is, has been for a long time, and will continue to be for a long time yet, about a lot more than George Bush. EVERYONE is a "war opponent", whatever their particular "sticking point". So what? The question is, as it has been for going on two decades, "how do we bring the war to a reasonable conclusion?" The answer is certainly not going to be, "by demonizing domestic political opponents who have honest differences of opinion".
I don't frankly give a damn what the Bush Administration is allegedly trying to convince everyone of. There's a sucker born every minute. This kind of bullshit is just a distraction from the serious work of deciding what to do next. For my money, it's not going to be abandoning our interests, allies, and honor in a short-sighted attempt to deny the reality of our long term interests in Iraq and the Greater Persian Gulf.
More Powell crap.
He recites "long-term interests in the Persian Gulf" as if it were a Buddhist mantra. It's totally content-free propaganda - meaningless bullshit.
The only "long-term interests" the US has is in its military-industrial complex and its oil companies, and the investment banks who finance them. The corruption starts here, not in the Middle East.
Dump Israel, dump Egypt, dump Saudi Arabia, dump Jordan, dump the Gulf States. No foreign aid to anybody for any but humanitarian reasons. No military aid to ANYONE FOR ANY REASON. No selling weapons of ANY KIND to ANYONE. Force the military-industrial complex to either change its business focus or go out of fucking business. If the US military doesn't NEED it, don't make it.
Cue "the simple minded"! Right on time, Hack.
Pat Buchanan for World Leader!
Comments closed April 18, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
This isn't merely a weird fact, it should be huge (if unsurprising) news.
Our brave Senators have designated Iran's Guards as terrorists.
So what does that make Badr?
No one cares. Let's go back to talking about Obama's whacky reverend.
Posted by hankest | April 4, 2008 10:43 AM