Coalition issues Najaf ultimatum

[Junkdrawer]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Top coalition officials Monday issued an ultimatum to Iraqi insurgents in Najaf, warning them to immediately remove stockpiles of weapons from holy sites or face military action.

"Weapons are being stockpiled in mosques, shrines, and schools. This explosive situation cannot be tolerated by those who seek a peaceful resolution to this crisis," Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, said.

About 2,500 U.S. troops are poised outside the Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf, where an uprising led by anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began three weeks ago.

U.S. helicopter gunships attacked Mehdi Army positions in the Najaf area in an effort to contain those forces Monday, a Coalition Provisional Authority source in Baghdad said.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/26/iraq.main/index.html

Here we go....

[Dover]

1. This whole Najaf thing smells like a trap...

Just have a feeling something is not what it seems...

[leQ]

2. i agree, nothing is what it appears

in the bizarro world of bu$h

[0007]

3. I'm sure this demand will be dealt with rebelliousness

while both sides are looking for an edge. But Bremer's are a bit silly at this point.

[jimshoes]

4. Has the coalition actually seen

people stockpiling weapons in these mosques or is this just their justification for turning mosques into landfill? Either way it's not likely to end well for us or the Iraqi's.

[0007]

9. Who knows?

[Eye and Monkey]

14. I'm sure BushCo has convincing"photo-proof", as with th' non-existent WMDs

[bobthedrummer]

5. Fools.

Or worse.:grr:

[underpants]

6. Suuuuuuuuuuuure they are........

Just like the Iraqi Army wearing US uniforms...right?

[ewagner]

18. Maybe

Chalabi told them?

[Junkdrawer]

7. Here's Will Pitt's take on the consequences of a Najaf attack...

Falluja, Najaf and the First Law of Holes

[0007]

11. That is a good read by Will

[SOS]

8. Which way will the Badr Brigade

be shooting after this starts? They used to aim at Ba'athists.....

[Junkdrawer]

10. Question is: What will Shiites do when their "Holy of Holies" is invaded?

See Post #7...

[alcuno]

12. And this time we MEAN it!

I had to laugh when that Sadr character called a two day break last week. They're making us look weak and foolish. You've got the greatest military in the world threatening a guy who's calling a time-out for one of their innumerable religious holidays. We're in a hurry and they're not going anywhere. Ever.

[bemildred]

13. Not the greatest military in the world.

Sorry.
Vietnam beat them.
China beat them.
Iraq is beating them.
Most expensive, for sure.

[CharlieBakerAble]

15. Your statement begs the question...

Who has the greatest military in the world?

[bemildred]

16. An excellent question.

But evidence is lacking.
Really successful military actions are hard to come by these days.
To some degree it depends on how you measure, I suppose.
Perhaps it's the wrong question.

Perhaps we should ask if military force is an effective tool in
international relations any more. Can one still conquer anything
that is worth the trouble? Admittedly we managed to overthrow
Aristide in Haiti, but it's already clear that the effort in Iraq,
a county 1/10 the size. is going to be a debacle, and look at the
mess the Russians have in Chechnya, and it doesn't look like we're
going to be able to do anything about Chavez in Venezula. It's a
long list, and successes are few. Really, who can you conquer anymore?

On the other hand, at least it is equally ridiculous to think that
anyone could conquer us either.

Edit: by the way, it doesn't beg the question, it raises it.

[mulethree]

19. maybe switzerland?

they seem to have all they could ask for. Is it their military supremacy?

[bemildred]

20. Certainly a worthy candidate.

Maybe the best in the sense of protecting the "homeland".
One might consider the Koreas, too, Taiwan.
One can think of a number of larger countries one would
not want to pick a fight with, China, India, but its really
hard to evaluate in the absence of a real conflict.
Certainly the Russians are not to be fucked with, but I
can't say I think the level of professionalism there is
very high now. For what it's worth, I have a good deal of
respect for the professionalism of the US military, it's
just the Pentagon and the civilian leadership that are bozos,
and the "defense industry" is totally corrupt.

[daleo]

17. Perhaps we need another world war, full scale nuclear

This would be the only way to really answer your question, as it requires a fundamentally Darwinian proof. Whichever country has the most mutants left standing at the end could declare themselves to be in possession of the best military in the world. Then, to the victor go the spoils. Hoo-ah, or whatever.

[PurityOfEssence]

21. By "innumerable" do you suggest "insignificant" or "obfuscatory"?

Is this some kind of "sub-par" religion? If this particular guess-cult has too many excuse days, are they all to be disregarded? They've probably got an excess of shrines too, so we can level a few here and there and they won't much notice, I suppose...

If you dust off some history, you'll find that quantity ALWAYS beats quality, after it's reached a certain threshold; ask any Me-262 pilot. 2500 riflemen sounds a tad skimpy for going into a city.

Just some thoughts.

[The_Casual_Observer]

22. Doubt that they will do anything

It is becoming obvious to everyone that we are simply fighting the common man in Iraq, not "insurgents" or "Thugs". The whole thing has lost its resolve.

[ze_dscherman]

23. This translates to:

We've lost that "window of opportunity" that might have given us the chance to be seen as liberators long ago. We've lost it, because we did not come to liberate, but to occupy. Now we may behave like the occupators we are.

We're not seeking a peaceful resolution that would allow al-Sadr to stay a political leader. We'll go for Najaf. We'll level mosques, shrines and schools.