Dr. IRak comments on an LATImes piece
".....This is important stuff. If the U.S. military was only fighting isolated special groups, the risks of things spiralling out of control and the Sadr truce completely breaking down would be less. But the way things stand now, regular JAM is very much engaged. They feel under siege and are fighting back with everything they have--and taking help from whoever is willing to provide it, including the Iranians. Given the importance of the August 2007 Sadr ceasefire to security progress during the surge period, this is a very dangerous moment in Iraq."
1 comment:
Loads of implications here.
First, everyone can see what happens to a faction that disagrees with U.S. preferences but declares a truce and engages in the political process. That is a dangerous precedent for the U.S., assuming that the U.S. goal is stability.
Second, I could make a very long list of state and non-state actors that might be inclined to provide arms to a group willing to distract, pin down, and bleed the U.S.
In short, the long-range implications of this battle may well turn out to be vastly more important than who ends up controlling the rapidly disintegrating city of Baghdad.
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