Comments on: Battle in Najaf

By: Stu

Stu — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 20:14:35 +0000

Jim--spot on. The "name-calling-to-analysis" complaint seems rather odd coming from someone whose analysis is mainly just the Dolchstosslegende with a couple modern-day tweaks.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:32:04 +0000

JH
The key word is just. Look at how much of your post is about insults and name calling compare to mine. Insults are almost unavoidable and are needed at times depending on how they are done.

It is pretty telling when the left and MSM can’t even bring themselves to cheer for the US. Then they wonder how people can say they are not for the US. Just because you are an American don’t make you a good American. We have communist and skinheads who are American but that doesn’t mean we should embrace their philosophy.

By: Jim Henley

Jim Henley — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:18:48 +0000

Wayne, you can kid yourself but you can't kid the rest of us. When deadenders run around saying that "the left" can "just call names and throw insults" AFTER having written that "The MSM and Democrats" are responsible for sapping our precious will - an insult, indeed a calumny - the rest of the country just laughs. I don't care who you cheer for. Your cheers are immaterial. They contribute nothing. You. Contribute. Nothing. All you are good for is slandering other Americans. Yours is the sort of behavior that Teddy Roosevelt in 1918 called "morally treasonous and servile."

By: Political Animal

Political Animal — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 06:57:40 +0000

The Battle for Najaf...

THE BATTLE FOR NAJAF....The New York Times reports on the recent battle between Iraqi government forces and the previously obscure "Soldiers of Heaven" that took place in Najaf over the weekend:Iraqi forces were surprised and nearly overwhelmed by th...

By: Wayne

Wayne — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:47:17 +0000

JH
Your bias is as obvious as the sun coming up. You claim we already lost the war. I suspect you had the same “feeling” when we had the “quagmire”, “bog down” MSM situation during the 2nd week during the re supply operations shown in the news.

I have throughout many of my post been critical of what I have seen as incompetence in our terrorist war efforts. Including having too restrictive ROE for the military and Intel gathering. Unlike most on the left, I don’t just complain all the time that the other side isn’t doing anything right but I also give alternatives on how to accomplish our overall goal. I also have given criteria to determine if the situation is getting worst or better. Unlike the left who will complain not matter what happens.

I suppose I can do like most on the left and just call names and throw insults but that is not very productive. I am at least cheering for the US to win unlike many on the left.

By: Jim Henley

Jim Henley — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:37:51 +0000

Since we still don't quite know who the combatants are on at least one side of the battle, it's too soon to draw conclusions from it. I've seen reports quote Iraqi officials blaming two to three different Shiite clerics for leading this particular group of "insurgents" - al-Hasani al-Baghdadi and al-Hassan al-Basri plus possibly one other - and eyewitness reports incompatibly adduce everything from headbands to "African robes." BTW, Wayne, it was actually people like you that lost the war: mainly by starting it in the first place, but also by determinedly cheering incompetents at every turn while smearing those Americans who saw the situation more clearly than you and your idiot heroes. You should be ashamed. You have provided objective aid and comfort to the enemy by helping the country to fail so spectacularly.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:24:19 +0000

Spencer: I'm not rationalizing, just trying to figure out the appropriate analytic lens. From the standpoint of the traditional guerrilla model, this is an indication that the insurgency thinks it's winning. From the standpoint of the tactical situation on the ground, though, it strikes me as potentially snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. They seem to be winning, if the public opinion polls and actions of politicians in the US are any indication, so going into the crosshairs sure seems like a bad move.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:10:17 +0000

That is another explanation, Wayne. I haven't seen reports to that effect.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:09:37 +0000

My last sentence was cut off. It should have been.

The MSM and Democrats are the ones most responsible for that.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:06:05 +0000

It appears that the insurgents were hit at their G-base. Which from a guerilla’s point of view is not a good thing. The large scale battles argument that the insurgency is gaining steam doesn’t hold up. For one thing, it wasn’t the insurgents that initiated the battle. Even if they do in the near future, there is a question if they can sustain it. If the insurgents start and sustain larger battles then I would agree that they are going to the next stage.

I suspect this case is the finding of a G-base or a change in ROE that the Coalition can now engage some of the radical militia within Iraq. The ROE have been way to restrictive so far.

I would have to disagree that the insurgents are the main factor behind the Coalition losing their will to fight. The MSM and Democrats

By: spencer

spencer — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:53:20 +0000

Joyner seems to be displaying a great job of rationalization. If we are losing the insurgency so badly that they become powerful enough to fight conventional set piece battles we must be winning because our army can fight set piece battles very well. Next he will convince us that black is white.

By: The Political Pit Bull

The Political Pit Bull — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:09:44 +0000

What Happened in Najaf Over the Weekend?...

As you might have already heard, a fierce battle took place yesterday between Iraqi soldiers backed by US helicopters and a group of insurgents just outside of the Shiite holy city of Najaf. In all, the battle claimed the lives......

By: The Heretik : The Great Victory

The Heretik : The Great Victory — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:26:52 +0000

[...] The Great Victory is at hand. No sooner has George Bush declared again that we will win, then it happens. A clash of armies? Or of civilizations. America is “clearing the earth of the depraved.” Or at least 250 militants, dead. Has the Army of Heaven gone to hell? The view is some what cloudy. Looks like it was a Shia thing. Here we are in the midst of Us vs Them vs Them again. More Great Victories soon. [...]

By: Jim Henley

Jim Henley — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:21:03 +0000

We have as yet no reason to believe there was an anti-Ashura plot, any more than David Koresh was planning to actually start machinegunning his neighbors. All we have are claims by the Najaf police and governorate, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Badr Corps, that they had detected a plot.

Very, very little about the reporting on this incident makes sense yet.

By: DC Loser

DC Loser — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:57:59 +0000

The Mahdi Army learned their lesson in 2004 when they last decided to go toe to toe against the US Army. They'll just melt away and bid their time this time around.