COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, June 27, 2016

Despite the idiocy of weapons that the CIA sent to Jordan and Saudi Arabia for Syrian rebels being stolen and sold to dealers on the black market and ending with ISIS, Fallujah Falls:

The Slow Death of ISIL and the Future of Iraq

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – –
As Shakir Jawdat, Chief of the Iraqi Federal Police, announced the complete liberation of the last, northern neighborhoods of Fallujah from Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi came to the city on Sunday to plant the Iraqi flag right downtown.

al-Abadi, the commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces, called on all Iraqis to issue from their homes into the streets and to celebrate the liberation of Fallujah.

In televised remarks, al-Abadi said on arriving in the city, “This victory in Fallujah is a source of joy to all Iraqis despite the challenges that the city witnessed,” referring to “the large number of Daesh fighters who were killed by these heroes from the army, the police, the popular mobilization units, and the tribal levies, who fought the war of the brave.”

The popular mobilization units are the Shiite militias, deadly foes of the hyper-Sunni, Shiite-killing Daesh. The tribal levies are clans of the Dulaym in al-Anbar Province who opposed Daesh just as many of them had opposed al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the predecessor of Daesh that was organized to fight the US military occupation of the country. Tribes are kinship units in rural Iraq, and while they are religiously conservative they typically are not fundamentalists, and they dislike Daesh for condemning their Muslim traditionalism in favor of a hyper-fundamentalism.

That al-Abadi and his American allies were able to have Shiite militias and Sunni al-Anbar tribesmen fight on the same side was a substantial victory of its own sort.

He called for celebrations in each of Iraq’s provinces Sunday.

Likewise, the head of the provincial governing council for al-Anbar, chaired by Sabah Karhut al-Halbusi, congratulated the heroes of the army and police for their defeat of the terrorist Daesh organization. He warned, however, that there were cases after liberation of arson, and called on al-Abadi to discipline the persons responsible.

Karhut appears to believe that members of Shiite militias from the south were engaging in reprisals via this arson.  He has been deeply critical of the Shiite militias the past.

Karhut’s implicit note of dissent from al-Abadi’s optimistic celebration should be a warning to us all. Despite Sunni involvement in liberating Fallujah, it was the Shiite troops of the military counter-terroism unit that spearheaded the campaign, and the regular army is in such disarray that Shiite militias such as the Iran-tied Badr Corps were absolutely key to retaking Fallujah
But there are hardly any Shiites in Fallujah, so this was an invasion from the Shiite south. If Iraq can’t find a way to get the Iraqi Sunnis to be in the same party with Shiite Iraqis, this sort of unrest could easily recur.

In the end, Daesh and other al-Qaeda affiliates in Iraq and Syria can only truly be defeated by inclusive, non-sectarian government. But al-Abadi is the head of a Shiite religious party that no Sunni believes includes them. That has to change if Iraq is to survive.
——
Related video added by Juan Cole

17 comments:

  1. What no comments from Jack about the USA supporting ISIS?

    The hypocrisy is riveting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "In the end, Daesh and other al-Qaeda affiliates in Iraq and Syria can only truly be defeated by inclusive, non-sectarian government. But al-Abadi is the head of a Shiite religious party that no Sunni believes includes them. That has to change if Iraq is to survive."
    ===
    Funny, General Garner's plans were based on the Iraqi Army being the most inclusive organization in Iraq.

    Didn't give that hypothesis much of a test...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jordanian intelligence agents stole so many arms and sold them at such increasingly low prices to arms dealers that the country’s black market is awash in high-powered weaponry. Any militant group in or outside of Jordan, opposed to the Hashemite Kingdom can lock and load on a budget.

    Give the CIA a well earned OOrah!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We really have put together an awesome team over the past 15 years in Arabia. Out - Fucking standing

      Delete
    2. Hillary owns Syria and Libya.

      Delete
    3. Maybe the ultimate aim was like Fast and Furious:

      Gun Control in the ME.

      Delete
  4. "MEP says English will no longer be EU official language..."

    Double Down: Arabic and Urdu.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Last of The Blue Eyes:

    http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/BMWX2sdQjSL4XNKtt2fHVw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3NfbGVnbztmaT1maWxsO2g9Mzc3O2lsPXBsYW5lO3B4b2ZmPTUwO3B5b2ZmPTA7cT03NTt3PTY3MA--/http://globalfinance.zenfs.com/images/SG_AHTTP_OLINTECH_Wrapper_NewFeed_1/2016-06-21T202901Z_1_LYNXNPEC5K1PO_RTROPTP_3_GERMANY-POLITICS_original.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Rush on Channel tunnel as migrants fear 'Berlin-style Wall'..."

    Who coulda seen that coming?

    ReplyDelete
  7. This should go on you Reagan Memorabilia Page:

    http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2016/02/14/us/14scalia-liveblog-kennedy/14scalia-liveblog-kennedy-tmagArticle.jpg

    (Kennedy)

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Iraqis have had a good run the last couple of months - Ramadi, Hit, Rutba, Al Karma, and now, Fallujah.

    It'll probably take them two, or three, months to take Mosul, and there will still be several thousand of the head-cutting pricks running around even after that, but the worm does appear to be turning.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Elites are not the problem,

    the population is at the moment the problem.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hX6LPqOFf8

    ReplyDelete
  10. Where is Omar Mateen's Wife?

    https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=where%20is%20omar%20mateen%27s%20wife

    Attorney General Loretta Lynch admitted today that the FBI is unaware of the whereabouts of Omar Mateen's wife, Noor Salman.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The "3 million signatures for 'unbrexit' " meme is FAKE.

    http://townhall.com/tipsheet/andrewalker/2016/06/26/petition-for-second-referendum-exposed-as-fake-n2183567

    ReplyDelete
  12. http://a.disquscdn.com/get?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.godlikeproductions.com%2Fsm%2Fcustom%2Fcb723738de.gif&key=XP7bAhjHe2JpHN45qddCnQ&w=800&h=183

    ReplyDelete
  13. Giles Fraser insists border controls are racist.

    https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=giles+fraser+insists+border+controls+are+racist

    ReplyDelete