Ramadi Under Control of New Sunni Iraqi State
by johnnygunn
Thu Oct 19, 2006 at 02:37:02 PM PDT
Aljazeera reported today that Ramadi is now under the control of insurgents who have declared a Sunni Iraqi Islamic state. This is something you are not like to see on FOX or CNN or on the AP wire for that matter. I have found that I need to look at Aljazeera's website on a daily basis to get any information on Iraq. I guess that puts me on the short list for a vacation in Guantanamo, eh?
Hundreds of supporters of the Mujahidin Shura Council, a group of Sunni fighters led by al-Qaeda in Iraq, took to the streets of Ramadi to announce that the city was joining a self-declared Islamic state in Iraq.
english.aljazeera.net.
Can anyone doubt that there is now a civil war in Iraq? While there was just an insurrection, Bush & Co. could debate it; however, now you have competing governments challenging the authority of the American-installed Iraqi regime.
johnnygunn's diary :: ::
This is on top of reports that Kurdistan has all but declared its own independence - despite Condi Rice's blandishments.
What criteria for "Civil War" does the situation in Iraq not meet?
1. Ethnic or religious division? Both - Sunni, Shiite, Kurd.
2. Collapse of central authority? None since the fall of Saddam.
3. Armed conflict? Half a million dead.
4. Rival governments? Full civil war.
Hundreds of armed men marched through the capital of Anbar province as mosque loudspeakers broadcast a statement by the Mujahidin Shura Council.
Cars also formed convoys in a show of strength in an area revisited by US forces on a regular basis.
"We are from Mujahidin Shura Council and our amir is Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. God willing we will set the law of Sharia here and we will fight the Americans," said a man who identified himself as Abu Harith, a Mujahidin leader.
"We have announced the Islamic state. Ramadi is part of it. Our state will comprise all the Sunni provinces of Iraq," he told the Reuters news agency.
This map dates from February 2006 - but it gives you a good idea of the locations of Shiites and Sunnis and American military bases in Baghdad. Just add a lot more red and blue dots for attacks since then.
(Note - There have been no attacks within Sadr City.)
Click here for a large map:
healingiraq.blogspot.com.
The Bush administration is fully responsible. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Bolton, and even Powell. Actually, Powell may hold even greater responsibility since he knew and did nothing. How many lives will be lost? |
