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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (14605)	10/31/2003 6:22:46 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793623

Healing Iraq Blog Thursday, October 30, 2003 Our Syrian friend recuperating The minister of Health Khudheir Fadhil stated yesterday that the failed suicide bomber had recovered completely. He had fractures in his right and left shoulders and other minor injuries. The minister added that the bombers condition was critical on the day of the attack and was transferred to another hospital for special treatment. I had mentioned in the last entry that he was Syrian. Well, it appeared after questioning him that he is a 22 year old Yemeni who had entered Iraq legally by his Syrian passport two days ago. An Iraqi doctor described him as dressed elegantly and said that the bomber refused to talk at first and alleged that he was mute. He was apparently baffled by the good treatment he had recieved from the Iraqi doctors. Have to say I'm baffled as well. The IP said that on the attempted attack there were two other passengers with him in the car who fled when they started shooting. Nothing else is known about them. The Yemeni was handed over to coalition investigators. The attack on Al-Khadhraa' police station was also carried out by an ambulance. The ministry of Health has denied that any of its ambulances were stolen. I wonder where they got them. A policeman from that station was talking about a threat letter they received a week ago signed by a Sheikh Abdullah, the leader of an Assad Allah group (haven't heard of that one). It goes like this: "Repent fast and fight in the name of Allah. Jihad is a duty of every Iraqi citizen today. Do not follow the ignorants who refuse to call for Jihad against the infidels. Whoever kills you instead of the Americans is not to blame. Blame only yourselves. You have entered an alliance with the Americans to kill your Mujahedeen brethren instead of supporting them and fighting the infidels along with them". That together with a bunch of Quran verses that warn believers not to side with their enemies. Typical stuff. Another incident my Aunt told us about yesterday which I didn't hear about in the news yet. She was at the Iraqi Central Bank in the morning when suddenly all hell broke loose. Police sirens, IP, FPS, and American MP all over the place. They had captured six suicide bombers who turned out to be Morrocans with explosive waist belts trying to enter the bank. Since that area (Al-Rashid street) is closed to traffic, they couldn't use cars to bomb it. I hope they can get some important information out of those desperate bastards. Oh, and don't go asking me for news sources to back this up, if my aunt didn't see that with her own eyes, I wouldn't have written about it. # posted by zeyad : 2:22 PM comments (82) Bring back the army! I think that now is the time CPA should start to seriously consider reinstating the Iraqi Army. I do have my concerns about that process. Since Iraqis know that high ranking generals were all benefitors from the fascist regime. And that the Republican Guard was involved in massacres against the Kurds and the Shi'ites during the eighties and the early nineties. Six months ago I thought dissolving the Iraqi army was a wise decision. Now I'm not so sure. I didn't expect that 'freedom fighters' would start pouring in from behind the borders. I didn't expect that hardcore Saddam loyalists from the army would start a guerilla war. I thought everyone would settle down and start building. Of course I'm ashamed now to admit I was naive. Coming to think of it now, I realize that the army didn't actually defend Saddam. The heaviest resistance during the war was carried out by Fedayeen, and party members. The bulk of the army simply vanished. This was a good sign. They should have been rewarded for that action not put out of work. We need them now. Just like the IP shattered their previous image under Saddam and turned out to be effective and has been a great help to the coalition, the same would apply to the army. After all the coalition forces can't control the whole of Iraq. The army can speak the local language, can recognize foreigners, knows the country, and there wouldn't be any cultural sensitivities involved. Part of the Iraqi army could secure our borders, another part could be stationed in the Sunni triangle. Or more practically in joint operations with coalition forces. The current progress in recruiting and training new army members is very slow. I suggest keeping the younger army officers and hand them the job of reappointing former Iraqi soldiers under direct supervision of the coalition. After all they are trained efficiently and would only require about a two week rehabilitation training on modern military techniques. And they would be ready to patrol the borders. The Iraqi Civil Defense army would be installed in checkpoints around major cities and on major highways together with a few coalition elements. And the IP can concentrate on their real job fighting crime. FPS guards key positions and facilities inside the cities. And a large number of coalition forces can pull out of Iraq to reduce the costs. Sounds sensible doesn't it? Or maybe I'm becoming too much of a wishful thinker. I have yet to see any Iraqi against this. I guess only the Kurds would object to this step. But they aren't experiencing the security problems we are. Its not true that the army was loyal to Saddam. They just carried out direct orders from their superiors. They were rarely used to opress the Iraqi people, and in 91 they were as much a victim from the elite Republican Guard as other Iraqis during the rebellion after the Gulf war. Iraqis do not hate their army as some sources are suggesting. I have heard many military people describe the chemical attacks on the Kurds in Halabja as a dirty trick by the regime. The army was told that they were attacking Iranian forces who infiltrated the area. They had no idea that they were using chemicals against their own people. Bring back our Army! healingiraq.blogspot.com