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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (89791)	2/8/2008 1:10:06 PM
From: sea_biscuit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93284

International Crisis Group? Soros sits on the board. No cred. there. Get a clue moron. Oh, thank you soooo much for walking into it! Here's what YOUR Dumbyasshole's Condi said about the ICG : "I am pleased to congratulate the International Crisis Group on the tenth anniversary of its establishment. Thanks to its distinguished trustees and experts the International Crisis Group has in the span of one decade become a widely respected and influential organisation for promoting conflict prevention and resolution. We greatly appreciate the work the International Crisis Group does in the Balkans, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America to make the world a better place. I salute the goals and accomplishments of the International Crisis Group and wish it further success as it enters its second decade." - Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State, 28 November 2005

To: jlallen who wrote (89791)	2/10/2008 12:03:55 PM
From: sea_biscuit	Respond to of 93284

This is what the ICG said in Jan 2003. Hardly the stuff that one would expect from an anti-Dumbyasshole think-tank, which is what you allege it to be. According to a recent survey of public opinion in Iraq by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), most Iraqis support an American invasion. "I found very few people who were against American intervention," said the ICG researcher who interviewed dozens of Iraqis in Baghdad, Mosul and Najaf for the study. The small minority of Iraqis who expressed opposition to American military action either had a direct stake in the regime or did not trust the United States to follow through on its pledge to oust the Iraqi dictator.

To: jlallen who wrote (89791)	2/10/2008 12:23:02 PM
From: sea_biscuit	Respond to of 93284

And this is what the ICG says now. Baghdad/Damascus/Brussels, 7 February 2008: If the downturn in violence in Iraq is to continue, Muqtada al-Sadr’s unilateral ceasefire must urgently be converted into a comprehensive multilateral one that creates conditions for his movement to evolve into a legitimate political actor. Iraq’s Civil War, the Sadrists and the Surge,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the continued involvement until 2007 of the Sadrists and their Mahdi Army, the country’s biggest militia, in the brutal sectarian civil war and assesses the reasons behind their decision to freeze military activities. It argues that the ceasefire in place since August 2007 offers an opportunity for the movement’s full integration into the political sphere which ought not to be missed. “Muqtada’s motivations aside, his implementation of a ceasefire opens the possibility of a more genuine and lasting transformation of the Sadrist movement”, says Robert Malley, Crisis Group’s Middle East and North Africa Program Director. “The challenge is to seize the opportunity and transform his tactical adjustment into a longer-term strategic shift”. Muqtada al-Sadr’s decision to curb his movement is a major reason for the dramatic decline in bloodshed. It was a positive step, under U.S. and Iraqi military pressure and as a result of growing discontent within his Shiite base, but it is fanciful to expect the Mahdi Army’s defeat. Excessive pressure is likelier to trigger fierce resistance in Baghdad and an escalating intra-Shiite civil war in the south. Now that its leadership has denounced sectarian violence and seeks to impose greater discipline on its unruly base, every effort should be made to encourage the shift toward a non-violent political movement. The Sadrist leadership should ensure greater discipline and accountability within the ranks by prolonging and strictly enforcing the ceasefire and articulating a clear and comprehensive political program. The U.S. and the Iraqi government should narrowly circumscribe operations against the Mahdi Army and the Sadrist movement by focusing on legitimate military targets and Sadrist-manned patrols or checkpoints. They should tolerate non-military Sadrist activities and freeze recruitment into the Shiite sahwa (awakening), the U.S.-backed tribe - and citizen-based militia set up to fight the Mahdi Army. Instead they should concentrate on building a professional, non-partisan security force, integrating vetted Mahdi Army fighters. The Najaf-based clerics should allow Sadrists to visit religious sites in the holy cities as long as they are unarmed and show appropriate restraint. “Among Sadrist rank and file, impatience with the ceasefire is high and growing. They equate it with a loss of power and resources and eagerly await Muqtada’s permission to resume the fight, as early as this month”, says Peter Harling, Crisis Group’s Iraq, Syria and Lebanon Project Director. “The Sadrist leadership has resisted the pressure, but unless the U.S. and the Iraqi government alter their approach, this may not last”.