Man bites Dog: NYT writes an unbiased article on Iraq. [krakatoa]

With Sistani explicitly giving Maliki the Shia cover he needs to execute militarily against the Madhi army, Sadr City is squarely in the sights of an army hungry to earn the trust of its citizens, and the respect of the American forces who trained them.

And somehow, the NYT online has seen fit to publish an Iraq article that doesn't bash the US military, Bush, or Maliki.

I'm thinking Michael Gordon's career will be a short-lived one with the Times, since he obviously is a retard incapable of making the connection between battlefield pigeon-killing and the inevitable PTSD rampages by war-weary vets suffering from the atrocities they visited upon little brown people and the birds they love. Enjoy his article while it's up.

The struggle for control of Sadr City is more than a test of wills with renegade Shiite militias. It has also become a testing ground for the Iraqi military, which has been thrust into the lead...

Iraqi politics has played a role in shaping the military strategy. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has decreed that American ground forces should not push into the heart of Sadr City, according to a senior American officer. American commanders also want to limit the United States’ profile in an area that has long been a bastion of support for Moktada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric.

While the I.A. is still full of green soldiers, and defections do occur from time to time, there are heroes in the making:

As the Iraqi and American officers huddled, the Iraqi lieutenant said some of his soldiers had been receiving threatening calls on their cellphones from members of the Madhi Army warning them to leave...

As the discussions continued, one stocky Iraqi soldier stepped forward and announced that he was not afraid of the fighters from Jaysh al-Madhi —or JAM as it is called by American military — regardless of the threats.

“In case I see a bad guy I will not arrest him,” the Iraqi soldier said through an American military interpreter. “I will kill him immediately to get revenge for my guys who were lost.”

All I have to say to that is: Iraq - Fuck yeah!

posted by xgenghisx at 02:55 AM

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