More British Hostages in Iraq

[Ali]

WAY TO GO, TONY!

[Carlos]

Looks like it is the work of the renowned Iraqi police platoon; the special commando unt.

Did you see C4's dispatches on the Iraqi Death Squads? One of the truely memorable documentaries I have seen on Iraq - but not in a good way.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...i+death+squads

".......links between the death squads and high-ranking Shia politicians. It reveals how the Shia militia that these politicians control have systematically infiltrated and taken over police units and even entire government ministeries. It investigates how these units are closely linked to the death squads, indeed they often are the death squads. And the killers act with impunity - there's little investigation into their activities."

basically high ranking official(s) witihin the Iraqi government are ordering these sectarian attacks on - clearing sunni's out of shia areas.

obviously this is only 1 aspect of the cauldron of horror that is Iraq. and in no ways justifies the sunni car bombings.. but IS a root cause of them.

But you wait and see how this gets spun into having a connection with Iran.

Paul Wood, the BBC war reporter was reporting live from Iraq yesterday when he broke the news that 40 police cars belonging to the special commando unit blocked off both roads to the ministery and just walked in and asked for the foreigners. it. Wearing their disticntive blue camo outfits of the sp. commando unit. Adding that they are known to be carrying out such attacks, and it most prob wasn't a case of insurgents using oplice outfits.
Today his report was markedly different!! no mention of the known death squads, just vague assumptions that Iran might... just might be involved.

BBC bullshit.

[Schmeltz]

There you have it: civilian state control of the military, and indeed the state and the military themselves, have been replaced with official theo-bureaucratic warlordism. This is a disaster. Afghanistan all over. All that the Bush administration has accomplished in Iraq is to perpetrate a crime of transhuman proportions - an evil so vicious and twisted that it simply defies comprehension or description.

Increasingly I wonder if it is even possible to clean this mess up. Sometimes there are simply problems that can't be solved.

That being said - don't doubt for even a minute that the Iranian intelligence and defense services are involved in Iraq. It would be absolutely foolish of them not to be, and indeed it is directly in their country's interest to maintain some kind of influence on the situation, whatever form that might take. I don't doubt at all that the United States has extremely influential intelligence at work in my own country, it would be irrealistic to expect anything else. It's probably quite a stretch to imagine that the Iranians are actively trying to encourage the spread of chaos right next door, but equally they can't hope to sustain their own interests there without involving themselves more or less directly in events.

[Ali]

Originally Posted by Schmeltz

There you have it: civilian state control of the military, and indeed the state and the military themselves, have been replaced with official theo-bureaucratic warlordism. This is a disaster. Afghanistan all over. All that the Bush administration has accomplished in Iraq is to perpetrate a crime of transhuman proportions - an evil so vicious and twisted that it simply defies comprehension or description.

Increasingly I wonder if it is even possible to clean this mess up. Sometimes there are simply problems that can't be solved.

That being said - don't doubt for even a minute that the Iranian intelligence and defense services are involved in Iraq. It would be absolutely foolish of them not to be, and indeed it is directly in their country's interest to maintain some kind of influence on the situation, whatever form that might take. I don't doubt at all that the United States has extremely influential intelligence at work in my own country, it would be irrealistic to expect anything else. It's probably quite a stretch to imagine that the Iranians are actively trying to encourage the spread of chaos right next door, but equally they can't hope to sustain their own interests there without involving themselves more or less directly in events.

And, of course, as long as there's turmoil in Iraq, Coalition forces have a 'right' to maintain a military presence in the region (something Israel would very much like) and also, of course control of Iraq's massive oil fields (something Dick Cheney would like).

[Schmeltz]

But as long as there's turmoil in Iraq the coalition cannot maintain an effective military presence in Iraq, nor can they maintain effective control over Iraq's oil reserves. Fostering turmoil is just shooting themselves in the foot, as we've discussed before.