Blair Receives Iraq Civil War Warning
Everything is not going along swimmingly in Iraq these days, according to a well informed Brit.
Civil war is a more likely outcome in Iraq than democracy, Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad has warned Tony Blair in a confidential memo.
William Patey, who left the Iraqi capital last week, also predicted the break-up of Iraq along ethnic lines....
BBC correspondent Paul Wood said although the document does not contradict government denials that civil war is imminent, "it is a devastating official assessment of the prospects for a peaceful Iraq, and stands in stark contrast to the public rhetoric".
The bleak assessment of the country's future was contained in Mr Patey's final e-cable, or diplomatic telegram, from Baghdad.
The distribution list included the UK's prime minister, foreign secretary, defence secretary and House of Commons leader, as well as senior military commanders in both Iraq and the UK.
Mr Patey wrote: "The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy.
"Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq - a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror - must remain in doubt."
In other Iraq news, testimony in a Article 32 military judicial hearing claimed that some rather unorthodox orders were given to soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division who are facing allegations of murder:
Four American soldiers from an Army combat unit that killed three Iraqis in a raid in May testified Wednesday that they had received orders from superior officers to kill all the military-age men they encountered.
The soldiers gave their accounts at a military hearing here to determine if four colleagues should face courts-martial on charges that they carried out a plan to murder the three Iraqis, whom they had seized after an assault on what they were told was an insurgent stronghold northwest of Baghdad.
Their testimony gave credence to statements from two defendants that an officer had told their platoon to "kill all military-age males" in the assault, regardless of any threat they posed. That officer, Col. Michael Steele, has declined to testify, an unusual decision for a commander....
"We are now talking about the possibility of command responsibility, not just unlawful orders and simple murder, "said Gary D. Solis, a former military judge and prosecutor who teaches the law of war at Georgetown University.
Civil war is a more likely outcome in Iraq than democracy, Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad has warned Tony Blair in a confidential memo.
William Patey, who left the Iraqi capital last week, also predicted the break-up of Iraq along ethnic lines....
BBC correspondent Paul Wood said although the document does not contradict government denials that civil war is imminent, "it is a devastating official assessment of the prospects for a peaceful Iraq, and stands in stark contrast to the public rhetoric".
The bleak assessment of the country's future was contained in Mr Patey's final e-cable, or diplomatic telegram, from Baghdad.
The distribution list included the UK's prime minister, foreign secretary, defence secretary and House of Commons leader, as well as senior military commanders in both Iraq and the UK.
Mr Patey wrote: "The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy.
"Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq - a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror - must remain in doubt."
In other Iraq news, testimony in a Article 32 military judicial hearing claimed that some rather unorthodox orders were given to soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division who are facing allegations of murder:
Four American soldiers from an Army combat unit that killed three Iraqis in a raid in May testified Wednesday that they had received orders from superior officers to kill all the military-age men they encountered.
The soldiers gave their accounts at a military hearing here to determine if four colleagues should face courts-martial on charges that they carried out a plan to murder the three Iraqis, whom they had seized after an assault on what they were told was an insurgent stronghold northwest of Baghdad.
Their testimony gave credence to statements from two defendants that an officer had told their platoon to "kill all military-age males" in the assault, regardless of any threat they posed. That officer, Col. Michael Steele, has declined to testify, an unusual decision for a commander....
"We are now talking about the possibility of command responsibility, not just unlawful orders and simple murder, "said Gary D. Solis, a former military judge and prosecutor who teaches the law of war at Georgetown University.
posted by Effwit at 9:00 AM
6 Comments:
Again, my Stalinisto Professor Quirkoid has assured me that all is well in Iraq. (www.burkeanreflections.blogspot.com)
Please desist with these black Op. postings, Mr. Effwit.
Or get yourself a Professorship before you cascade these falsities to less vigilent minds than that of a meatballs.
I know you are a fair person so I expect you to do right and get on the bandwagon of Victory.
M1:
I kinda feel sorry for the students of Prof. Quirkean Vomitations. A while back, he actually disputed the fact that the U.S. has gotten itself into a quagmire in Iraq.
He is beyond help.
He is also "Pro-Victory."
One should always be careful about what one hopes for. He will doubtlessly get his wish, but not be pleased at the identity of the party that achieves his hoped-for victory.
Oh, I am fully on the bandwagon of Victory, too.
You Buddhists are always twisting the bleak into cryptic merriments.
What can I know where trust no longer resides and only the shadows of midnight tracks can be discerned?
M1:
Most profound realization, grasshopper.
There is a Zen axiom that the teacher is only successful when the student's attainment exceeds his own.
Under those guidelines, DD would--by necessity--have to be teacher of the year.
OK, but I ain't gonna be the one to coronate his bristling Stalinoid head.
Upon our first encounter, he made a lude pass at me until I turned around and he saw that my fat ass belonged to an alpha male and not a juicy East coast debutante with a challenged SAT score only befit a West coast community college.
I still love his mind but that doesn't mean I'd let Woody Allan babysit my adopted Laotian daughters.
M1:
LMAO
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