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Ouch.
Iraqi lawmakers traveled to the Iranian holy city of Qom over the weekend
to win the support of the commander of Iran’s Qods brigades in persuading
Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr to order his followers to stop military operations,
members of the Iraqi parliament said.… .. There the Iraqi lawmakers held talks with Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani,
commander of the Qods (Jerusalem) brigades of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps
and signed an agreement with Sadr, which formed the basis of his statement
Sunday, members of parliament said.… .. “The statement issued today by (Muqtada al Sadr) is a result
of the meetings,” said Jalal al-Din al Saghir, a leading member of the
Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. “The government didn’t have any disagreement
with the Sadrists when it went to the city of Basra. The Sadrist movement
is the one that chose to face the government.”“We asked Iranian officials to help us persuade him that we were not
cracking down on the Sadr group,” said an Iraqi official, who asked for
anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject. …Iranian general
played key role in brokering Iraq cease-fire
Meanwhile, the “surge” architects are in a very public spat with the Brits.
Mr Kagan, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute think-tank, told The Sunday Telegraph: “British forces have an obligation to step up when needed and it sure looks here like they’re needed.
“It is rather a watershed moment in the Anglo-American alliance. I understand that your Prime Minister has already said that the special relationship is over. There’s an issue here of fulfilling your obligations as an ally, freely undertaken.”
His fellow surge architect, retired US general Jack Keane, also voiced doubts that the Iraqi security forces would be able to pacify Basra unassisted. “There are about 8,000 armed militiamen with a stranglehold on the people of Basra. The situation in Basra has deteriorated since the British pulled out.” … ..
As John McCain begins his bio week, this situation plays right into his hands.
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