Saturday, June 20, 2009

Truck Bomb Kills Five! (oh, and Iraqi Prime Minister Pledges No Retreat)

The headline is familiar enough: "Truck bomb kills at least 5 in northern Iraq." The attack was near a Shiite mosque, after noon prayers, south of Kirkuk.

Five paragraphs of that standard-issue bit of news pushed something else down the page:
"...THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister says the withdrawal of U.S. troops from urban areas by the end of this month will be a 'big victory' for the nation....
" (AP)
Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, acknowledged that terrorists ("millitants," in AP-speak) will stage more attacks. My guess is that he didn't realize how little time that would take. But never mind.

Al-Maliki also said that Iraq wouldn't let the attacks turn back the clock on Iraq's security. says militants will try to stage more attacks but Iraqi security forces won't let them reverse security gains.

I see his "...'we will not retreat no matter what happens.'..." (AP) as more of a statement of intent than certain knowledge: but I also think it is a good sign.

As I wrote earlier this year (February 15, 2009), Iraq is acting like an independent country. I think it's very near time to say, "mission accomplished."

Related posts: In the news:

2 comments:

Brigid said...

"Iran's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki..."

Al-Maliki also said that Iraq..."

Which is it?

Brian H. Gill said...

Brigid,

>< Ouch. "Iraq" it is. I made the correction, thanks!

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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

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In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.