Reuters: "Iraq as a political project is finished...moved to Plan B"

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC119287.htm

<snip>

"Iraq as a political project is finished," a top government official told Reuters -- anonymously because the coalition of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki remains committed in public to a U.S.-sponsored constitution preserving Iraq's unity.

"The parties have moved to Plan B," the official said, saying Sunni, ethnic Kurdish and majority Shi'ite blocs were looking at ways to divide power and resources and to solve the conundrum of Baghdad's mixed population of seven million.

"There is serious talk of Baghdad being divided into east and west," said the official, who has long been a proponent of the present government's objectives. "We are extremely worried."

[babylonsister]

1. Then get our freakin' soldiers out of there post haste!

:argh:

[n2doc]

2. What a mess we've made of things

Another divided city. I guess Jerusalem wasn't enough. Seems like we are going back to the cold war, dividing countries and building walls again.

[burythehatchet]

3. All is progressing according to plan

Divide and conquer

[malaise]

4. Bingo

and no one can teach it like the Brits.

[Kolesar]

6. The Exxon sector and the Harken sector

Keep your head down if you know what is good for you.

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. But the GOP doesn't like Plan B; it promotes sexual promiscuity

in young girls and women!!

Ooops! Wrong Plan B. :P

[rodeodance]

7. so--this is an admission the the WH "unity gov." has failed.

[Botany]

8. Who could have seen this coming?

Son of a bitch * did not know about Shi ites, Sunnis, or Kurds before he started this mess.

[oberliner]

9. U.S Troops Kill Two Women and a Child in Iraq Today

The chaos in Iraq seems to have been pushed off the front page.

Over three years in and the violence is growing.

Violent attacks against civilians happen so frequently that it is hard to discern one news item for another.

Today, U.S. troops killed two women and a child. Americans expressed regret for the civilian casualties.

AP Story:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen attacked two Shiite neighborhoods Friday in the same town where Sunnis opened fire on a market earlier this week, prompting Iraqi forces to call for American air support in a clash that killed at least 18 people, the Iraqi army said.

The attacks on Shiite neighborhoods occurred in Mahmoudiya, where 50 people were killed this week in a raid by Sunni gunmen on a market. Most of the victims were believed to be Shiites.

The 18 killed Friday included 11 attackers, four Iraqi soldiers and three police officers, the Iraqi army statement said.

Earlier, U.S. troops raided a neighborhood northeast of Baghdad, killing five people after gunmen fired from the rooftops of buildings, the U.S. military said. The dead included two women and a child.

The Americans expressed regret for the civilian deaths.


Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060721/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=Ai4ZGxRoG6UsILwtw4_8MnOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OTB1amhuBHNlYwNtdHM-

[OregonBlue]

10. No wonder the Turks have been so emboldened lately. They

already know what's up. They know the government is going to fall and they will be free to act against the Kurds. Just guessin.

[XForce]

11. I thought......

Plan B was the escalating Israel Lebanon conflict as to divert attention away from Iraq so we all will forget that Iraq fiasco ever happened???? You don't want to know Plan C.

[grytpype]

12. Well, that's the end of that.

No more incremental political progress. What's Duhbya going to fall back on this time?

[RedEarth]

13. Stay the course....Bring it on......Freedom haters.. Evil doers

...way to go george, freedom is on the march.

[FredStembottom]

14. Today, I really feel Iraq unravelling.

I feel the powerlessness of the Bushites, too.
This is history rolling right over them.
Get the troops out now!
Push the helicopters off the ship and get our poor soldiers home!

[sabra]

16. I've been having those same feelings...

[Straight Shooter]

15. Afghanistan is on the edge of needing a Plan B, too.

Way to go, you ignorant freak in the White House.

[sabra]

18. Afghanistan is the forgotten war :-(

[oxbow]

17. Ive been for a divided Iraq for a while

I wrote about it as early as last November... and as sorry as I am to see it being discussed under such dire circumstances, I still think that it would be for the greatest good of all involved. There's too many historical and cultural blocks in the way of a united Iraq right now, and our presence isn't helping things either!

[npincus]

19. Junior breaks everything he gets his hands on