"reports are circulating that the Iraqi army has committed mass executions in Basra and Kut"

[RedEarth]

......from Juan Cole's site.........

Al-Zaman(Arab newspaper) says reports are circulating that the Iraqi army has committed atrocities throughout the south, conducting mass executions in many places, including Basra and Kut.

It also says that there is a humanitarian crisis developing in the neighborhoods that the Iraqi army is besieging in Basra, with women, children and old folks trapped and food and potable water running low.

The Mahdi Army still controls Sadr City in East Baghdad and the US is unable to dislodge it for the moment. Al-Zaman says that the capital could erupt into fighting at any moment.

...........much more..........

http://www.juancole.com/2008/03/dozens-dead-in-basra-clashes-mahdi-army.html

[groovedaddy]

1. No! No! Isn't the surge working any more? You mean they weren't

telling the truth about the situation in Iraq? Hard to believe!

[OwnedByFerrets]

2. It just gets worse day after day....

when you think it has hit rock bottom there, it goes further down. How in the hell do you fix this problem in Iraq??? Can anything this bad be fixed?? Cheerleaders of this fiasco are often quoted as saying We're Number ONE.....we are are Number ONE at completely destroying a country and its citizens. How proud we should all be.:puke:

[Frustratedlady]

3. But Bush was just on CNN talking about how wonderful everything was...

...oh, they have some problems, but they are being worked out.

Someone needs to get their stories straight and it ain't me.

[kentuck]

4. Yep...

This is critical. The surge is over. Now it is about survival and whether our puppets can continue to hang on in power.

[annabanana]

5. This ought to make Patreus's visit to Congress more interesting.

What the hell is he going to say?

[screembloodymurder]

6. There is prophesy about an unbelievable disaster occurring in Iraq.

Could this be it.

[KharmaTrain]

7. It's All About The Oil...

They had a McClatchy reporter on C-SPIN this morning explaining causes of the end of boooshie's "lull" (not surge) and how dangerous things are and will get.

Crashcart is trying to force an election in October...to help Gramps with another PR coop (remember those purple fingers? If those happy Iraqis can vote, so can you) as well as to try to finally force an oil deal that guarantees his buddies domination of those resources and ensure prices stay sky high. Malaki is the muscle here...sending Sunnis after Shias and visa versa and under pressure from Crashcart to "get 'er done". The results are about to be a disaster.

For any deals to go forward...for any "victory", Sadr has to be dealt with...or so the neo-cons think to be able to set up their never-ending war for profit. But this exercize is doomed to fail...with our stressed troops stuck in the middle. As always, this regime understimates and we will pay for it in blood and treasure.

[Winterblues]

8. You mean they are behaving exactly the way Saddam's army did?

I thought that was why we toppled Saddam....or has that excuse changed like all the others did?