No One Wants To Hear It

Paul Krugman is fed up with the paradox of VSP and writes about it in The age of the anti-Cassandra

Today, our public discourse is dominated by people who have been wrong about everything — but are still, mysteriously, treated as men of wisdom, whose judgments should be believed. Those who were actually right about the major issues of the day can’t get a word in edgewise.

A case in point are all the people who are about to discover the truth about the Surge™ as it falls apart: Iraq forces battle Basra militias

Heavy fighting has been raging in Basra as thousands of Iraqi troops battle Shia militias in the southern city.

At least 30 people have died in the operation, which is being overseen in Basra by Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki, a day after he vowed to “re-impose law”.

Oil-rich Basra is in the grip of a bitter turf war between armed groups, including the Mehdi Army, analysts say.

Clashes have spread to other parts of Iraq, including Baghdad’s Sadr City, where the Mehdi Army fought rival Shia.

The Mehdi Army – which supports radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr – has threatened a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience.

The powerful militia declared a truce last August which had been credited with helping restore stability to parts of Iraq.

The BBC realizes the importance of the Mahdi army cease fire, but the VSP in the MAC-V MNF-I have been taking all of the credit for a reduction in violence and have been pushing for attacks on the Mahdi army, not understanding what will happen – as in, all hell will break loose.

Provincial elections are supposed to take place. The Sadr movement boycotted the last round, but are ready to participate in this round of elections. they control Sadr City in Baghdad and large segments of the South. The Badr Brigade wants to hang on to the South because of the “profit potential” of the port of Basra. They only way they can do it is to defeat the Mahdi army. The Iraqi army has been brought in to help in that effort.

The Badr Brigade, the military wing of the SIIC, was created, trained, and funded by the Iranian Quds Force during the Iran-Iraq War. They have infiltrated the military and the police. The absurdity of the US complaining about Iran’s involvement in Iraq, while the American supported government in Iraq is made up of parties that are Iran’s surrogates, is beyond bizarre.

Read about Dick Cheney’s good buddy, Abdul al-Hakim, and the SIIC, the largest party in Iraq’s parliament.