Quote:
Tyrone Slothrop
Do you read the WSJ, and the excerpts of Bush's comments of April 13 that I posted, and not see any tension between the two? Like, these concessions:
- Allowing the Mahdi Army to continue intact, as long as it remains off the streets, is a major concession to Mr. Sadr. In another, Iraqi officials agreed to "suspend" the arrest warrant for him that cites his suspected involvement in the murder of a rival cleric in April 2003. That represents, at least for now, a reversal for the Americans, who have said repeatedly that they intend to "kill or capture" Mr. Sadr and "destroy" the Mahdi Army.
Of course, you have to go to the NYT to find this out.
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But this isn't all that clear. Note the following from your own link:
- There seems to be a contradiction in the press reporting, with some saying that the US accepted a provision that the arrest warrant against Muqtada be suspended for the time being, while this Reuters report seems to suggest that the U.S. would still very much like to apprehend him. If the latter is true, it would help explain his reluctance to come out in public at a time when he has agreed to dissolve his militia in the holy cities, and when his fighters in Kufa, in any case, have taken heavy casualties.
And here's the rub. Too many competing reporters with too many competing agendas are all too quick to report a story.
Without being there, neither of us have a clue.
PS - The appointment of the exile Allawi over the not-so-silent relcutance of [UN puppet] Brahimi has to be seen as a victory for the US, no?
