The American media should be reporting on the conditions in northern Iraq in a more spectatular manner. The Kurds are Muslims and they seem to thrive on democracy. What is going on with the Sunis and Shiites? Why does the media insist on giving the murderous terrorists in the south a pass?

If we make a big deal of the Kurdish 'success', do you think the terrorists will bring their murderous ways up north?

Ilbert - Blaming the media is an old, worn out Conservative dog that don't hunt! I watch the network news every day and they do have "good" stories on a regular basis about an effort or an individual soldier and unit that is trying to make a difference in this hell-like atmospher, but let's face it Ilbert -- there is not much good coming out of Iraq. Yes, the Kurds, which have run their area have always been self-autonomous -- there certainly could be some forseeable problems if there comes a time we may try to distribute their expansive oil wealth between all three distinct cultures living in the country. Then you will see the North "light up." Also, Turkey is increasingly worried about the Kurds and I tend to think that sending 3 million troops in wouldn't help out what is going to happen in the Middle East. Wow, thanks George Bush for lighting the match! By the way, McCain is now talking about military action against Iran -- whoo, you Republicans just can't get enough can you? Things are going so well in Afghanistan and Iraq, let's just add in some more military action. God save us from the Republicans!!!!!

The Sunnies and Shiites had been fighting for hundreds of years. Why do you think we can make them live peacefully with one another!!! The Kurd took the North, now give the Shiites the East- border with the Shiites Iran- the Sunnies the West. Five or ten years from now, if they want to reunited they can have a refendum to do it.

Iran is a whole different animal than Iraq. They are much larger in size and population for starters. Surely we don't have anyone in or near power in this country that would be so stupid as to get us into THAT? wow...scary.....

Please don't group all repulicans together. Not all agree with the president or the goings on in Iraq. I know many who do not support the actions of the president, however, they do support the troops. Likewise, i wouldn't group all democrats into one mentality. Not all were thrilled with Clinton's actions. I think it's pretty much God save us from ourselves.

Let's see, if the Kurdish is a success story then what is happening in the rest of Iraq should be a lesson to us that the Sunni and Shia are determin to kill each other for power and revenage and there is nothing the US can do to stop that.

THE BUSH ANTI-SHI'ITE SURGE
* Kurdistan is no longer nor in reality has it been a part of the British Empire Established Iraq. Kurdistan must be seperated from what is going on now, in real time. Kurdistan has established it's own Federal Republic, with its own schools, teaching its own history and language, making its own trade agreements with Turkey, and resolving old problem with its neighbors.
* But, in the South its about Persia Vs. Arabia, About Shi'ite Vs Sunni. And, Bush and Abizaid are holding hands with Saudia Arabia, planning an Anti-Shi'ite Surge in Baghadad against Sard and his Shi'ite Army. Bush has been trying to split the Shi'ite into two camps, one Sard the other his kind of Shi'ite, the Bush Moderate Shi'ite.
* Bush and Abizaid are planning a (20K) Twenty thousand (3)Three Combat Divisions, inserted into Baghdad to kill Sard and break the back of the Shi'ite in the Southern part of British Established Iraq.
* Bush and Abizaid are trying to widen the War to include IRAN, which is Shi'ite, when IRAN, begins to rush military aide and supplies across the boarders to aide the defense against the American Genocide of the Shi'ite.
* Bush and Abizaid have taken sides in this civil war of the south, (US & Arabia Vs Iran & Persia)and the Bush War against the Middle East, the creation of the Rumsfeld Line along the oil lines of Iraq, and decades of WAR.

Very Respectfully,
D. L. Graham
El Cajon, San Diego, CT. CA.

Exactly Lynn! "there is not much good coming out of Iraq" - but rightwing pundits, typing safely from their keyboards in the U.S., assert the media is withholding all these good stories!

This may be off subject a bit but speaking of news media's I think it comes down to the editing and the political agenda of that news media.I say this because all the reporters in Iraq must be seeing the same thing..Take Fox news for example , they are totaly 100% republican. Hannity for example, in my opinion is the most poison spuing, fear spreading person I have ever herd.....

I suppose the Iraqis and the South Koreans would get along, eh? They have American 'nation-building' in common. I wonder if they are trading 'reconstruction stories'.

I keep hearing Republicans saying that "not all Republicans agree with Bush".

Where is the outrage? Your silence makes you complicit.

(Where have I heard that line of reasoning before...)

During the last election cycle the Republicans, from Bush on down, told everyone about the Democrates and how they will raise your taxes. I have never understood how the invasion of Iraq isn't considered a tax raise. Who is going to pay for this, off the books, war? This has to be the funniest twist of the truth. We spent a trillion of your dollars on a war of choice but look out for the liberals who want money to support people in the United States. I hope that the price of oil goes back up so we can pay for the war with Iraq oil!

Yea, its funny, when I was in Iraq and was helping manage reconstruction money for northern Iraq, I was struck at how many projects we were getting done in Kirkuk City and province. The violence was just as bad there as elsewhere, yet they got so much more accomplished. The answer seems to be the ability of the Kurds to get their act together and get things done.

My personal experience was when I observed the PRDC in Kirkuk (a commitee of locals deciding which projects to spend a certain amount of US money on) could not run their own meeting - they spent some 30 minutes complaining about Baghdad central government, instead of actually deciding or even discussing reconstruction projects. An Army officer had to step in and take over to get something done.

Sux months later, I was back observing the same PRDC. But, this time, they ran their own meeting, approved or recommnded disapproval on some dozen projects. It could have been a meeting in Peoria - very well run. Smart, educated Iraqis (Kurd, Arab, Turkmen) deciding their own future. Seeing this improvement in just a few months was great. Yet, as we left the guarded provincial government buildings, we knew we could all be blown up at any moment. That was democracy as I knew it when I was in Iraq.

Nancy, I talk about the good things that are happening in Iraq from the safety of my keyboard, but as recently as May, 2006, I was talking about them from Iraq. I absolutely conceed horrible things are happening in Iraq; however, I recognize positive signs (such as the Iraqis providing security for us while we hand out supplies, instead of the other way around) and believe the people at home deserve to know why we in uniform continue to support this war. Do you not think it odd that those of us doing the dying are the most supportive? Should our voices be heard on this issue?

It is great to hear that some where in Iraq things are going well. As for the sunni and shi'ite fight, well, that is something we cannot help. I am beginning to lose faith in both the domocrats and republicans, for years we have made too many decsions with small groups, a TRUE democracy will always make to the right decision. That is why we need to let Iraq take more charge in its own destiny. What used to work for us might not work for them. Amaliki (PM for Iraq) has said he wants more say in what happens and that he wants the Iraqis to take more responsibility it is their own country, not ours, we are guests...unwelcomed guests. Of coarse I am not saying that the US needs to leave Iraq alone completely, but right now the US needs to step back and ask Iraq 'What do we need to do?' It is an Iraqi problem so and Iraqi solution will be best, if the US supports them correctly. That was stated by a Maj General in Iraq that is the spokesman over there right now and I believe it.

I think that we need to get out and let these enemies take care of them selves, and quit trying to make them be people that they are not. We have no reason to tell them what to do, and they will not listen anyhow. We are done with our part. Let them take care of themselves now.

Paul,

I have to disagree with you're statement that "a true democracy will always make the right decision"

A true democracy is really nothing different than mob rule. The majority says what's going to happen, and that happens to be (in most cases) what's best for them.

For a democracy to really work that has to be a certain level of altruism. For Example.

Our Democracy declared that it was ok for you to own slaves. Our Democracy decided it was ok to not allow women to vote.

It was the sense of caring about the minority that makes a democracy truly peaceful. People who were effected by slaver were a tiny fraction, but the greater whole took 100 years to decide that it was wrong to own them.

The same has a very good possibility of happening in Iraq. With a majority of Shi'a, the minority are the Sunna (which includes the Kurds, because they are Sunna Muslims). If they wanted, they could make the Sunna second class citizens, in democracy, and still be "democratic". Look at Lebanon, they voted in a terrorist group to run their country, does that necessarily mean it's the right thing?

http://tlocfym.blogspot.com

Stupid Bush and his half-wit ideas that bringing democracy to a country would magically make it like the USA.

I wonder where he got that bright idea.

T. Mitchell,

With all due respect. I never said we were in a true Democracy. We had our problems and still do. A great example is this whole war here in Iraq, how many people really saw that country as a threat...few. There are plenty of other countries that are a great deal more dangerous. We cannot think that we can walk in and place up a government in a country that has not been stable it's whole exisitance. Iraq itself has been under control of more than 20 different governments and rulers in over 2000 years. How can we change that. The middle east has been fighting itself for too long and the majority of it has to do with religion. Believe it or not, many of the events in Jesus Christ's life happened in Iraq, kind of ironic, eh? At that time half of it was under control of the Roman empire.

Iraq has many troubles and like I said before we need to sit back and ask the Iraq government 'what they would like us to do?' There is not much our decisions can do, the decisions of Bush obviously aren't working, but he is too prideful to admit fault and start from the beginning again. He claims to be taking every suggestion seriously but I am not so sure, he is still probably going to do his own thing. We are going to continue to send more troops and loose more lives. Our country is getting farther and farther into debt and the military is struggling and falling apart.

I wish and hope that I am wrong. I hope I am wrong about Bush and I hope something can be done. I pray that I am wrong and that someday things will be right. I pray that Bush will come up with a plan that will better things in Iraq.

If we made true war on the Sunnis and Shiites, maybe they would get the point and fall in line. America has been too soft handed; as long as our military is there, we need to use it for its intended purpose, or leave. The liberals will never understand that...they just want to cut and run, and raise our taxes.

Bush won't find a quick fix. The simple answer here is there IS no quick fix.

Anyone who believes that there is a quick fix has failed to understand the analog nature of the world we live in.

Despite our best efforts and any efforts we make, Iraq could in fact become another Somalia. Whether we leave or stay, the hatred in the streets could well prove to be literally insurmountable.

Playing the blame game gets us NOWHERE. Grow up.

Mainstream Medias should start cleaning up their act. They cannot be one sided in reporting and put forward their agenda before the lives of our American soldiers. The people of Iraq respond the way our media put forth the report in America. The doom and gloom scenarios that were or are reported day in and day out affect not just our psyche but the psyche of the Iraqis people. If the Iraqis feels that America will abandon them, then there is no way in the world they will support the present Iraqi government. Nobody is stupid enough to risk their lives by supporting Mailiki’s government knowing that anytime the American politics will pull the plugs and leave them at the mercy of the extremist. It’s about media war and if we have mainstream media wanting us to loose in Iraq then we already have lost the mind and heart of the Iraqi people.

The price we will pay for the IRaq war will be determined later when future generations pick up the pices of Bush idotic Right Wing policies. Debt will trip you up sooner or later and with the USA it will come sooner than we might want.
I am old enough to remember the Viet Nam war and the invent of infaltion which came from the USA trying to fight a war and manage the rest of the government without raising money to pay for the war. Bush has led us to beleive that we can have the war and huge tax cuts and what ever he chooses and worry about it later.
Convient for Bush the bill wont come due until he leaves office. I beleive that Mr Bush will go down in history as the second coming of Hoover. He is the single worse PResident coming in second behind Old Senile Ronnie Regan.

All I hear from all the news stations is Iraq.What about America. I am self employed, and for the last eight years I have not had Health Insurence. I did not hear one Politican say they had A plan for affortable Health care. More families are losing there Homes because of rising Taxes. Four Billion dollars spent, and nothing to show for it. I have heard, and read all the lies why we should be there, and being A Combat Disabled Vet from Nam, it's the same song just different words. We have the fire power to handle anyone who threatens our borders. To many of our children have been taken from us, and if you do not believe me, go to your nearest V.A. Hospital, and see for yourself.