Sunday, September 03, 2006

Crisis? What Crisis?

A few days ago Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was captured north of Baghdad. Who is Abu, or Hamed, as the case may be? According to coalition forces (the coalition of the willing, mind you - at least the countries are, even if the individual soldiers need encouragement from time to time), this is the second most senior figure in al-Qaida in Iraq. Nice work, guys. I will continue to be impressed with the effort of our soldiers. Extremely dangerous, hard work in conditions that most sane people would expressly avoid. It's the mission. From above it's the message that gets all messed up.
Here's the most recent example: Iraq's national security adviser announced on Sunday, that al-Qaida now suffers from a "serious leadership crisis." Please feel free to take a moment to pick yourself up off the floor and stop that giggling while you fully savor the irony. What exactly constitutes a "serious leadership crisis?" Poor communication, faulty vision, and dissent among the rank and file? That sounds a lot like the 2006 Republican approach to the mid-term elections.
Here's how the power vacuum in Iraq has impacted the violence this weekend:
• An overnight mortar attack east of the capital killed six people, including two children, and wounded 15.
• A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in eastern Baghdad killed two policemen and a civilian and wounded three policemen.
• Gunmen killed two policemen in a civilian car and wounded a third in Baqouba.
• A car bomb also killed three people in Baqouba.
• A civilian was gunned down and killed in a drive-by shooting in Amarah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad.
• A suicide car bomb struck a police patrol in the northern city of Mosul, killing two policemen and wounding five people.
But seriously folks, we are coming up on the fifth anniversary of one of the most pivotal moments in world history in the past twenty-five years. We have heard President Pinhead wring his hands and apologize for his failure of leadership during one of thedevastatingtating natural disasters just one year ago, how long should we have to wait for him to apologize for him dropping the ball at what could have been America's greatest opportunity to unite the world? Abu Humam or Rana is no doubt a dangerous character and the world is better off if he is locked up or removed from his position of power. He is not Osama bin Laden. That would be a "serious leadership crisis."

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