Suicide bomber kills 10 at police checkpoint in Iraq

"Senior Sadrists, including lawmakers Falah Hassan Shanshal and Maha Adel al-Douri, met in the cleric’s Sadr City office in Baghdad and called on the Iraqi government to stop the negotiations and to hold a public referendum on the issue."

Public referendum?

That would end up with a Hamas style protest vote and al-Sadr knows it.

No takers?

I didn't think so.

This is all Bush's fault. There weren't any suiciders in Iraq before the Decider decided to illegally invade a defenseless country for its oil.

"There weren't any suiciders in Iraq before the Decider decided to illegally invade"

Yup. You finally got it, uh sarge.

Bring our troops home, now!!

< :-)

Madverts - "You finally got it, uh, sarge"

Ha! Got you! And, Madverts, I'm laughing at the superior intellect.

adaydream - "Bring our troops home now!!"

What! And snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Are you saying General Petraeus is wrong?

It raised the number of Iraqis killed in May to at least 532, the lowest monthly death toll this year, according to an Associated Press tally compiled from Iraqi police and military reports.

When the numbers decrease they get buried in an article talking about a specific violent event. When the numbers increase they get their own banner headline.

Tell me I'm wrong.

SuperLib is right, 532 dead in just one month, years after 'Mission Accomplished' and the restoration of Peace, Liberty and the American Way, is something to crow about.

Or eat crow pie over.

Not sure which.

Well we all know that without the invasion that number would be 0.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of stupidity more like.

"Well we all know that without the invasion that number would be 0."

Probaly not zero.

Definitely not "532".

And let's not forget the "532" figure is supposed to be "good" news...

I still can't believe there are no takers, even from the radicals.

The US is trying to organize a deal that keeps them planted in Iraq - the Iraqi's don't want them to remain when the UN mandate expires and the US installed "government" is trying to broker a deal anyway.

Al-Sadr is now taking the Americans on at their own game by playing the referendum card - he knows the people would vote to send the US packing, but we couldn't have that now, could we...?

And anyway, "referendum" sounds sooo lefty and un-democratic.

"he ( Sadr) knows the people would vote to send the US packing"

He knows that if his people weren't brainwashed they would arrest him and try him for his crimes.

"He knows that if his people weren't brainwashed they would arrest him and try him for his crimes."

Ah, so the majority of Iraqi's are now "brain-washed"? I'll repeat:

Heh, the Denial just goes deeper.

"Ah, so the majority of ( Iraqis ) are now "brain-washed"?"

No, just the majority of Sadr supporters, who are actually a tiny, but very loud minority in Iraq.

Uh, sarge,

Your knowledge on Iraq, once again, would seem extremely limited:

*Virtually unknown before the collapse of Saddam Hussein's government in 2003, Sadr has since emerged as one of the most important Shiite leaders in the country....

..estimates of Sadr's support base range from 3 million to 5 million.*

http://www.cfr.org/publication/7637/

Madverts - Your knowledge of Iraq, once again, would seem extremely limited. Even using your inflated figures ( Sadr's supporters are mainly crowded into one section of Baghdad and there ain't no 5 million there ), 5 million is just one-fifth of Iraq's population.

If "my" figures are inlfated, let's see what figures you can present to argue that one. And may it be a non-partisan source like mine please.

Oh, and 5 million people out of a population of 20 million "is a tiny minority"?

Heh, al-Sadr's many followers aren't simply the residents of the slums in Sadr City. Surely you remember when the Iraqi "government" got the green light from the US to snuff Saddam off, all the government people were taunting him chanting "Moqtada, Moqtada!".

Come on uh, sarge. Now's the time to show us what you're made of, otherwise you're "tiny minority" claim wil remain the most ill-informed post on the subject of Iraq the boards have seen for some time.

he knows the people would vote to send the US packing

Do you have sources for this info? Most of the opinion polls I've read show Iraqis wanting US forces to be gone....but not right now.

Oh, and 5 million people out of a population of 20 million "is a tiny minority"?

Define support.

SuperLib is right, 532 dead in just one month, years after 'Mission Accomplished' and the restoration of Peace, Liberty and the American Way, is something to crow about.

I think it is good news when you consider the alternatives. I'm guessing you don't think I think 500 dead people is good news on it's own.

Your "Peace, Liberty, and the American Way" comments aren't appreciated. It sounds like you're just a bargain basement anti-American when you talk like that. I'm sure there's a lot of good in America that you support. You need to start separating yourself from people like smith and sushi. You're better than they are.

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the man who led American ground forces in Iraq from 2003-2004 (that's bargain-basement anti-American to you, SuperLib)

"Wiser in Battle: A Soldier’s Story" takes aim at the Bush administration with some of the strongest criticism to date from a former Iraq commander.

"In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I watched helplessly as the Bush administration led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions. It became painfully obvious that the executive branch of our government did not trust its military. It relied instead on a neoconservative ideology developed by men and women with little, if any, military experience. Some senior military leaders did not challenge civilian decision makers at the appropriate times, and the courageous few who did take a stand were subsequently forced out of the service..."

"Define support."

For the minute it means preaching what the masses want to hear....

...which is America go home.

Uh, sarge? The silence is deafening.

The fact that you are one of the occupations most ardent supporters yet believe support for al-Sadr is a "tiny minority" speaks volumes about your knowledge of what is really going on in Iraq - other than listening Bush Co speaches, and blogs that agree with this point of view of course.

"other than listening Bush Co speaches, and blogs that agree with this point of view of course."

Now's your big chance, madverts, who is the authoritative source on Iraq?

Lemme guess - old mother Beeb?

Can we really compare www.moonbattery.com with the BBC?

If you had any credibility with your own sources, I'd take your comments seriously. Or, you could always take up the charge where uh, sarge scampered off...