Iraq is Worse than it Looks, Kim Jong-Il, Israel, Nabati Poets Society………..
“An al Qaeda-linked group has said it carried out the twin suicide bombings that killed 155 people in Baghdad on Sunday and revived doubts about security in the run-up to Iraq's elections in January. The statement dated October 26 was posted by the Islamic State in Iraq group on a website often used by militants to announce responsibility for such attacks……….” Reuters
Iraq looks a little more like 2006.
Over 850 Iraqis have died in terrorist bombings so far this year, and many thousands have been wounded and maimed. Actually, it is worse than that: the simple numbers are not the whole story. The trend indicates a sharp escalation of the number of casualties since last summer. The average monthly dead was in the mid-thirties between January and June. The average from June through October is over 60. The number of dead for August was over 140. October’s toll will easily exceed 230. It’s the trend, stupid.
The average Iraqi is miffed at his own government and at the Arab world because he/she believes the terrorists are Arabs from outside Iraq. They are Arabs from outside Iraq. There doesn’t seem to be genuine Arab sympathy for the carnage, especially in the Persian Gulf media- some even suspect that is because of the sectarian affiliation of most of the victims. There are code phrases used in certain right wing and Salafi writings of the Gulf media that hint at this.
Neighboring Arab media, and Iraqi Sunni politicians, have often hinted at ‘other‘ outsiders, perhaps Iran or the United States, one or two accuse Syria. Some, depending on their political and sectarian affiliations, have accused the Iraqi security services. They haven’t gotten around to accusing Israel yet. They haven't gotten around to accusing Kim Jong-Il yet, but they probably would if Kim were a convenient target.
I find it interesting that nobody has yet accused the Nabati Poets Society, not openly.....
Cheers
mhg
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