Meanwhile, in Iraq
Carloads of attackers descended on a police chief's house northeast of Baghdad at dawn Friday, killing the official's wife, two brothers and 11 guards, and kidnapping three of his grown children, Diyala provincial police reported.
The attack, which came when the police chief was not at home, was one of the boldest and bloodiest in months of stepped-up violence around the city of Baqouba, where al-Qaida in Iraq and affiliated groups have been fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces and local insurgents who have turned against al-Qaida.
Elsewhere in northern Iraq, two suicide bombers struck a Shiite mosque and a nearby police station near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and more than 25 people were killed or wounded, police said.
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We need to call in the Justice League.
Wonder Twin powers, activate! I'll form, a pterodactyl! I'll form, a bucket of water! Man, that guy in the twins got screwed in the power department.
Let's here it for small, ineffective government and the right to bear arms! The success of the non-nanny state of Iraq continues.
Er...let's hear it...
How 'bout the power... to move you.
Wonderboy, what is the secret of your powers...
Feed me feed me feed me . . .
The surge is working because it has to. If you all clap, Tinkerbell will be okay.
How about the power to kill a yak from 200 yards away... with MIND BULLETS!
We should send in Hawkman and Aquaman.
Seriously though, I am starting to think the war's not going to plan...
how 'bout the power of flight?
That do anything for ya? That's levitation holmes.
We could float above Iraq until they greet us as liberators.
So, reason is advocating this form of behavior in a representative democracy?
I find this odd.
A no-knock raid, Baghdad style. Why is it the insurgents never seem to get the wrong house?
We should send in Hawkman and Aquaman.
Not if we want to win. Aquaman is useless in the desert, and Hawkman fights with a mace. No, this is a Green Lantern level problem.
A no-knock raid, Baghdad style. Why is it the insurgents never seem to get the wrong house?
When you're going for mayhem, there is no wrong house.
"the city of Baqouba, where al-Qaida in Iraq and affiliated groups have been fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces and local insurgents who have turned against al-Qaida."
That is a lie. al-Qada is not in Iraq. The war in Iraq has nothing to do with the war against al-Qada and the U.S. leaving Iraq would in no way empower al-Qada or give them any sort of victory. All of the violence in Iraq is sectarian violence that has been brewing for centuries and which only the strong firm hand of Saddam Huissein prevented or violence of the oppressed trying to end the illegal U.S. occupation.
David,
Aquaman would patrol the Tigris and Euphrates. Hawkman would patrol from the sky and seek out evildoers.
In fairness though, some of those schools now have really nice paint jobs.
Aquaman would patrol the Tigris and Euphrates. Hawkman would patrol from the sky and seek out evildoers.
Then what? They'd still need to call in a real superhero for help. Now you're on the hook for three super-salaries plus benefits. You could do the same job with a remote controlled webcam for a fraction of the cost. Or link up to a non-profit surveillance outfit like Uatu the watcher.
"No, this is a Green Lantern level problem."
I agree. I am so tired of the Superman propaganda. How many people can i get on this thread to agree with me that Green Lantern should (not according to what those tools at DC would like to think) kick Supermans ass from here to Montreal?
"That is a lie. al-Qada is not in Iraq."
Al-Qaida is in Iraq because we created the chaotic situation that allowed them to come in.
That is a lie. al-Qada is not in Iraq.
"al-Queda" is just a handy name for any Islamic person who is fighting the Coalition for any reason. Maybe the word used to mean something else, but that is what it means now.
David,
The Justice League is a non-profit with a huge endowment, so they wouldn't need to be paid. If they need support one can call in Batman and the Flash.
This is a classic problem: how do these superhero's make a living? Well, Tony Stark, the amazing entrepenuer (and alcoholic) paid for all of the Avengers early adventures. A purely private venture. Somewhere a libertarian comic fan gets a hard on.
"al-Queda" is just a handy name for any Islamic person who is fighting the Coalition for any reason. Maybe the word used to mean something else, but that is what it means now.
Holy Fuck! I agree wholeheartedly with Dave.
Somewhere a libertarian comic fan gets a hard on. While a die hard objectivist is sickened by all that altruism.
Feed me feed me feed me . . .
Hmm. Usually one could argue that Dan T. is distracting us from serious discussion. It would be hard to make that case today.
"The Justice League is a non-profit with a huge endowment...."
"Somewhere a libertarian comic fan gets a hard on."
***
I fear this thread is about to veer horribly off course....
P Brooks,
Well, there really isn't much to actually write about this write-up. Besides stating that Iraq looks like it is rather screwed-up and no one appears to have any solution which can avoid the long-term clusterfuck we are likely about to witness.
But, TEH SURGE?? and stuff!
Let's here it for small, ineffective government and the right to bear arms! The success of the non-nanny state of Iraq continues.
If you have any ideas about how to end or mitigate the massive humanitarian tragedy that is present-day Iraq, by all means post them and explain why you think they would work.
However, I think its clear that one major reason for continued violence is the existence of militant tribal and ideological factions willing to engage in armed struggle (and in some cases terrorism) to gain influence. Any policy reasonably aimed at addressing that fact would have to be quite different than the types of laws and regulations normally associated with the term "nanny-state".
Dan T. has something of a point. Independent violence perpetrated by smaller "government" entities within a "state" in Europe was in part curbed by the rising power of centralized states. Of course with that came the use of that power to foment wars between centralized states. Anyway, dukes, etc. were often invading other ducal, etc. lands when state authority was decentralized.
C'mon, troll feeder. You know the only thing barrier between a prosperous, peaceful society and militant theocratic/fascist gangs controlling the streets is a ban on second hand smoke.
No RC, it is a ban on transfats and zero tolerance for violence and intolerence among children in schools. That is the thin blue line that separates us from anarchy.
Seriously though, I am starting to think the war's not going to plan...
This implies that there was actually a plan.
Grotius,
Dan T does, but like most things he knows just enough to be dangerous. It is true that armed mobs of thugs terrorized Europe before the rise of centralized nation states. They weren't land owning barons and the like, they were usually younger sons who couldn't inherit from their fathers and became mercenaries. It wasn't so bad when there was a war going on and they had gainful employment. But, when the wars ended or they didn't get paid, which was often because medieval Kings rarely had any money, the mercenaries would just roam the countryside extorting protection money or plundering. The Englishman Sir John Hawkwood was the scourge of France and Italy and a good example of this. Only after the rise of centralized nation states and standing professional armies did the practice stop.
Dan goes too far. That doesn't make the case against libertarianism; it makes the case against anarchy.
Let's here it for small, ineffective government and the right to bear arms!
You do realize that the Iraqi govt doesn't recognize the right to bear arms, right? Strangely enough the bad guys wind up getting them anyway! Sort of like Washington, DC but much bigger and with hundreds of years of ethnic rivalries added into the mix.
"Sort of like Washington, DC but...but with hundreds of years of ethnic rivalries added into the mix."
It's obvious you've never been to DC.
"al-Qada is not in Iraq."
Correction: al-Qaeda WASN'T in Iraq. Thanks for that, war hawks.
"But, TEH SURGE? and stuff!"
You've clearly not been paying attention to the news: after three months of telling us that Teh Surge is working so, so suck it Defeatocrats, the hawks are now telling us that Teh Surge hasn't started yet.
The only thing these people actually believe is that no one but them can possibly be right.