The Iraq-Iran Alliance

I have mentioned in several past commentaries that when it is all said and done ,and no matter how the war in Iraq ends, Iran and Iraq will be united allies.  They will enjoy the fruits of the billions of American dollars used to rebuild Iraq. Iraq and Iran as well as other countries in the Middle East, will also have even a greater advantage in the control and price of oil for years to come.---All of this because of Bush's reckless policy in Iraq over WMD that did not exist.

 

Just this past week, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's troops were locked in combat in Shiite controlled-Basra against Iraqi forces.  At the same time, al-Sadr's Mahdi Army was making trouble all over Baghdad.  Iraqi officials have now reported that over 500 Iraqi solders, police, and civilians were killed in the Basra and Baghdad fighting, with hundreds more wounded.

 

Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki, who vowed to see the Basra campaign through to a military victory, instead came to an agreement with al-Sadr to end the fighting and agreed to al-Sadr's nine demands.  Once again, al-Sadr told his army to stand down.  That can be deemed success---for now...

 

But the fighting in Basra and Baghdad this week has exposed the weakness of the American troop surge.  Al-Sadr and his army can and do turn the heat and violence up any time they want to.  The surge did not have an affect on this operation.  It should be noted, however, that the Iraqi representatives who handled the cease fire with the Shiite in Basra and Baghdad also had to send representatives to Iran to deal with al-Sadr to help negotiate the cease fire.  In other words, al-Sadr is operating from Iran.  The American people should and need to understand just what is taking place here.

 

All the while, our troops are still dying in a country made unstable by the President's invasion.  It should also be noted to the American people that the fight in Basra and Baghdad was between al-Sadr's army and the government and not al-qaeda.  Al-Sadr does not like the way the government is handling the Shiite-Sunni problem, and he has no problem raising hell to get what he wants.

 

In other words, the civil war is still going on in Iraq and Americans are dying because of forces that our military can not control.  If Bush or McCain or any other  neoconservative Republican thinks that America is waving the white flag of surrender by bringing out troops home, then they are the ones who care nothing about our men and women in uniform.  If all our troops came home tomorrow, they will all come home just like they served, with the highest honor. 

 

If any one thinks that America, the greatest military power in the world, has to occupy a foreign country in order to keep our country safe, then our children's future is really in jeopardy.  Indeed, this country's future is in jeopardy if that is the case. Think about that.

The Morning Dose---4/8

Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post is today's source for the Morning Dose. In her latest article, Anne highlights the facts concerning Clinton and her hospital story, which despite what many in the Obama-loving media would have you believe, was true:

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The aunt of a young pregnant woman who died after a hospital told her she needed to pay $100 up front for care said in an interview on Monday that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has been telling the story accurately on the campaign trail -- following claims by a different Ohio hospital that it did not turn the patient away.

For weeks, Clinton repeated an anecdote she heard in Ohio on Feb. 28 involving a young woman who lost her baby and later died because she lacked health insurance and did not have $100 to gain access to a nearby hospital.

But over the weekend, Clinton came under fire when officials at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, after reading about her remarks, demanded that she stop recounting it because the patient, Trina Bechtel, was admitted there and did have insurance.

That part, it turns out, is true. But so is Clinton's claim that Bechtel did not get care at another hospital that wanted a $100 pre-payment before seeing her, according to the young woman's aunt, Lisa Casto. "It's a true story," said Casto, 53.(...)

(...)Casto said her niece, who suffered from preeclampsia during her pregnancy, did not seek care at the first hospital she when she fell ill because she knew she did not have the $100 out-of-pocket she believed she would need to be seen. Instead, she went to O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, where her baby was stillborn. Bechtel was later flown to Columbus and died there. She was 35. 

Casto said she has been stunned by the amount of negative attention her niece's story generated, and that she was sorry it had hurt the Clinton campaign. She was, and is, she said, a supporter. "Did I vote for Hillary?" she said. "You'd better bet I did."

Anne's article, important to note, also clarified the issue on the patient's insurance situation. The woman did not have insurance originally, as Clinton correctly noted.  At the time of her death, however, she was insured, but, "the damage", so to say, was already done to her health from not being able to be treated originally.