DescentBB

from here
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -
Iraq's government said on Tuesday it had closed its borders with
Syria and
Iran and extended the hours of a night curfew in Baghdad under a U.S.- backed security plan to rein in violence in the capital.

The measures ordered by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki were announced on Iraqiya state television by Lieutenant General Abboud Qanbar, the Iraqi commander who is leading the U.S.-backed security offensive in Baghdad.

Qanbar said the border with Iran would be closed for 72 hours. He did not say how long the border with Syria will be closed.
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Well hell! that sounds like great idea...you know get control of the contry you are invading and cutting off the supply of terrorists and their supplies, like these Iranian supplied sniper rifles
too bad they didn't think of it uh,...oh,....maybe a couple of years ago when it might have helped!!!!
And maybe I'm just a pesimist but...anouncing the border will be closed for only 72 hours is kind of like saying \"Hey you guys! All you islamikazi terrorists and smugglers. You've been working really hard the past couple of years so why not take a good old fashioned three day weekend to re-charge your little jihadi batteries before you bring in the next load of weapons and fighters? OK?\"

To paraphrase my favorite loudmouthed linebacker, Joey Porter - 'Just when I thought they couldn't possibly maintain their king-of-stupid status they totally redeem themselves'!

If, in 72 hours (which is not long enough) the missing flow of stuff from both countries is noticed, then at least we'll have 'proof'.

Testiculese wrote:If, in 72 hours (which is not long enough) the missing flow of stuff from both countries is noticed, then at least we'll have 'proof'.

It looks to me like they have the proof in those Austrian rifles that were just delivered to Iran and then they show up in the hands of the "insurgents" in Iraq.

From here
"Within 45 days of the first HS50 Steyr Mannlicher rifles arriving in Iran, an American officer in an armoured vehicle was shot dead by an Iraqi insurgent using the weapon.

Over the last six months American forces have found small caches of the £10,000 rifles but in the last 24 hours a raid in Baghdad brought the total to more than 100, US defence sources reported."

Not that Bush has the balls anymore to actually do anything.

Oh, didn't know that...thought we were in 'discovery', or 'planting evidence' phase, whichever tinfoil hat one wears.

Iran's probably having a great laugh doing to us what the US did, handing weapons and such to...Afghanistanians(?) to kill Russians.

Testiculese wrote:Oh, didn't know that...thought we were in 'discovery', or 'planting evidence' phase, whichever tinfoil hat one wears.

Iran's probably having a great laugh doing to us what the US did, handing weapons and such to...Afghanistanians(?) to kill Russians.

True enough, but unfortunately, unlike the U.S. involvement in Afghanastan, when we leave the area the Iranians won't pack up and go home the way we did when the Soviets got pushed out!
They will take over, either outright or by stealth ie; implant enough religious leaders to stir the pot and spur their followers to wipe out the Iraqi's who don't pray on the proper colored rug or whatever mystic quirk differentiates the islamic version of bloods and crips!

We've opened up a real hornets nest over there and apathy or partisan gamesmanship is never going to lead to a proper reaction to these unfortunate circumstances, in fact it's sure to make the enemy bolder and more dangerous.

Will Robinson wrote:

Testiculese wrote:Oh, didn't know that...thought we were in 'discovery', or 'planting evidence' phase, whichever tinfoil hat one wears.

Iran's probably having a great laugh doing to us what the US did, handing weapons and such to...Afghanistanians(?) to kill Russians.

True enough, but unfortunately, unlike the U.S. involvement in Afghanastan, when we leave the area the Iranians won't pack up and go home the way we did when the Soviets got pushed out!
They will take over, either outright or by stealth ie; implant enough religious leaders to stir the pot and spur their followers to wipe out the Iraqi's who don't pray on the proper colored rug or whatever mystic quirk differentiates the islamic version of bloods and crips!

We've opened up a real hornets nest over there and apathy or partisan gamesmanship is never going to lead to a proper reaction to these unfortunate circumstances, in fact it's sure to make the enemy bolder and more dangerous.

Exactly. If we leave Iraq, we may as well get out of Afghanistan too because the terrorists will simply shift their focus to our forces there. I'm not exactly sure what will happen next, but I'll bet there will be large scale genocide. Shiite women and especially Shiite children will be hunted down, tortured, raped, and murdered by the hundreds. Radical Islam will grow unchecked along with the born again Taliban who will be back in power driving their fundamentalist ideas into their schools which will again be filled with boys being taught to hate you and me, while girls and women will be banned to their homes.

So, if we leave, all of it would have been for nothing. Terrorism will continue to grow only faster, more agressive, with scarier weapons and a greater hatred of the west. Who will stop them next time? It certainly won't be the U.N. nor will it be France, China, Russia or any other country.

If we join the others and turn a blind eye to religious atrocities, we better learn to be good at defense.

Bettina

Bet51987 wrote:... Shiite women and especially Shiite children will be hunted down, tortured, raped, and murdered by the hundreds...

- and Sunni, depending on where they are.

It won't matter when we leave, it will happen anyway, Bet

Unless the Iraqi's declare war on Iran or Syria, there is not much point in closing boarders for a minimal period of time (unless the initial 72 hour period is a test to see how effective a boarder closing can be). I suspect there is a substantial legitimate amount of trade between all three countries so closing the boarders will only hurt the economy of Iraq while insurgents will still smuggle in munitions. Time will tell.
As an aside I see with Iraq'a new security crack down, \"Mooky\" al Sadr has left Iraq and went where? Iran of course.