Today in McCain's War

Maybe we really are doomed to elect John McCain, remain in Iraq forever and nuke Iran. Nations that forget history may not be doomed to repeat it, but those that never even recognize reality in the first place definitely are. - Gary Kamiya Salon 03/25/08

We all know that The Surge is victorious, every day in every way. Because our Savior-General David Petraeus and St. John McCain tell us so reguarly. I'm sure the following are signs of victory, as well.

Iraqi forces battle for control of oil city by Aref Mohammed, Reuters 03/25/08:

Iraqi security forces battled fighters loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Basra on Tuesday in a drive to win control of the southern oil city, triggering a wave of violence in Baghdad and other cities. ...

A hail of rockets and mortars hit U.S. military bases in Baghdad and the "Green Zone" government and diplomatic compound.

Basra is Iraq's largest port. It's also located in a strategic location in relation to the American supply lines out of Kuwait.

See also: Key facts on Basra, Iraq's second city Reuters 03/25/08; Main players in Iraq's Basra Reuters 03/25/08; Battles wrack Basra, threatening success of U.S. surge by Leila Fadel and Ali al Basri, McClatchy Newspapers 03/25/08; Is 'success' of U.S. surge in Iraq about to unravel? by Leila Fadel and Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers 03/24/08; and, Across Iraq, battles erupt with Mahdi Army by Sam Dagher The Christian Science Monitor 03/26/08 (accessed 03/25/08):

The US blames the latest attacks on rogue Mahdi Army elements tied to Iran, but analysts say the spike in fighting with Shiite militants potentially opens a second front in the war when the American military is still doing battle with the Sunni extremists of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

"The cease-fire is over; we have been told to fight the Americans," said one Mahdi Army militiaman, who was reached by telephone in Sadr City. This same man, when interviewed in January, had stated that he was abiding by the cease-fire and that he was keeping busy running his cellular phone store.

Can you say, "hitting the fan"?

iraq war