Got (less) "Responsibility"?
Nuri Kamal al-Maliki just folded up military operations.
[1] "Iran is liquidating its no longer useful proxies" theory (which would fit this general line of speculation about Iran's doubts about Sadr and preference for the simultaneously-US backed ISCI) to the generally most prevalent (in the Iraqi and Arab, not just Western, media)[2] "Maliki and ISCI are liquidating their more popular rivals ahead of the provincial elections" theory;the optimistic [3] "Sadr has lost power and now's the time to take him out" theory (thus far not borne out by the course of the fighting, but who knows - it's early, or it could be a miscalculation);[4] Maliki's own "it's time to establish state sovereignty over a 'lost' province" theory (which Bush, of course, has embraced, and is supported by the reporting that the Iraqi Army began its preparations for the attack months ago; but then why isn't he taking on the other militias and warlords? and why would he start now, and in Basra?);and[5] Reidar Visser's "Maliki is trying to build a power base in the Iraqi Army" theory. [note: numbers added to make Kevin Drum happy.]
So much for the last two theories in the pile, nos 2 and 4.
I wonder what Eaton et al have published this week to account for all this "responsibility". If they announced they were registering as foreign agents, say, for the Islamic Republic (of Iran), there'd be some internal consistency to their works and wisdom.
Comments
Where are we at on nos. 6, 7, and 8?
Posted by: Todd | March 31, 2008 05:53 PM
Well, I left the following comment on Marc's site when he ran the pile:
absent is any [6] which places agency in centcom, which via its as yet unliquidated proxies, may be expending ordinance and material before draw-down, either for local effect, or for domestic (us) effect.
Of course, I don't think [6] is worth a second's, well, two second's thought, but you have to believe it or something like it, say [7] George and/or Dick thought it would look nice or take the heat off the economy story, or an even more absurd [8] (indulge yourself) if you believe, as the "Responsible Plan" acolytes must, that agency lies in CENTCOM or its civilian authority.
My personal is [0], actual agency is imperfectly known at a distance, and less predictable than the outcome of a series of coin tosses, which makes "responsibility" tragi and "planning" comic.
Posted by: ebw | March 31, 2008 08:46 PM