From: "Mark" 


"Rich Gauszka"  wrote: ... Did you see
any of the interviews with the troops there today?  They
> appeared to be quite upset that the roadblocks were pulled.
> Although if Maliki wishes to survive ( politically and physically )  he
> will have to cater to the Shiites. I suspect Rumsfeld had to be aware of
> the roadblock lift but that the administration was still trying to find a
> way to spin the news into something less negative.

Maybe you're right, God knows the media spins everything from missing
toothpicks to sandstorms as inexcusable failures of the administration, so
I don't blame them for getting their ducks in a row -- but do we really
want to rip apart every action on the ground there, from continents away
and based on BS reporting? 

I have no idea what information Maliki had that caused him to take that
action, nor do I know if he consulted with our commanders on the ground and
they agreed with him, but regardless of what may or may not have happened,
we'll never know the inside info 

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