From: "Rich Gauszka" 

What did I say that discounted what George said?

Meethinks you are reading more into my comments than I intended/posted

"Mark"  wrote in message news:44011740$1{at}w3....
> Sheesh Rich, you just got a report from George that was relayed direct
> from ground zero telling it like it is from people that are there, and you
> refute that with an ABC
> News blurb? I think the level of credibility of George and his contacts
> over ABC is obvious, don't you? 
>
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> news:440114b1$1{at}w3....
>>
>> "George Sherwood"  wrote in message
>> news:pan.2006.02.26.02.08.48.529192{at}beernabeer.com...
>>> On Sat, 25 Feb 2006 19:20:38 -0500, Mark wrote:
>>>
>>>> Wow Rich, I just saw someone somewhere else quoting that "no
>>>> independent
>>>> battalions" misnomer, using that same snippet you did
(but from a
>>>> different
>>>> source) so I actually just followed your link. Near the beginning it
>>>> says:
>>>> "The officials said the Iraqi security forces show no
signs of cracking
>>>> but
>>>> rather have taken the lead in enforcing a curfew and
restoring order in
>>>> Samarra, where the bombing of a revered Shiite mosque this
week set off
>>>> a
>>>> wave of reprisal killings..." then paragraphs
immediately preceding
>>>> your
>>>> clip tell a completely different story:
>>>
>>> I just received an email from an army guy I know in Samarra and it
>>> agrees
>>> with what you posted not the others.
>>>
>>> "The growing theme in the news stories is the
>>> failure of the Iraqi Security Forces to stem the violence, which may be
>>> the
>>> case in other areas of the country.  However, here, at the epicenter of
>>> the
>>> whole affair, the Iraqi Police and MOI (Ministry of Interior) Commandos
>>> in
>>> Samarra are guarding the mosque site, manning the checkpoints into the
>>> city
>>> and are showing remarkable restraint even when pelted by rocks from
>>> angry
>>> crowds (which while in the hundreds are not that large to begin with).
>>> The
>>> local and provincial government called for restraint and most of the
>>> religious leaders - Sunni and Shia - did as well...and it seems to be
>>> working, especially with a 20-hour curfew in effect.  Few are blaming
>>> the
>>> coalition, and in fact we're mostly just monitoring the situation from
>>> our
>>> bases."
>>>
>>>
>>> All the people I know tell the same story, we are not seeing it fully
>>> here.  Only the most negative parts.
>>>
>>> George
>>
>>  al-Sadr's movement is blaming the coalition. I'm not sure how much of
>> that is shared by the general populace though as I've seen reports that
>> place blame on everyone ( Iran, Shiite, Sunni ... )
>>
>> http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1662590&page=4
>> On Saturday, al-Sadr's movement joined Sunni clerics in agreeing to
>> prohibit killing members of the two sects and banning attacks on each
>> other's mosques. The clerics issued a statement blaming "the
occupiers,"
>> meaning the Americans and their coalition partners, for stirring up
>> sectarian unrest.
>>
>> "We demand that the occupiers leave or set a timetable for the
>> withdrawal," the statement said.
>>
>>
>
>
>

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