THE END IS NEARING

That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn from this AFP article.

Iraq was preparing for the rapid execution of former dictator Saddam Hussein, with the US-backed government eager to bring his chapter in the country’s bloody history to an end.
Justice Minister Hashem al-Shibli said Saddam’s death sentence for crimes against humanity, upheld by an Iraqi appeal court on Tuesday, would be rubber stamped by the presidency and the prison service would hang him.

It’s time that Iraq rid themselves of Saddam. That said, Saddam’s execution won’t cure the violence inside Iraq. That won’t subside until Moqtada al-Sadr is marginalized or exterminated & until Iran’s influence is eliminated. Exterminating al-Sadr is definitely doable in the short term but eliminating Iran’s influence will be a much more difficult project.

One thing that might happen as part of Saddam’s execution is that it might tamp down the Sunni-initiated violence. That might happen independent of what al-Sadr’s militias do.

Tension was boiling up further south in the holy city of Najaf after an American soldier killed a senior ally of Sadr during a raid on his house. Sadr supporters and local police told AFP that US and Iraqi soldiers had stormed the family home of Sahib al-Ameri, the president of a pro-Sadr political foundation in the holy city of Najaf, and shot him dead.

Let’s hope that Sadr gets the message that American troops aren’t waiting on Maliki’s blessing with regards to Sadr. This is a clear message to Sadr that he isn’t immune to American attacks. He can’t depend on Maliki protecting him anymore.

LONELY, I'M MR. LONELY

By Michelle Malkin

I linked to this photo of lonely John Kerry spurned by the troops in Iraq last night via Power Line, but the photo is going viral and it's worth re-posting as a stand-alone.

Thank radio talk show host Scott Hennen for sharing the image. He tells Power Line he'll be talking more about the picture and the story behind it during his guest stint for Sean Hannity today and tomorrow. More background at Ben of Mesopotamia's blog:

On Saturday night, a colleague emailed me and told me to bring my camera, as Senator Kerry was scheduled to give a press conference here in the Palace. At 2100, he entered a conference room wearing his leather flight jacket. Unfortunately, there was no media there, except for the enlisted soldiers from AFTN (Armed Forces Television Network) who had to be there. His aide looked around, saw that this just wasn't happening, and quickly escorted Kerry out before I could take a picture.

Finally, the next morning, Senator Kerry ate chow at the Dining Facility. Normally when a Senator/Representative visits, he is joined by a contingent of soldiers/Marines/airmen from his home state. Despite the fact that the MP unit responsible for Green Zone security is an Army Reserve unit from Massachusetts, not a single soldier went to sit with him. (By contrast, Bill O'Reilly, host of that terrible shoutfest on Fox, had over 400 soldiers waiting in line to meet him on Saturday).

Blackfive has more on Kerry's visit.

Bryan Preston sums it up: "I've never seen a snubbing so richly deserved."

I'm sure the Wall Street Journal will call this another of the blogosphere's "second-order distractions." But the troops think it's newsworthy and snort-worthy. And so do I.

Words have consequences.

***

Speaking of the Wall Street Journal blog-bashers, you really must read/listen to Hugh Hewitt's interview with--and schooling of--WSJ journalism expert, Joseph Rago. It's simply brilliant. Almost as good as the Joel Stein interview.