Liquid Land Mines, Qassam Rockets, and Sadr City

While reading the news and blogs this beautiful morning, my heart was stirred by personal stories of families touched by wars and violence. In Israel, Michael at Oleh Musings shares reports of rockets and missiles flying. He shares a Ynet news article about an explosion occurred at a rocket launcher in the northern Gaza Strip .

It's not like the pali terrorist groups weren't trying to shoot up Israel; they've fired off at least 3 rockets so far this morning:

Palestinians launched a third Qassam rocket at the western Negev.

That's all news, but what really got my attention was the personal experiences of Michael and his family. Here's a taste of his article, but you should go to his place and read it all.

Now, I live up north, so I don't know exactly how the residents of Sderot and the surrounding areas are putting up with all of this, but I got a taste of it last summer. It's disconcerting, to say the least...

...One minute you're folding the laundry, and then you hear the explosions echoing off the hills, and you're wondering what got hit. You go to pick up the kids from daycare and preschool, and you find them in the bomb shelters. You put on the news, but of course the anchors are talking faster than your Hebrew can follow; you catch the words "katyushot" and "Majd al-Krum," and you know that those booms you heard were within a couple kilometers of your apartment...

And that was just the first day. There were several times that we actually heard the rockets streak past overhead, and hit just a few hundred meters away.

Those of us who live in the United States cannot truly understand what's going on in Israel, or Iraq, all we can do is support her, pray for her, and share with the rest of the world what's going on. Israel has problems now, her leadership (or lack of leadership), the reputation of her military, IDF, and missing soldiers that still need to be returned home.

Stormwarning reports on liquid land mines and liquid bombs and the possibility of al-Qaeda using them. Here's a portion:

We may have a serious problem here. Liquid explosives have been on the radar screen for a few months, ever since the British terror attack plot was "intercepted" back in August of 2006. The concern then was that a liquid bomb could be smuggled onto an airplane...causing passengers to leave their bottled water behind. Now, it comes to light that a material called Astrolight might actually be used as a "liquid landmine." Astrolight is a two-part explosive (a 2:1 ratio of ammonium nitrate and hydrazine) that has a low volatility, extending its persistence. [snip]

... Poured directly onto a dirt road, the stuff soaks into the first few inches of earth, giving tremendous upheaval power. Although the land mine was fired remotely in the test, a pressure-sensitive fuse can be used that will react to the weight of a passing vehicle. Other virtues of the liquid are that it remains detonable for up to four days, even in the rain, but eventually deactivates itself, making dangerous minefield clearance unnecessary. Once applied, it cannot be detected by standard mine-detection equipment. Liquid Land Mine can be simply poured from canteen like containers says its maker, Explosives Corporation of America, or sprayed from trucks or helicopters.

Very scary stuff, whether used by al-Qaeda in Iraq, or terrorists inside the United States, Britain, or perhaps Israel. Go read Stormwarning's entire article here.

Sadr City, or the slum as some refer to it, may be key in finding some kind of peace in Iraq. My friend Ortho at Baudrillard's Bastard mentioned this article at Asia Times in his Sunday Reading List. Here's the highlights:

This is the 24-square-kilometer theater where a great part of Iraq's future is already being played out; a vital element in US President George W Bush's surge; the place Pentagon generals dream of smashing into submission; one of the largest and arguably most notorious slums in the world: Sadr (formerly Saddam) City.

Sadr City is also, along with Gaza and the West Bank, the theater of the already evolving 21st-century war, pitting the high-tech Western haves against the slum-dwelling Third World have-nots. [snip]

Hussein al-Motery is the general administrator of the municipality of Sadr City, the man ultimately responsible for the well-being of almost 3 million people, more than half the population of Baghdad. [snip]

Sadr City is a giant dormitory. Hussein says, "Baghdad would become a ghost city if people from Sadr City would not go there to work." He adds, "Sadr City has become the symbol of stability for Baghdad and Iraq. Many merchants in Baghdad come from Sadr City." Community life is indeed stable; this is a peaceful, harmonious dormitory.

Security in his district is provided by tribal guards, and not by Muqtada's Mehdi Army. Everyone in the district seems to agree Sadr City is the most peaceful place in Iraq. The heavy turbulence is another story - it involves deadly clashes between the Mehdi Army against the Americans, Sunni guerrillas or al-Qaeda in Iraq. (more)

The article is very anti-American, but if you can get past that there is much valuable information that could be used in working toward peace in Iraq. Sunni and Shia both live in the area, it is relatively peaceful, the people like Muqtada al-Sadr, even the ones who are not Sadrist. We are talking about 3 million people.

Were the Pentagon tempted to wall Sadr City, the feeling is that nearly 3 million people would instantly be up in arms. There have been rumors that Muqtada has directed the Mehdi Army to attack any trucks in Baghdad transporting concrete blocks. But no one in Sadr City confirms it. [snip]

The key problem is Shi'ite-Shi'ite violence. The Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and effectively trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, is now clashing with the Mehdi Army in Sadr City itself. (more)

It will take a greater mind than mine to figure out the answer. One thing strikes me though. We may not like al-Sadr, but we cannot over look him and his following. Early in this war he could have, and should have, been dealt with. The situation is different now.

Like Hamas and Hezbollah, Sadr is real and must be factored into any plan for peace. (Don't get me wrong, I do not suggest we should negotiate with Hamas or Hezbollah, they are terrorist organizations.) I'm not sure Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is up to the challenge.

Comments

[Debbie]

Rastaman, funny that you mention Sadr. I've been told he would love to be the new leader. I've also had some very disturbing information about his latest nasty tricks. Look for a future post on this.
Welcome back. Glad you had a good trip.

Stormwarning, Angel, Ortho, glad you all had a good weekend and Mother's Day.

[Stormwarning]

Rastaman, once again I find myself really appreciating the open mindedness of the people who comment here at Right Truth (generally, one would consider RT to be a "conservative" blog). Yet your observations about Iraq are quite on target in my opinion (since "scorch the Earth" is not a rational option).

One of the biggest differences between Iraq and Vietnam though is the weaponry available and the startegies and tactics thus enabled. Not the least of which is access to the Internet.

[Rastaman]

Makes me yearn for the good old days when a liquid land mine was a bag of poop on fire on some neighborhood grouchs front porch.

It's become so blatantly obvious that we would be vastly better off by simply leaving Iraq and focussing on other, far more urgent problems, that any continued discussion on how to win in Iraq is pointless. We can't win in Iraq because Iraq is ungovernable by anyone except another Saddam. Someone like Al Sadr, for instance. They just all hate each other too much. Certainly all those muslims in the Middle East will never put up with infidels running Iraq. Never! The only way to "win" is to scorch the earth of any form of life.

We left Viet Nam with our tail between our legs. We went there originally to aid the French, who gave it up and left. We should have followed them out right then but no. We stayed because we wanted the strategic Far East military position. Over 50,000 of us died for nothing, not to mention God knows how many of the Vietnamese. Now we're doing it again and we will end up leaving the same way, with thousands of dead, many more thousands of maimed, and our treasury wiped out and our credibility in the trash.

I need to stop before I become reduced to making gutteral noises.

Rastaman
www.islamanazi.com

[Angel]

hiya Debbie..I feel so sorry for the Israelis and all they have to endure!

[Debbie]

Ortho, on the last paragraph in the Asia Times article (see paragraph below), I don't think America will try to take on all of Sadr City. They know that it would be a bad idea. Also, the US, the Iraqi Government and Sadr have an agreement, sort of, at least for now.

Paragraph:

"As for Amrika, there's no way the US will conquer any hearts and minds among more than half the population of Baghdad. And should the Pentagon go for the much-feared "battle of Sadr City", there will be only one way to yell "mission accomplished": by perpetrating a mass genocide."

[ortho]

Debbie, thanks for the link. What did you think of last paragraph of the Asia Times article? Prophetic? Or insane?

Stormwarning, the locations and reading habits of your "visitors" is intriguing. It sounds as if you're caught in the middle of an "information war". War, in the broadest definition of the term, permeates all of society even the cyberworld. Since words are acts of war—writing is war--, I deploy each letter, every word in my posts and comments strategically. We all need to choose sides! The neutral subject no longer exists!

Enjoy Mother's Day!

[Stormwarning]

Since you read my stuff, you know that one of the things that I look for is the unintended consequences of new technologies. The liquid land mines made from Astrolight are a bit different, in that this is an adaptation of an older technology.

Its one of the things that concern me greatly. In fact, I've recently been concerned about the locations of some of my readers (Middle East) and the specific posts they're focusing on.