This is a war of NATO vs the Islamic civilization. NATO must prevail.

If it takes 100 years, the fight must go on!

God Bless America and George Bush

Tom, Mesa, Arizona

Neil in Gloucestershire...
Saddam "quite harmless in comparison"
quite harmless unless you lived in the villages he used poison gas on...
quite harmless tyrant... ummmmm

tom doody, Bangkok, Thailand

So we're "winning", right?

Laureate, Albany US

david hodgdon, albany, nY

I'm in baghdad right now , its only one section of the city, Most people are enjoying the better times , unfortunately one Problem area spoils it ! Poverty and Crime riddle Sadr city , they have nothing else its not different to Gang cultures in the US or Brazil , And of course not forgeting the pretend Gangsta's in D HOOD in UK ... how hilarious but things into perspective though when 200 people die in the street and these young Fools on the streets of UK think their Down Trodden !

lee , Baghdad, uk

the devil is in the details ! the casualties are being misreported, the ratio of combatants to civilians is to distorted.further reporting will bear this out.

larry, long island, ny/usa

The longer the horrific, US-led, death and destruction in Iraq continues, and there is no end in sight, the more Saddam Hussein is made to look quite harmless in comparison. Of course this was never about his inhumanity, it was more to do with his questioning of Western hegemony over the whole region, and of course his oil.

Neil, Gloucestershire, England

Before this war started, I was all for it! I was told by the dodgy politicians that Iraq had weapons of mass distruction and they were aimed at us in the west. It didn't take much time for our sons and daughters to go out there and discover that they was no such threat at all, many of them dying in the process.
In hindsight I wish we'd left well alone. As a nation of people they are just not worth it.

As 10's of thousands of Iraqis are already in the UK including many of their terrorists. Maybe its time to give the keys back, get out of there - admit it was a big mistake and spend our money on sending them back to the home land that they now appear to be determined to remodel Britain upon.

Lynn W , Expat, Portugal

Well they have spent the last 5 years killing doctors, now they are complaining there arent any!

Rob, London,

George Bush and Tony Blair opened Pandora’s box, and both will have left office bereft of slightest idea of how to close it. Bush, because he’s in one, can be excused of not understanding the dangers of a political vacuum. His ‘advisors’ ought to know though. The plans to restore Iraq (after destroying it themselves) must go down in history as the worst thought out, most improbable of success, ‘plan’ since the Charge of the Light Brigade. How could they get it so wrong? If I was in America, I’d start by writing to my Congressman or Senator, demanding immediate legislation to require any Presidential candidate to submit proof that his IQ has a minimum of 3 digits. I’m willing to allow average intelligence in a President, that’s enough to know when to keep a dangerous box shut. Sean Kavanaugh

Sean Kavanaugh, Harrogate,

Dear Tim, with the respect to your comment but I would like to view some point for you and our readers
Muslims are certainly NOT barbaric ! Surely the barbarity started in the West! Look at American history - look at their policies and their treatment of The Native Americans as well as their treatment of African Americans. Examine the history of Northern Ireland and the IRA as well as the treatment and policies of the British Government in Northern Ireland. Examine the effects of your inhuman sanctions on Iraq for over thirteen years. How many children did it kill ? A million children .

The illegal invasion of Iraq killed nearly two million people and has spread so much disease. It has tried to destroy the origin of all civilizations. Examine Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and all the other massacres , like Hadeetha and Mahmoudiya and Baghdad and then speak to me about Muslim barbarism. Look at the massacre of 21 people in Amara by The British before you make such extreme statements. You enters a country illegally for the spoils - no one asked you to remove SAddam Hussein and history will judge you harshly - you being The AMericans as well as The British . You have lost all your moral high stand - democracy is now understood to be chaos to enable you, The West to rob, pillage and rape.

You have killed , maimed, pillaged and raped as well as looted in the name of democracy and freedom and both these words now have nasty sinister connotations as a result of what you have done. Leave us alone. As a result of your "freedom and democracy" there are 2 1/2 people who have been internally displaced and over 3 million people who have left Iraq and suffering outside their country as refugees . We have lived together in Iraq in peace and in amity for thousands of years. leave our wounds to heal . Just to remind you it was Madelein Albright who when asked about any regrets about the death of half a million Iraqi children in Iraq as a result of the first couple of years of sanction , that there are no regrets. This is your civilization and culture.

History will judge what your Administration has done.

Yes, yes,... please do get out of Iraq as soon as possible. We dont want you there and we dont thank you for what destruction you committed . No one invited you over. As for the claim that the "opposition " outside asked you to do this - well , for your information, most of the people involved are not Iraqis . They are all Persians - Iranians.

The fighting in Basra is a fight about power and influence between political factions backed by Iran , that The Americans brought in when they opened the borders as is the fighting in Sadr City. Iran will be the conqueror as long as The Americans remain.



Islam is a religion of peace. Read about it and open your minds and try to get over your preconceived ideas. It is only in Moslem nations that Jews and Christians lived in peace and in equality. Read your history first, please , before you make these judgments.

All this extremism came with your people.

Wisam Al Saraf, Amman, Jordan

It's about time Al Sadr and his massive private milita were crushed, until that time the Iraqi government will not hold any authority. We can all see what the British policy of appeasment has led to in the south. Good on Al-Maliki for finally confronting one of the major stumbling points of progress for Iraq.

Phil, Edinburgh,

Muslims are crazy. They simply kill anyone who does not think like they do. Even other Muslims. It will never change. Americans, British and the rest of the world need to get out of Iraq and concentrate on defending themselves. These people will shred each other until one party emerges as leader to become another murdering dictator like Saddam. America has tried but we will never defeat their barbaric culture. Now these cultures have permeated Europe and America via our free societies, but they do not assimilate. They are all about their home nations and their religion. They use the West to make money and succeed, but we should never forget that the enslavement or death to anyone who is not a "believer" is the religious and cultural goal of all Muslims. The current slaughter being wrought in the Sadr City section of Baghdad by Muslims against Muslims should tell us all we need to know, but the West continues to stumble down the idealistic politically correct road to our end.

tim, spokane, WA USA

We fear radical Islam and yet every choice we make empowers Islamist's towards a more radical direction. The destruction of Iraq created a vacuum of power and influence in the region. As a result, Iran will benefit.

US decision makers did not forsee the main benefactor of the war in Iraq was and always has been Iran.

Fearful of the new Iranian fortune, the US will elect McCain for President which will effectively be a vote for war against Iran.

Meanwhile, we will continue to be ineffective in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Kraig Metzinger, Houston, Texas USA

good reporting

ralph reynolds, pinetop, az

Stop the bloodshed now. Bring the troops home if they don't want us there. maliki said a long time ago that the US should leave.

rich, findlay,

You'd think if they wanted us to leave, they'd mellow out at least until we do.

molly cruz, guanacaste, costa rica

Hmmmmmmm,I was sure Bush just said that all was going so well in Iraq,maybe I didn't hear him correctly...

Lance Newell, Bellingham, USA/washington

Other doctors claimed only a minority of the dead appeared to be militants. Because the primary military objective is target the civilian population of Sadr city.

The tactic of shelling populated urban areas is to indiscriminately murder as many people as possible, mostly non combatants. It's to punish and terrorise the combatants’ community in to submission.

It would never have been acceptable to shell a Catholic area in Northern Ireland to get at the I.R.A., or to punish their community. It was never necessary, and would have only been counterproductive. I'm sure some psychopaths in the British establishment would have liked to but Northern Irish Catholics just about qualify as human beings. It's glaringly apparent that Iraqis do not.

This is not a war, it's not a counter-insurgency. It's a killing spraoi.

Killian, Dublin,