NYT Editorial: Too soon to cheer in Baghdad

NYT -- June 14, 2006 --{snips} Three years after declaring from the deck of an aircraft carrier that America had accomplished its mission in Iraq, President George W. Bush flew to Baghdad on Tuesday to make much of two modest pieces of encouraging news - the belated confirmation of the last three members of the Iraqi cabinet and the death of Iraq's top terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

By now, Americans surely know the difference between a presidential publicity stunt and a true turning point in this ever-lengthening war. If they had any question about which one this was, Karl Rove provided some guidance in New Hampshire, where he delivered the campaign talking points to the Republican faithful: The Democrats could never have summoned the will to kill Zarqawi. For an administration that is supposed to be rallying a nation at war, it was a revealingly nasty, partisan and divisive moment.

To increase the drama of Bush's visit to Iraq, Maliki announced a large military and police operation around Baghdad, involving tens of thousands of troops, to secure roads, stage raids, seize weapons and enforce a curfew. That may look good on paper, but so did the "Mission Accomplished" banner. There are already 75,000 American and Iraqi troops deployed around Baghdad, and very few of those Iraqis can actually carry out such a mission reliably and effectively.

Beyond that, we have been repeatedly told that the already overstretched American forces will be pulled back from the cities and maybe from Iraq itself later this year. How are Americans supposed to square Maliki's grandiose announcement with Bush's message that the United States is preparing to reduce its military role?

full article: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/14/opinion/ediraq.php


my 2 cents: Escalation Masquerade (6-13-2006)

It's "are we now able to bring our troop home?" The answer on all this window-dressing is a big fat NO. Zarquawi was a whack-a-mole diversion from an insurgency that has repeatedly been reported as being home-grown and widely supported. The sham government in Baghdad, just like the one in Kabul, is a smoke screen that hides the mess that is going "on the ground"...with thousands of our young men and women right in the crosshairs.

There's no exit strategy here except for the continued profiteering off the big, unchecked spending this regime and its cronies are doing that both prolong this strife and now is destroying the very fabric of the American middle class. It also creates a faux secenario where diversions can be created in Iran and/or Syria to keep this shell game moving. In the meantime oil supplies are manipulated, contractors get sweetheart deals and American corporations outsource and get tax breaks. There's no concern about whose going to pay...and nothing would make the Repugnican look better than to dump their trash on Democrats and have them eat each other while they fight for the scraps.

The fools who actually believe we can win a homegrown insurrection are either very ignorant or have a vested interest where continued war means stock dividends or a job or other motive.

Of course he believes, like all of the sheltered ascendants to power in Iraq. It's their only game. There's nothing left for them but to try and crush the spirit of those who oppose the new regime.

Their Baghdad crackdown with 80,000 troops isn't about insurgents so much as its the same military intimidation scheme that Saddam used to maintain power and control, with the U.S. propping him up (photo GW archives: Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam). Baghdad might be conquered again, or it could erupt into a mini-war that the initial invasion managed to avoid. Either way, the citizens of Baghdad are going to have to flee or get used to the feel of American boots on their necks.

I predict another troop escalation from Bush. We'll see.

Now i Malawi in the pocket of the Iranians? Or is it Chalabi and the Carlisle Group? Then there's Sadr sitting with his Shiite militia and the Sunnis in Tikrit along with various other factions that have turned this country into a middle-east fifedom where power is defined in neighborhoods or towns. Any "Iraqi army" is not a true national one as it is not a force to unify a nation by to keep it divided.

I'm one who thinks the real power broker here are biding their time. They can outlast an American war of contrition...be it another 6 weeks another year or 10 years. These people live there, they're not going away...and they will pick their spots to stick the dagger in with one hand while shaking your hand with the other. "Friends" are alliances that change based on self interests and opportunity. The Americans are used to settle scores and to create new feuds. Either way, the ultimate fate of Iraq won't be determined until after American troops are removed, not before. A prolonged occupation shows that this regime isn't interested in the security of the region, just the exploitation.

like Afghanistan's president Karsai, the 'mayor of Kabul'. A great deal of partitioning and oil land dealmaking is going on without any direction from the Central Authority in Baghdad. The only 'power' any new authority monkey has there comes from the suppression and intimidation that's carried out with the support of our forces. Once we're out of the picture, once we pull our protection back, it's a sure bet that the present puppet regime won't stand.

Of the real power in that country...the money men. The ones who quietly hide under the vaneer of this war to profit from all the turbulence it creates. They have carved up the oil revenues, then turn on and off the taps to manipulate world prices...they buy and sell arms and fund the various factions just like their own private armies...buying off local loyalties that fund an overall strife as warlords have risen where power vaccuums exist.

Yes, this is almost identical to Kabul and the concept of a national government or military or "security" is a falicy that is blown to bits daily as the well funded and armed insurgents are encouraged to battle one another that keeps the local populace in fear and creates yet another level of smoke over the real pilaging that's taking place in that country...and subsequently in ours.

I see a Saigon '75 scenario here and again in Kabul when this war no longer is profitable to those who instigated this war. We need to focus a light on these profiteers and demand their exposure.

Cheers...

Or any of a host of other apologists for corruption and incompetence that infest our airwaves and pollute our news outlets.