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 Iraq Is Still a FailurePosted on Sep 5, 2007By Marie Cocco WASHINGTON—September, this golden month, promises to be god-awful. We have reached the presumed moment of a turning point on Iraq policy and so the White House wishes to turn back the clock. It dials back to 2002, 2003 and to the 2004 presidential campaign. It returns us to a time of relentless rhetoric depicting those who oppose the Iraq misadventure as unpatriotic or unsupportive of the troops or, in the president’s latest iteration, unprincipled politicians. The decisions about what to do now in Iraq should not be driven by a “nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media,” President Bush says. He instead wants the decisions to be driven by a nervous reaction by politicians to his Labor Day publicity stunt in Iraq’s Anbar province. During the taxpayer-funded photo-op, Bush’s picture was taken with cheering Marines and the president gave glowing accounts of improved security. But he could not venture beyond the heavily fortified base. Dueling reports on Iraq, and differing interpretations of them, are to be the backdrop for bitter contention. The guidepost for which of these to believe is this: The greater the distance its authors are from the Bush White House, the more believable the assessment. A credible account came on Tuesday when the Government Accountability Office said that the Iraqi government had met only three of the 18 “benchmarks” it was supposed to have achieved by now. These “benchmarks” did not originate with the Democratic Congress, nor in the sterile safety of a think tank. They were created by the White House itself—promoted as the very reason for the so-called military “surge.” The increased U.S. military presence was supposed to give Iraqi politicians the breathing room they needed to make the political compromises that would allow the country to save itself from fratricidal disintegration. Those political benchmarks that have been met—one of eight legislative tasks has been completed, the GAO says—are remarkable in their insignificance. The single legislative achievement thus far is that the rights of minority political parties in Iraq’s legislature are respected. Not the rights of minorities in the country. Just in the legislature. None of the hard political work—say, coming up with a way to share the country’s oil wealth or disarm militias—has been done. On the security front, where the president and some in the military insist that the American “surge” is working, the GAO differs. Only two of nine security benchmarks have been met, it says. Some others, such as the training of brigades of Iraqi troops, are works in progress. Still, the report notes: “The government has not eliminated militia control of local security, eliminated political intervention in military operations, ensured even-handed enforcement of the law, increased army units capable of independent operations or ensured that political authorities made no false accusations against security forces.” David Walker, the comptroller general and head of the GAO, is the sort of nonpartisan wonk who used to hold sway in Washington, back when demonstrable facts were respected more than delusional spin. He testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday and was asked, inevitably, about the purported progress in Anbar province. “No question there’s been progress in Anbar province,” Walker said. “But Anbar province is not Baghdad,” nor, he went on, is it any other part of Iraq. Even if American troops succeed in pacifying neighborhoods and eventually turning them over to Iraqi security forces, Walker said, “I think there is a serious question as to whether they, on their own, will be able to hold these neighborhoods.” A nation without a functioning central government, where basic public services aren’t delivered, where militias with allegiance to tribes and sects often control security, where corruption and malfeasance in provincial governments are rampant and where thousands of people, notably the most educated and affluent, are fleeing, can no longer be considered a nation struggling to its feet. It can’t even be considered a country sundered by civil war. Iraq is a failed state. It is the geopolitical nightmare the American occupation was supposed to prevent. A politician so blindly loyal to the Bush White House that he or she cannot see this reality must be asked a single question, until it is finally answered. Walker posed it as well as anyone: “If we’re going to stay ... what are we going to do?” Marie Cocco’s e-mail address is mariecocco(at)washpost.com. © 2007, Washington Post Writers Group Previous item: The Bigger Bathroom Picture Next item: Fighting Someone Else's War Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig. Add Your Comment |
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By Frank Cajon, September 7, 2007 at 6:00 pm #
Well, since we have Herr Bush in command we are going to stay. What are we going to do? Have our young troops killed for another 16 months plus whatever time it will take to safely withdraw them, assuming we don’t elect ANY of the eight leading candidates for president for either of the major parties.
Report thisThe government in Iraq is non-existent. It is a puppet show. The real leaders are sectarian militia heads and religious figures who each have guerilla forces in the tens of thousands. The police, who recently stood and watched a young teenage girl be stoned to death because she dated a boy who attended a mosque her father disapproved of, moonlight in death squads for various Shiite clerics. There are so many factions that the dreams of a partitioned, shared government have completely evaporated. Al Queda keeps beign mentioned, but the reality is that they don’t have the military presence to stabilize and take over this slaughterhouse either. It will be years, maybe a decade, if ever, before the sectarian civil war we brought as Operation Iraqi Freedom is ever resolved.
By QuyTran, September 7, 2007 at 5:28 pm #
Mission accomplished George and Dick !
Report thisBy mlevass, September 7, 2007 at 10:07 am #
Disregard my last post...lol..I misread. Oops.
Report thisBy mlevass, September 7, 2007 at 10:05 am #
The GAO is a very credible source. That is the Government Accountability Office not the Government Accounting Office. Very clever for them to have the same acronym as the real GAO that has oversight of government agencies. Misleading indeed.
Sources at the ITC of the UN say that the Washington employs only lazy retards. Go ahead...argue with the UN.
Report thisBy Roy Eidelson, September 7, 2007 at 8:08 am #
Can Petreaus say anything at all inconsistent with the White House’s spin? For those interested in a psychological analysis of this warmongering, I have recently completed a 10-minute online video entitled “Resisting the Drums of War.” It examines how the Bush administration has promoted the misguided and destructive war in Iraq by targeting five core concerns that often govern our lives--concerns about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. Looking ahead, the continuing occupation of Iraq--or an attack on Iran--will likely be sold to us in much the same way. The video examines these warmongering appeals and how to counter them. It’s available for viewing HERE.
Report thisBy cyrena, September 6, 2007 at 11:02 pm #
Blaze, Re99006
Blaze, it’s ironic that you should mention this “slogan” about fighting them there, so we don’t have to fight them here. Enemy of the State had a good response for this, but it always has a certain nostalgia for me, because it stands out in my mind, from over 30 years ago, when I swear I can remember the exact same thing “slogan” provided as the reaso for our continuing presence in Vietnam.
Specifically, (the way my 6th grade nun teacher explained it)was that we were fighting against the Communists “over there”, so that they wouldn’t be able to turn us into Communists over here. So, back then, there were a few very minor linguistic differences in the way this might be explained, but, this was the same basic tune that they sang about Vietnam as well.
And, the reason I REMEMBER it so well, is because even then, it made absolutely NO SENSE to ME!!! And, I really DID try to make that explanation “fit”. It didn’t then. It hasn’t since. And it doesn’t now.
In short, it’s bullshit.
So, I’m sure glad it doesn’t make any sense to you either. I have this horrible sense that the Cabal has managed to dumb-down far more of the population than I have previously been willing to admit. And, that should be a fear for all of us, since we realistically only have power in our numbers. If half the population has already been Stepfordized, to the extent that they don’t question any of this, (or worse, actually believe it) then it’s sort of the equivalent of trying to win a war when half your army is wounded, and for every healthy one (not in a coma) there are another 2 that we have to carry on our backs.(never leave a wounded commrade behind) while we try to maintain the struggle.
And, while that may sound depressing and even impossible, I can honestly say that the awareness level HAS drastically increased among our fellow Americans, if we compare public opinion now, with what it at least “appeared” to be 4 years ago, when everybody was still totally fooled by these clowns.
So, that much is progress, and I’m grateful for it.
Report thisBy purplewolf, September 6, 2007 at 7:47 pm #
Yesterday weedboy talked about maybe cutting the troops back a little.Reports this morning talked about lightening our footprint in Iraq,in other words start bring the soldiers home. Checking the webnews tonite I found a different spin to this: The Pentagon said Thursday that U.S. troop levels currently-168,000 are expected to hit a record high of 172,000 in the coming weeks. That is a 4,000 person increase, more than the surge which started out asking for about 1,200 troop which turned out to be around 3,000+. This president must have had an American education-he cannot count past the # 1.It is time to say NO MORE, to this president and the warmongers and their insane plans.
# 98957 farmertx:
Your comment “Yet he is sure that history will judge him as having left the world a better place for his actions.
Report thisI always thought that was a scary thought,especially since weedboy claims he is carrying out his “fathers” plans. After he has destroyed countless lives and countries, what kind of a world will there be left when he gets done with it? And for him to think(I use that word loosely as we all know he doesn’t think)he will leave it in a better place than before he stole the presidency is totally delusional.
It is well known that every business venture he undertook he destroyed. What makes him think this will be any different? He is a two legged disaster machine,everything he touches is turned to garbage.
By Enemy of State, September 6, 2007 at 7:21 pm #
Jon: “President Bush’s pride is getting in the way of making sound decsions...”
But it is more than stubborn pride. Once the reality of this collosal screwup is admitted, the conservative Republican revolution is doomed. There are significant forces within this country that don’t want that to happen.
purplewolf: “...Of course that is not true...”. But we are too polite to say “Liar, Liar pants on Fire” to the president, so the lie goes largely unchallenged.
blaze: “We have to fight them there so we don’t fight them here”
But this rings emotionally true for a significant segment of our frightened population. So even though it doesn’t make logical sense, it gets voters Amygdala (brains emotion center) firing. And that is remarkably effective in manipulating them.
So I’m afraid that a few cherry picked reports of progress, when combined with politicians fears of being labeled “traitors, and terrorist enablers” because they don’t support continuance of the surge, will be enough to carry the day. We will approve another Friedman Unit. By then troop numbers will be reduced (since we don’t have them available). But this will be advertised as a strategic move, enabled by the great progress made. And we will be bamboozled into giving yet more time!
Report thisGround Hogs day sure sucks don’t it!
By blaze, September 6, 2007 at 4:13 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Cyrena,
Report thisAnother statement made by the Cabal that I have never understood is - “We have to fight them there so we don’t fight them here”. Why would any terrorist organization choose to fight 165,000 armed soldiers in a war zone rather than clandestinely plot their terrorist acts within the US where only scattered National Guard troops remain? It just doesn’t make sense.
We could be applying that 500 billion to internal security measures. Instead, we are spilling it in the sands (and in the pockets of Halliburton, Bechtel and Kellogg, Brown and Root). Ron Paul was right - the continuation of this war is to try to save face for the Cabal.
By Jimnp72f, September 6, 2007 at 12:37 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
It was truly comical, in a pathetic way, to read the msm’s headlines of last week--"the next four months will be crucial.” Gee this headline has been appearing for the last three years.
Report thisCorcker and Petraeus will no doubt say this very idiotic thing again next week, next year, next decade, etc.
Notice Ari Fleishcher’s tv ads stating that we must continue to victory. I guess he;s trying to keep his businesss pals, who have enriched him greatly, racking in their blood money.
The only victory we can experience in the next two years is impeachment of the resident and vice-resident and their full prosecution under the law which they ignore.
Let’s just keep showing the rest of the world how remarkably dumb-assed we are and how spineless our congress is.
By hazmaq, September 6, 2007 at 11:04 am #
Here’s a briefer summary:
Ministry of Defence:
Satisfactory progress, with just over 150,000 forces trained, not ready to stand on their own.
Ministry of the Interior:
Completely corrupt and partisan driven, operating without controls.....
..WITH OVER 300,000 FORCES, OPERATING INDEPENDENTLY.
Good job, George!
Report thisBy vet240, September 6, 2007 at 10:50 am #
You can paint the ass on a palomino horse red, but it’s still not a roan!
No matter how or who spins this tale, it is the most disastorous international incident this country has ever seen. I hope we can recover from the bu$h “legacy”.
Bush senior should take his whole family specially georgie.and live on a mountain top in Colombia, and never show his face again.
Report thisBy farmertx, September 6, 2007 at 10:42 am #
Anything that the Shrub attempts is all but guarrenteed to fail. The one glaring exception was his tax cuts for the fat cats. That succeeded.
Report thisStop gay marriages--failure
Reform Social Security--failure
Bring bin Laden to justice--failure
Do anything to help Americans--failure
Maintain American prestige--abject failure
Yet he is sure that history will judge him as having left the world a better place for his actions.
If he had resigned after 9/11, that might have happened. But he didn’t and it won’t. Except in his fevered mind and the fevered minds of a few lock step Republicans.
By rowdy, September 6, 2007 at 10:17 am #
katie couric says things are better than ever in iraq. that’s good enough for me. pass the kool-aid.
Report thisBy SamSnedegar, September 6, 2007 at 2:24 am #
what cyrena said, but with a big bunch of !!!!!s.
When will we ever hear about the oil?
Never. To admit we went there to get control of the oil is to admit we coveted, lied, murdered, and stole.
That just isn’t ever going to happen. Oh, maybe one or two brave souls low down on the chain will one day admit it, but they will be silenced, and the perps will continue to deny their complicity in murder and theft, as well as continue to claim they never lied at all.
But then so do the people who write columns for this page AND the Noo Yawk Times and the WaSHITon Post. Even your favorite MSNBC host, Keith Olbermann won’t say oil if he wants a salad with it on . . . he jusst says “Vinegar and that other stuff, you know?”
Get a reality check: there was never any other reason to put one boot on the ground in Iraq, and certainly never any other reason to “stay the course” there.
And by the way, you won’t go broke betting that the “surge” was just a faky way to get crack troops in Iraq to cover the oil fields and pipelines, and it has little to do with civil matters in Baghdad or any other locale.
Please listen to Charlie Rangel and Dennis Kucinich: they are the only two who ever talk about oil, and they don’t get much coverage by the msm or anyone else, including present company.
Report thisBy purplewolf, September 6, 2007 at 12:07 am #
Most of the public should have heard by now that only 3 of the 18 benchmarks have been met, and those are not totally complete.My local newspaper on Sept.4 had Bush state that 11 of the 18 benchmarks had been met.Of course that is not true. I am certain that by the time this big powwow happens all benchmarks will be a raving success,according to weedboy. As my grandfather said,” Figures don’t lie, but give liars time to figure.” That is very true of this administration. They will twist, coverup, fabricate, lie, hide actual facts, use faulty information, which they know at the time is is wrong to further their cause. I will not believe anything that is reported out of that meeting as having any truth to it by the time the Bush Bunch tweak it to perfection. They will then see no problem in going after Iran as they will say Iraq,like Katrina is a done deal.
Report thisBy Jon, September 5, 2007 at 10:39 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Has anybody noticed that politicians think the average American has no discernment or skills in evaluation? In my opinion President Bush’s pride is getting in the way of making sound decsions related to our committment in Iraq. To be firm and “bull-headed” for a cause based upon accurate info is one thing but to be hard headed and stubbornly refuse to see that grave mistakes are being made is quite another.
Report thisBy cyrena, September 5, 2007 at 9:01 pm #
…”The increased U.S. military presence was supposed to give Iraqi politicians the breathing room they needed to make the political compromises that would allow the country to save itself from fratricidal disintegration.”…
And of course the irony here, is the same as it’s always been…operational decisions made, based on what the DC-Houston CABAL has decided the Iraqis will do. THEY decided that the Iraqi politicians needed some breathing room, to make these political compromises, and they decided that 30,000 extra US troops would somehow create that “breathing room”. (I’ve never been able to quite wrap my mind around how our troops and their guns and tanks were supposed to do that, but never mind)
Still, that’s always been the case. The Cheney crowd decides what the Iraqis will do, (which is to hand over the oil) and then they also decide how they’re gonna MAKE the Iraqis do that. And what of the political compromises? Well, dick’s lawyers decided what those should be as well. (so far, we STILL haven’t gotten to anything that the Iraqis may have had in mind).
So my point is that I can sit here all day, and “decide” what I want any number of people to accomplish on my behalf, and tell them that it’s really on their behalf. And, I can even send them supplies and labor, to do whatever it is that I’m telling them to do. But, I STILL can’t MAKE them do it!!
I don’t know why the Cabal doesn’t get that. Then again, they might understand it just perfectly. Of course that would change the entire reason for the surge, and it wouldn’t really be about giving Iraqis this “breathing space” that they never asked for, or said they needed or even wanted. That always brings us back to the real reason for being there to begin with.
In the meantime, the reality is so horrifically depressing, since Marie is so correct in her observation of Iraq as a FAILED STATE. It has become second place on the Failed State Index, just behind Sudan, and not by any significant measure.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/iraq-second-on-fai led-state-index/2007/06/19/1182019116066.html
So, that brings us to the question posed by David Walker:
“If we’re going to stay ... what are we going to do?”
The answer to that, depends again on which agenda we’re talking about. The Cheney agenda, or the next episode of the story they’ve been selling us. As long as Congress continues to fund the crimes and the destruction, then the Cabal will continue to do what they’ve been doing, which is whatever it takes to secure and control that oil.
They will continue to erect the large concrete barriers around the remaining neighborhoods, with effectively imprisons that Iraqis that are left, and the rest are continuing to flee. And, they will continue the pursuit of the oil, which has been the one constant in the near 5 years that we’ve been there.
So, the only real question is whether or not it continues to be American troops, as well as the same number of private contractors who continue to do this job in Iraq, or whether it’ll just be the contractors, with many MORE contractors to join them, from all of the other transnationals that join in the looting.
Report this