By kath cantarella, March 30: “It would be nice to hear spontaneous thoughts from Iraqis...”

They’re too busy leaving Iraq and trying to survive wherever they go, kath.  Just like Italians who fled a war-torn country in the 1940’s or Greeks who fled the military junta a couple of decades later...... too busy building a life and trying so desperately to forget.

There is no consensus group called “All Iraqis”.  Iraq is a nation of diverse groups and subgroups, each with sometimes diverging interests.  Like most of the world, Iraq adheres to the old adage that “all politics is local” - which is to say that if you can generalize about Iraqi citizens, it’s that they want a peaceful country so they can live normal lives like the rest of us.

To that end, recent polls show they are optimistic for the future, and believe that the security situation and quality of life are improving. Of course opinions vary by region and ethnicity, but what I’m talking about here are statistical majorities.

They do not hate America.  They don’t want to be permanently occupied by any country, but they also don’t want the coalition to suddenly leave, only to have a return of the previous violence.  So no - the Iraqis, as a majority, do not support the immediate pullout of the coalition.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/poll/ 2008/0308opinion.pdf

Noaman A writes:

• “The main cause behind the spread of violance lies the occupation.Ridding Iraq of the occupation will certainly creat a conducive opportunity for a peaceful end to this tragedy.”

Yes Noaman, I’ve been saying the same thing myself for at least 4 ½ years now.

• “Calming the situation down serves neither the US nor Israel”

THIS is even more true, though it took me slightly longer to realize it. Because; one must first be aware of the purposes in invading and occupying Iraq to begin with, before one can understand this reality. Once we know and acknowledge that, then we understand that ‘calming’ the situation is exactly CONTRARY to the interests of the US, and probably Israel as well. (accepting that Israel is part of the PNAC goal for American Military Global Domination).

In short, the goals of a TOTALITARIAN movement DEPEND upon, and REQUIRE chaos and instability. I know people are tired of hearing me say this, but at some point, the reality needs to sink in, because it isn’t a ‘new world thing’. It’s been utilized by other fascist movements long before the neocons came to be used by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, et al.

The ONLY way they can serve their needs is for terror and chaos and instability to reign, and so they create it.

Now I don’t know the Israeli connections to it, (as you’ve relayed from your own sources) but I’m not at all surprised.

I thoughtit was funny

Ivan,

What, pray tell, did I write to offend you??

People getting duped by their governments is life.  The sad fact is, there doesn’t seem to be any consequence for a government lying to its citizens.

I still think the US government’s main reason for building a huge war machine is not to defend or agress but, rather, to keep its own citizens at bay while it steals their money and shirts--not unlike what Sadaam did in Iraq.

The strategic positioning of the colonies from England with the pond in between made England’s far superior military relatively ineffective.  We’ve got to figure a way to weaken our military.  Propaganda?

Cant do that now, Muqtada al-Sadr called in his boys, so now its all peaceful again. They just wanted their fair share of press coverage.

Speak for yourself, Thomas.  “You” may have “bought this administration’s shit,” but I never did.  I, like many who turn to Democracy Now for “news” (as opposed to the propaganda network, aka corporate media) knew from day one that the claims of WMD/al Qaeda links were B.S.  I.F. Stone had it right when he said, “governments lie.” What should be added is that corporate media, with its so-called “professional journalists” who rely solely on “official sources” for information, simply provide the megaphone for spreading the lie.

Can we put term limits on the Supreme Court Justices as well?

I’m thinking 20 years should be the max.

You’re right of course Kath.

Ordinary Iraqi voices ARE missing from these momumentous decisions, although…

There ARE actually a few still voicing some. (at least I hope). It’s just that the US media, (or really much other) rarely gets it out to us.

There was a time back a while ago, when the energy workers and associated unions were actively involved in preventing the full give away of their oil. That of course, has been a long struggle, and I don’t really know what’s going on with that now. I DID read an article recently, that now CHEVRON is making deals (the same that they’ve been trying so hard to prevent) for whatever THEY plan to take of the Iraqi oil.

(we have to keep in mind, that was the primary reason for this invasion and PERMANENT occupation).

Aside from that, there have been some independent journalists who’ve been able to spend extended time there, and actually give voice to ordinary Iraqis.

I’ll see if I can track down some of those publications for you, if you’re interested. The thing is that they are semi ‘dated’ at this point, (2006, and 2007) and the conditions there have deteriorated so rapidly, that I don’t know how indicative they would be for what the average Iraqi citizens thinks or feels at this point.

More than 2 million of them of been displaced, and we know another million or more have been internally displaced, as well as the near million, (by unprecise calculation) that have been murdered.

Needless to say, it’s difficult to ascertain now, exactly what they think.

Nir Rosen has done quite a bit of excellent journalism from and on Iraq, as has Dahr Jamil.

You can probably find their work easily with a search engine.

What a freakin copout.Blame the Bush administration for 6the disaster in Iraq.My generation knew that politicians lie to get us into wars.{aka Vietnam]We bought this administration’s shit.When you go to bed at night and you supported this war you are ultimately responsible for the 4000 dead soldiers mand the tens of thousands of wounded not to mention the 500 hundred thousand Iraqi deaths.Try as you might to absolve yourself of the blame by laying it on this administration as in Macbeth you cannot wash the blood off your hands.

Exactly.  The best government is the one which fears it’s people, not the other way around.

Your last paragraph is exactly what needs to happen and are precisly my sentiments .

Take a break, let them fight it out, start packing up we’re leaving early next year.

Dr. Knowitall….

Thank you for your quick and lucid response.  I suspect you are more informed than you make out to be!  As John Edwards was so fond of saying, “There are two Americas” one being corporate America and the other the rank and file America.  The US constitution gives the citizenry the right to directly petition Congress, but that has been prostituted by corporate America and the evolution of professional lobbyists for both national as well as foreign interests-----it was not what the founders had in mind.

And I am in total agreement with your view that the US Constitution is due for an overhaul.  I would begin with term limits; two for a senator and 6 for a representative that would give each max of twelve years.  This would tend to diminish some of the excessive lobbying and put the government more in control by the people.  As an addendum to term limits I would end the practice of gerrymandering which would make any elected official more responsive to the electorate.

As for spending vast sums of money on social or national issues instead of war-----fuhgeddaboutit-----there is always money for wars or presently for commercial/investment banking houses.  But that may not be a bad thing considering the downside of doing nothing!

It is time WE Start Telling this Gov’t how it’s gonna be.
“..rings, Pearls and All...” WE want them Back!
Time we take back all the Investment cash you’ve swindled, Sent Traitors to the ‘Green Mile’, and seized Assest that have always been OURS
Hear the Bass...It’s FURY coming Up behind. We will get justice- if not for ouselves- but for all those who follow. This Will NOT be swept Under the Rug
Multi National ‘conglomerates’ and their mini Spawns , along with their Operative ‘Souls Were Created Below”

To me, a relatively uninformed citizen of the offending country, it’s hard to understand why our government thinks it’s in the better interests of its citizens to spend a couple trillion of taxpayer money to steal Iraq’s oil than it is to bid on its production rights against other countries that would also like those rights.

Until that question is answered for me in terms that I can understand and believe (most of explanations coming out of the pentagon and the White House so far have been proven outright lies), I will probably continue to respond to the news with sarcasm. 

I happen to believe that none of us is very well informed about the real truth in Iraq.  Much of what is written here is only conjecture, IMO, because our government has gone to great lengths to keep the oil truth from us. 

Figure it out.  You’re sitting on a trillion barrels of crude a few feet under your soil.  You don’t know how to get it out.  You offer a deal to the highest bidder for the right to come in and produce that oil and market it, making sure you’re the prime beneficiary of it. It’s not rocket science; simple business.  Either the US is the highest bidder or it isn’t.  The oil is no one’s to steal.  You buy it. Iraq sells it.  That’s the way things work.

Trouble is, who is Iraq.  And that’s what the US wants never to be figured out, unless, of course, we’re the one’s making that determination.

The whole thing disgusts me.  I don’t know how to bomb the white house, so I get sarcastic. Our government doesn’t listen to reason and makes up its own rules and rationalizations.  Zeus knows, reasonable people have tried to knock some sense into Bush. 

A hundred billion of that couple trillion, if it had been earmarked to design, build and mass produce a good car that either doesn’t use gasoline or gets 100 mpg, such a car would certainly have materialized.  Why the Iraq war and not this?  Answer that question for a working class person who struggles to stay in their house and buy food for
their kids.  There’s more than sarcasm in my thoughts and words; there’s venom!

And we waste time and energy arguing about whether Obama, Clinton or McCain should be president.
As I suggested before, let’s throw them, congress and the whole government out, start over.  Let’s begin by overhauling our constituion that was fine, apparently, for the 17 and 1800’s but comes up short for 2008.

What also isn’t reported is that the claims of success attributed to the so-called “surge” are a complete scam.  There was never a correlation between the increase U.S. troop presence and a reduction of the violence.  That reduction was the result of the fact that ethnic cleansing campaigns had been near completion, carving up Iraq into sectarian enclaves.  The same Sunni insurgents whom the Bush regime had labeled as “terrorists” started receiving bundles of cash from U.S. officers who referred them as “freedom fighters"--the same label Reagan pinned on the Afghan mujahideen before they morphed into al Qaeda.

My last post was in response to Dr. Knowitall’s post on “Eyerack.”

Your sarcasm is sometimes over the top. The US is in empire mode and you should well get use to it.  As you know, the strategy for Iraq was to secure the oil from the hands of less than friendly nations, namely China and Russia.  Also, in the process, the US will establish military bases within the ME sphere of influence----a very significant move since we were thrown out of Saudi Arabia, But with bases in Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait, the US is in an excellent position to stabilize the petroleum exporting business.  Note that I did say to stabilize the price, that is part of the neo-capitalism prerogative!  From what I hear, $200 per barrel is not as far-fetched as it seems----that will result in $6/gal gas in the US and probably $10 in Europe, but they have a better public transportation system than the US so the effect is much less.  Have you notice that then the price went to $2/gal there was much angst, but at $3/gal not much is heard----people adjust quite rapidly and with hybrid cars it just about equals out!

As for the Iraqis, the US is there to stay for a very long time no matter who the next president is----it’s a matter or world dominance----this is the USA’s chance to become the ultimate empire and nothing will stop it----it’s like a drug addiction----the more you take the more you need.  Like the Chinese say----may you live interesting times!

Divide and conquer has always and will always work as long as the people aren’t paying attention.

http://www.ryanhartman.wordpress.com

It appears from overall sources that the US has inspired Maliki to actively pursue Sadr’s militia and Sadr as well. And there’s a good reason----With only 10 months to go before the US elections, the last thing the Republicans need is unrest in Iraq just before the election and Sadr would be inclined to do just that.  So the best thing to do is take him and his militia out now and that is just what is happening.  With the support of the US military it shouldn’t take too long. Once they locate him----say good night to the folks Moqtada.

Unfortunately for the Republicans, their candidate is a losing proposition----please say hello to president Obama!  Obama is a negotiator and not a warrior and while the US military will resist any precipitous withdrawal from Iraq--vis-a-vis Vietnam the removal of Sadr will leave a void in Shia politics that will result in Ahmed Chalibi coming to the forefront with the backing of Iran.  While Maliki, also a Shia, is too close to the US for Iran’s comfort and Chalibi, once a darling of the US, but spurned, is Iran’s entry into Iraqi politics and is willing to offer oil concessions and speaks English well----what more could one want!

It is common knowledge that the reason we are in Eyerack is to spread democracy.  Our constitution which is the product of democratic thinking states that not only can’t congress make a law against our petitioning our government for redress of grievences but it also protects our right to a well-regulated militia for a secure free state.

Those American democratic ideals are being thwarted by the USA military in Eyerack.  This leads me to believe that, because our government doesn’t listen to its citizens and often acts in contradiction to citizens’ wishes, that the 1st and 2nd amendments are little more that appeasment orts thrown us by our constitution.

What makes a well-regulated militia possible in this country is our federal and local governments using untold sums, sometimes obscene sums, to support heavily armed police departments and a military for the purpose of ensuring that any well-regulated militia remains relatively innocuous and under control.  In fact, we’re intimidated. 

The Eyeraqies are doing all they can, with phenomonal wealth hanging in the balance, to whom that wealth is going and for what it is to be used. 

In short, if the United States honored its own founding principles, we’d butt the Hell out of Eyerack and allow those good people, as so many have done before them, to duke out their differences and, when they’re done, set up their government and economy.

We were lucky.  All we had to do was slaughter a bunch of disorganized unprepared native tribes, set up our intimidating, oppressive government and then make anyone who wanted to join, sign the agreement.  Consensus by intimidation.  What was started a couple centuries ago isn’t going to be changed by a presidential election in Nov. in this country. The Eyerackies know that’s how we do business and want no part of it.

Two ideas:

1- House of cards. Team Bush CREATED A HOUSE OF CARDS IN IRAQ--DIVIDE AND CONQUER--SHIA VS. SUNNI VS. KURD VS SADR vs. ???. This house of cards is going to somehow right itself, work together and kick us out. They hate us more than they hate each other.

2-Hooked on oil. We can’t stay, we can’t leave. Oil users in the US will try to overcome the united Iraqis as noted in #1. Expect a grand battle!

Consult with Dr. Wu in the short term to see how the battle is going. Smart readers: We live in one crazy humongous hegemonic empire. As the apocalypse nears consider your options.

^ and point; because in the movie “Syriana” (great movie) they make the same argument.  My feeling is that the Neocons never intended to bring stability to the Middle-East; but rather to destabilize it so the rape and pillage could commence.  We will no longer have to kowtow to the Saudis.

What isn’t being reported is the popular civic resistance that demands a withdrawal of foreign troops and works for a unified more secular Iraq.

The reason this isn’t reported is that it isn’t in the interest of US Imperialism to acknowledge that there might be a democratic resistance. It’s easier to portray the situation as a “never ending” religious civil war that requires our presence, thus feeding into the racist Imperialist hubris of the white man’s burden.

Dear Mr. Bush:
Like most Americans, I am aware of how crucial it is for us to succeed in Eyerack.  Perhaps a prerequisite to our success in bringing democracy to their pitiful country might be to “well-regulate” their militia.
Toward that end, doesn’t it make perfect sense to put more guns and bullets in the hands of ordinary Eyerackies, like in the USA? 
Just an idea.  Seems what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.  It’s worked well here since’89, why not give it a try in Eyerack?

Maliki will be the next Iraqi Prime Minister to be lynched, uhh. He has already been described by his own people as “a vulture in a suit”!!!

Be happy, don’t worry. This but a prelude and a first step in a plan. We should be smart enough to figure out that our would be empire is not innocent.

• …“We expect an attack by the Shia in spite of the Americans being spread over Sunni districts to defend them,” said a Sunni resident….

I wonder if this Sunni resident recognizes that it is having the –Americans- ‘spread out’ over the Sunni districts that makes them targets?

Of course it sounds much better to call this a ‘civil war’ with Shia now fighting each other, as well as the Sunni. The reality is that they are fighting those among themselves, who have been co-opted by the Americans.

In short, (and not to dog the point, since I’ve said this many times) the Iraqis were NOT fighting –EACH OTHER- before the US invasion and occupation of that nation. ANY and ALL civil strife in that country is a creation of the US administration. Yes, Dick Bush created this civil war, and my thinking is that it was very intentional.

• “….In the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad, 11 people were killed and 18 injured yesterday by a US air strike called in support of Iraqi forces”…

See what I mean? These folks, (and thousands more in the past five years) were killed by US AIR STRIKES! It’s is NOT a ‘civil’ war. It’s the continued US attack on Iraq. The US has supplied the weapons that are being used on the ground, (including by the militias as well as the Iraqi soldiers) as well as the air power, the bombs, and all the rest.

• “The supporters of Mr Sadr, who form the largest political movement in Iraq, blame the Americans for giving the go-ahead for Mr Maliki’s offensive against them and supporting it with helicopters and bomber aircraft.”

Well, that’s pretty much what I just said. And now, the US military has turned Sadr City into a Gaza, and that’s after a year of building cement walls topped with razor wire around dozens of other neighborhoods in Baghdad and Basra.

US neo-Colonialism in the 21st Century.

• “The US is claiming that the Sadrists are not being singled out, only Iran-supported militia factions, but this will find few believers in Iraq”….” “This is not a battle against the [Mehdi Army] nor is it a proxy war between the United States and Iran,” said a US military spokesman, Major General Kevin Bergner.

Few believers is right. This is total bullshit, and they think Iraqis are supposed to believe it? Like Iraqis were expected to believe that the Americans were gonna get out of their country after taking down Saddam?

Well, they waited to see if the Americans were telling the truth about that. Didn’t take long for them to verify that it was all lies. Like, the moment the US started building all of those permanent bases, and the green zone, and new prisons.

• “The fighting is threatening to disrupt Iraq’s oil production, most of which comes from the Basra area, because workers in the oilfields dare not leave their homes.”
Well, that’s been the point. Chaos is the name of the game. How else are the contractors going to gain control of the oil fields? That’s what they went there to do.
***
Chevron Reportedly in Talks to Tap Iraq’s Oil
By David R. Baker
The San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday 25 March 2008

Chevron Corp. and other international oil companies are negotiating with the Iraq Ministry of Oil to begin tapping into some of the country’s largest oil fields, according to published reports.

Specifically, the companies are negotiating for two-year contracts that would help Iraq boost production at existing oil fields.

For years, the companies have had their eyes on long-term contracts to find and develop new oil fields in Iraq, which is believed to hold the world’s third-largest oil reserves. The contracts under discussion are far more limited than that, but they represent an important step in opening Iraq’s oil industry to foreign involvement after years of state control.

More here:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032508T.shtml