Posts
The program detailed the administration reaction to 9-11 and in particular the immediate desire by Donald Rumsfeld (Right Web Profile Donald Rumsfeld) to use the attack as a pretext to attack Saddam Hussein. Here's some interesting context on Rummy's earlier connection with Saddam Hussein: The Saddam in Rumsfeld’s Closet. And more: Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein
Dick Cheney meanwhile was immediately plotting the overthrow of the Constitution when he confided to an advisor that the US would likely need to become "a land of men, not laws" in the aftermath of the 9-11 attack. If you want to read more about the scariest man in America, the WAPO did an extensive profile in the summer of 2007: Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency.
While it is clear that going to war in Iraq was wrong on any level, how the US should disengage is less clear. Here's a thoughtful extensive look at the issue from MJ: U.S. Out How?: The Moral Dilemma of Leaving Iraq.
Yesterday WPR's Kathleen Dunn and her guest, Fawaz Gerges discussed "the violence that erupted in two of the largest cities in Iraq this week, threatening to destabilize a long-term truce". (Listen to This Program from March 27 080327D in the Audio Archives!) Gerges explained much about what is actually going on in Iraq right now. Basically, the central government is a Shia sectarian government, not a unity government. The Sunnis play virtually no role in it. The Shias are further divided between two groups that support the government and Muqtada al-Sadr (a CBC profile: CBC News Indepth: Iraq and one from BBC NEWS Middle East Profile: Moqtada Sadr).
Gerges made the essential point that the current government is delegitimized in the eye of many Iraqis because of its ties to the US and reliance on the the US military. Until the US withdraws it will be virtually impossible for any government to have credibility. That doesn't mean the US should pick up and leave by next Tuesday.
Gerges also noted that while the level of violence has decreased in Iraq (at least until the last few days), some 1000 Iraqis are still dying in the violence each month.
For a profile: Fawaz A. Gerges - Faculty - Sarah Lawrence College. The right wing doesn't like him (Who Is Fawaz Gerges?: Another problem Mideast scholar - Campus Watch) because...his analysis is accurate?? Here's an excerpt from Campus Watch that portrays Gerges as a scary Muslim (oops, turns out Gerges isn't a Muslim):
Iraq. "Principles like human rights and the rule of law were sacrificed at the altar of America's real political interests, that is, maintaining relations with autocratic regimes," says Gerges, referring to America's history with Iraq. So good were these relations, he concludes, that American companies "provided Saddam Hussein with the biological and chemical tools which enabled him to develop these deadly weapons in the first place and use them against his own people....America shares a heavy burden in Hussein's bloody legacy."
See also Gerges' acclaimed book Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy.
Frontline has become warmed over gruel. The real story of the failure of the 'surge' is downplayed and the Sunni payoffs to join US forces is softened to ignore the loyality issue of the tribes and clans.
ReplyDeleteThe Sunni will stop when the money stops.
The power struggle within Sunni and Shia groups is much more complex than National Public Televsion portrays.
Iraq as one state is a fiction of US neo-colonialism.