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Thursday, September 23, 2004

Lies, lies, lies

From Zeynep at Under the Same Sun:
However, it’s also clear that there are two things Iraq needs desperately in order to get things under control: withdrawal of the occupying troops and the election of a legitimate government. Increasing our troop presence would hurt, not help, matters. And while a crackdown by a hand-picked, CIA-agent led government can appear to pacify things for short periods of time, it’s clear that short of a massive outbreak of state violence the resistance cannot be crushed by military means.

I think it’s become very clear over the summer -- following on the heels of Abu Ghraib, Najaf and Fallujah -- that an accommodating occupation was not going to be possible. The Bush camp probably only wants to delay whatever will be done in terms of “pacifying” the country until after the U.S. election. The Kerry camp had been attempting to run to the right of the Bush White House, a strategy that has failed spectacularly and one they are perhaps reconsidering.

This is not to say things will become all peaches and cream in Iraq as soon as we leave. That country clearly faces a long, tough road ahead. Our presence, however, is a detriment to possibility of democracy and security in Iraq. The real question on the table is when and how we’ll leave. The later we leave, the more problems we’ll leave behind not to mention more dead people on all sides.
Here's a comment to that post:
What is happening in Iraq now is the 'original plan'. There never was a plan to build a democratic Iraq. A strong democracy for the Iraqi people would threaten the interests of American global capital in this strategically important energy producing region.

I would go as far as saying that American policy is a direct copy of the Israeli's racist occupation of the Palestine West Bank and Gaza that has been going on for 37 years - turning Palestine into 'cantons' where a people are seperated from their farms, schools and hospitals and left to rot in poverty. And where their homes are destroyed to create 'free-fire zones'. For Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus read Falluja, Ramadi, Najaf.

What is happen in Iraq is the plan, but can America and Britain sustain the occupation for 37 years?
I'm afraid that's about right. The troops who died before "major combat operations" ended died for the original lie--Iraq's phantom WMD's. Those who have died since, and those who will die between now and our election, are dying for the lie of Iraqi democracy. After Bush steals the election (and probably if Kerry wins as well), the curtain will fall. American troops will move to heavily guarded bases outside of Iraqi cities, protecting only the oil fields and facilities and the borders. The rest of Iraq will revert to 2002--no fly zones, de facto sanctions, occasional terror bombings to keep the Iraqis scared and compliant. Heck, we've got Saddam locked up, ready to take over again if the population gets too uppity (although Allawi seems perfectly capable of assuming Saddam's role). American casualties will drop precipitously, and troop levels may even be reduced. This will be enough to keep most Americans from realizing that in the end it WAS all about the oil.