Picture of the Day - "Progress" in Iraq / Update

[Chandernagore]

I told you not to despair : ===>

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;j...storyID=5224779

Bush to Outline 'Clear Strategy' for Iraq Monday

It's good so see Bush finally got to work on it. Simple minds like me would have thought that such a strategy ought to be developed before invading. You learn every day :?

[Chandernagore]

There has been an increase in recent times in hints that the Abu Grhaib depredations where more than the work of a few thugs. In fact the general picture emerging was that of military intelligence and CIA involvment.

Here is a serious and pretty damning article. Nothing to joke about here. It's happening in democracy. Or maybe democracy has nothing to do with it...

The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040524fa_fact

Naturally the reaction in the arab world is not complacent. An example :

Despite the horrifying exposure of your military's war crimes and systematic dehumanization of and terror against Arabs and Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo, your elected representatives are feverishly seeking a technical, bureaucratic explanation of what happened, and are trying -- to no avail, evidently -- to portray every incident of terror or abuse as a rare occasion committed by an isolated group of individuals against standing orders and in contravention of American ethical values and norms. Whom are they fooling? Is there anyone left in Europe, not to mention the Arab world, who still believes your government's policy gives a damn about moral principles or international law? Hasn't it become abundantly clear that your country is increasingly being viewed by the rest of the world, especially the southern part of it, as a lawless, immoral, bullying and murderous empire?
...

Whatever you ask, please do not ask why we "hate" you. Putting aside the simplistic and dichotomic nature of such a question -- "you're either with us or against us," your great leader says -- let me give you my straight answer: I don't.

But, I hate what your government is doing in your name, with your tax money, and with solid support from most of you.

Omar Barghouti

http://www.counterpunch.org/barghouti05212004.html


Mmm. Shock and awe... Omar is obviously very angry and I don't share everyone of his expressed views. But he did hit the nail with his last sentence. What dou you think Mabadesc ? It's almost as he was adressing you directly. Scary, no ?

[mabadesc]

Are you still talking to yourself, Chandernagore? :wink:

I already told you before your last 3 (consecutive!) posts, if you want to have a discussion with somebody, you have to at least try to answer their questions somewhat seriously, rather than using mockery and moving past them. Otherwise, you're not having a discussion, you're holding a monologue.

[Chandernagore]

QUOTE

Are you still talking to yourself, Chandernagore?  :wink:   I already told you before your last 3 (consecutive!) posts, if you want to have a discussion with somebody, you have to at least try to answer their questions somewhat seriously, rather than using mockery and moving past them.  Otherwise, you're not having a discussion, you're holding a monologue.

Ah, Mabadesc you forgot to change the tape Don't even read my posts eh ? Don't worry. :mrgreen:

It's fine for me. On this subject I don't need a discussion with you in particular. You're obviously ducking reality. I just check the number of "read" numbers skyrocketing. That of the approving majority. Anyway like most neocons you're in denial phase as the panic reaches the highest level of the republican party. Relax. I don't expect you to find the arguments that completely escape to Bush , Rummy and Wolfy. Within a few months the elections are over, the gangsters are out of the Whitehouse and your ordeal will be over. Have faith in America. After rain : sunshine.

Latest flash : the French just gave the Golden palm of the Cannes festival to an American ! For Farenheit 9/11...

[Chandernagore]

President Plans Drive To Rescue Iraq Policy
By Robin Wright - Washington Post Staff Writer

President Bush will launch an ambitious campaign tomorrow night to shift attention from recent setbacks that have eroded domestic and international support for U.S. policy in Iraq, particularly the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the escalating violence, and focus instead on the future of post-occupation Iraq. The White House then intends to circulate this week a draft U.N. resolution on post-occupation Iraq...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004May22.html

One really needs to tackle these articles with a clear spirit for the most incredible things are stated as trivial affairs.

"Rescue Iraq Policy".

Stunning acknowledement from mainstream US media that a strategic rout is occuring. The US has no constituency in Irak (actually their potential constituency is busy shooting at them) and no idea how to get one. A government without constituency has no future. The day the Shias started greeting US troops with dark stares instead of flowers the war was already lost.

"an ambitious campaign tomorrow night to shift attention from recent setbacks"

Do anything to cover up the current mess.

"recent setbacks that have eroded domestic and international support for U.S. policy in Iraq"

What international support is this guy speaking about ?
On board of the Titanic, we still have clay feet Tony Blair + wavering Poland + Koweit. You really have to stretch the enveloppe to call that "international support".

The White House then intends to circulate this week a draft U.N. resolution

Always funny to see a government which doesn't give a damn about international laws or UN charter trying (again) to pass a resolution to save it's butt. I'm sure UN officials catch all the irony of it.

[Chandernagore]

Donald Rumsfeld (Dr Strangelove) has announced the end of the torture problems in prisons : you are no longer allowed with digital cameras and camescopes insides US military installations.

If you no longer see it, it is not longer occuring. It reminds me of the regime of Somoza in Nicaragua. No periodistas, por favor.

[Chandernagore]

Quick ! The state of the "coalition" :

Secret discussions may be under way concerning the Polish-commanded south-central multinational military division. There has been continuous speculation that the Poles, one of the biggest contingents in the Coalition force, will withdraw.

While for the moment they are saying they will not follow the Spanish example, they have called for a "progressive reduction" of their 2,400 troops, as casualties rise (three dead, as well as their top war correspondent) and public opposition grows.

Following the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and betting on the likelihood that the security situation will get even worse, other staunch US allies in the new Europe are also rapidly distancing themselves from the Bush administration.

In Hungary, former prime minister and opposition leader Viktor Orban, who had hitherto supported Hungary's role in Iraq, called operations there "morally unsustainable". The Hungarian government has agreed to review its commitment, which currently stands at 300 troops. Bulgaria's troops, six of which have been killed, are increasingly restive: 24 soldiers had to be sent home recently after complaining about their mission and another 15 who were due to return to their country in August have already quit. Ukraine's resolve is also wavering after four of its soldiers were killed in action.

http://www.janes.com/security/internationa...40519_1_n.shtml

UK unease over US Iraq policy.
A document leaked to the Sunday Times and bearing all the hallmarks of a genuine Foreign Office memorandum has revealed the extent of British unease at American military operations in Iraq.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3739955.stm

Well, there is a sense that the wind is blowing from another direction.

[Chandernagore]

The marvels of Internet. I can't vote in US elections of course but, with a few mouse clicks, I can make a donation to Kerry's campaign and have an impact on US internal affairs in all legality 8)

[Alexandru H.]

Chandernagore cracks me up!

Excellent performance! By the way, did you see this?

Subject: From a National Guardsman
>
>As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back home.
>
>
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>And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you.
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>This is the list of things that has happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it with your friends and compare it to the version that your paper is producing):
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>
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>· Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq.
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>· Over 400,000 kids have up to date immunizations.
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>· Over 1500 schools have been renovated and ridded of the weapons that were stored there so education can occur.
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>· The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off loaded from ships faster.
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>· School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
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>· The country had it's first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
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>· The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.
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>· 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed compared to 35% before the war.
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>· Elections are taking place in every major city and city councils are in place.
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>· Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
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>· Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
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>· Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
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>· Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with
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>· US soldiers.
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>· Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
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>· Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.
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>· An interim constitution has been signed.
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>· Girls are allowed to attend school for the first time ever in Iraq.
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>· Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first time in 30 years.
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>Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have met many, many people from Iraq that want us there and in a bad way.
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>They say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run into John Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa. This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me and very disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a friend and let them know there are good things happening.
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>Ray Reynolds, SFC
>
>Iowa Army National Guard
>
>234th Signal Battalion



And its comment: http://www.orwelliantimes.com/2004/04/26.html

[Chandernagore]

Well, I did see it Alexandru. The text is the same for about the last 5 month so either it is outdated or the paper just never change. Anyway I'm actually willing to believe that quite a lot of things inside it are correct. And a few are wrong.

However one must realize that it is a piece of military propaganda focusing exclusively on a range of positive accomplishments. These axccomplishments are commandable and the hard work of the main part of US army and civilian contractors working in Irak and I praise them for that. Now, you will not read into it how the air cav blowed up that wedding party last week, nor will you read that the Iraki have zero political freedom in their own country. But let's acknowledge honestly that some good is being done by the US in Irak.

Why is it that resistance is growing ? My five cents is that comfort is not everything a people need. A people need political freedom and dignity, two things that are as severely lacking to Iraki citizens today as it did to some countries under the Soviet yoke yesterday. In ancient Rome, a well fed, lodged and nourished slave... still remained a slave.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg. No matter what efforts are being done in Irak it was not the reason Bush invaded. This administration went to war with Iraq for reasons that that had little to do with WMDs, Al Quaeda, 9/11 or the welfare of the Iraqi people. They went to war as a test case for an ideological worldview in which the US would use its overwhelming military power to reorder the world to the neocon's liking. But there was no political support for such an imperial doctrine. 9/11 provided an opening, and the necons jumped on it. All of the many reasons offered by the administration for the war in Iraq were lies, because the real reason (belief that US power could impose the Right's worldview on the globe) would still not fly politically.

For such a right wing half sexual fantasm, the web of international alliances that wise US presidents worked to build slowly during all those post war years was blown to pieces in a matter of months. The idea, the ideal that only multilateral relations between countries can bring a better world was dragged into the mud as the utter contempt showed by this administration for the UN and for international laws right down to the Geneva convention became evident.

So yes. The world is bleeding and a less secure place in every sense of the word. It will take 10-20 years maybe more to undo all the harm done by the Bushite junta. And it will take more than running water in Baghdad to prevent the North Korean or the Iranian government from drawing the ultimate lesson of Irak : if you want to be safe, it's better to get nuclear weapons quickly. If you want to bully or agress your neighbor because you feel stronger, you can ignore the international community and laws for as long as as you have WMD yourself. That's the great message that the Bush administration passed on to all countries of the world. Plaudite cives...

[Florin]

QUOTE

............................................ >· Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq. > >· Over 400,000 kids have up to date immunizations. > >· Over 1500 schools have been renovated and ridded of the weapons that were stored there so education can occur. > >· The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off loaded from ships faster. > >· School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war. >...............

Alexandru,

As usual, a problem is not as simple as looks at the first glance.
Saddam and his regime spent about 80 billions dollars on weaponry in the 80's (while fighting with Iran), and up to 1990, when he invaded Kuwait.

However, you should now that before the US led embargo which started in 1990, the average Iraqi citizen enjoyed a level of life reasonable good, compared with the standards of a non-Western society. There was a kind of welfare system based on petroleum export.

A lot of blame which the United States threw on Saddam shoulders actually was generated exactly by the American led embargo, between 1990-2003.

In this 13 years nothing was allowed to flow to Iraq, including medical equipment for hospitals, spare parts for industry, and even goods for the average Iraqi. Iraq was far by the technical capability of Romania in 1989, which in those day was able to manufacture almost anything inside Romania. So in Iraq under embargo everything turned into a luxury impossible to get, including a spark or a bulb for a common car like the old "Beetle" (Volkswagen). And after starving that country 13 years by embargo, it is cynical to say that now many Iraqi have now a better life. Continuing the last idea, any Iraqi family who got some of its members killed by the American stray fire ("collateral damage") may claim that its life is worse since the arrival of the coalition troops.

In all aspects listed by the guardsman in what I quote from you, things were far better in the days before the American embargo started in 1990.
I repeat, it is cynical to say "Look how bad was their daily life before I arrived", after you (i.e. the U.S.) are the main cause of strangling that economy to a collapse.

PS: The Romanian who worked in Turkey in 1994 together with me in technical maintenance previously worked in Iraq, so I had a first hand source about the standard of life enjoyed by the average Iraqi before 1990, when the American embargo started.

[Chandernagore]

I read excerpts from Bush speech on BBC news. Interestingly, the ideology behind the Irak war appears here and there to the carefull reader. In sentences like “The rise of a free Irak…will give momentum to reformers across the region”. The whole speech however is soaked in silly terrorism fighting rethoric, bringing up once again the flat lie of a former link between Irak and AQ.

Beside that, I notice how he keeps playing with people fears : fear of terrorism, fear of WMD, fear of failure consequence. He did the same all the way during the build up phase : scare the sheeps strong enough and they will allow the watchdog to bark.

[Alexandru H.]

Florin, that's why I gave the link to the other site that demolished all the arguments of the so-called "letter". Only if you are really stupid, you can believe that girls had no education during Saddam, when, in reality, his reign was not a theocracy and the sunni or siite clergy had no power whatsoever...

But, heck, anything to please the warcrowd...

[Chandernagore]

QUOTE

Only if you are really stupid, you can believe that girls had no education during Saddam, when, in reality, his reign was not a theocracy and the sunni or siite clergy had no power whatsoever...

I'm stupid I didn't bother to read the details. You got me :blbl:
I kick my own ass :oops:

[Chandernagore]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_ea...ast/3746205.stm

Al Quaeda sends it's congratulations to the simpleton in the White House for the gift of Irak War.