Iraq, the final betrayal
Less than a month ago Mr Bush made a speech in which he stressed the importance of rebuilding Iraq, of "winning the battle after the battle". Very commendable.
Reconstruction efforts have of course been lamentable so far. Baghdad is lucky to get 12 hours electricity per day so we can only imagine what conditions are like outside the capital; in places like Fallujah which was bombed back to the stone age by US forces two years ago.
Yesterday however, Mr Bush changed his mind. He announced that, despite numerous assurances to the contrary, there would be no more US money for rebuilding Iraq, for fixing what he has broken. Iraq does of course have massive oil reserves and could, maybe, afford to pay for its own reconstruction I can here defenders of Bush saying. True enough, had not the US oil giants already decided the fate of Iraqi oil. Oil companies want oil money padding up their profits, not being used in a fashion best suited to some sort of utopian dream world. Morality? Fuck that, there’s profit to be made.
In reality, the real reason for the pull back has nothing to do with Iraq itself and everything to do with domestic politics. Bush’s approval ratings are amongst the lowest ever recorded. Charlie Manson could hardly be less popular were he president. There are mid-term elections later this year and the Republicans face the very real (and very glorious) prospect of losing control of both houses. The only way that this can be avoided is to get Iraq off the front pages. So there will be no more money. Troops will be withdrawn regardless of the security situation. Both Bush and Blair have signposted the impending withdrawal recently in total contradiction to previous assertions that Iraq would not be abandoned until it was a haven of peace and tranquillity. Which it clearly isn’t.
Years ago I saw Jasper Carrot do a show somewhere. This would have been in the early to mid eighties when many people thought that a nuclear war between East and West was inevitable. Jasper did a skit about this and asked what CND would be doing after the bomb. Would they, he enquired be walking around with placards saying “I told you so!!”? I feel a bit like that writing about Iraq. I was not blogging in 2003, but I was of course opposed to the invasion. Everything the anti war movement said has turned out to be correct. There were no WMD in Iraq. They were utterly unable to defend themselves with conventional weapons when faced with the invasion. Bush and Blair lied to forward their own agendas – whatever they may have been; oil and finishing what his father failed to do in Bush’s case, Blair’s insecurity at Britain’s diminishing role on the global stage? I don’t know.
The fact is that the invasion happened. We, or rather people acting in our name, as our elected representatives have destroyed the infrastructure and community of Iraq. The very least we can do now is put this right. We should be listening to Iraqi politicians, to the civic leaders, to the population asking them what they want, what they need and giving it to them without question, without hesitation, even if it means dividing the country up into its pre WW1 states. Leaving the country in chaos achieves nothing, except giving succour to those who would use our withdrawal to ferment more hatred against us. Bush and Blair owe it to us as much as to the people of Iraq to be real men of courage, true men of peace not pusillanimous cowards.
Reconstruction efforts have of course been lamentable so far. Baghdad is lucky to get 12 hours electricity per day so we can only imagine what conditions are like outside the capital; in places like Fallujah which was bombed back to the stone age by US forces two years ago.
Yesterday however, Mr Bush changed his mind. He announced that, despite numerous assurances to the contrary, there would be no more US money for rebuilding Iraq, for fixing what he has broken. Iraq does of course have massive oil reserves and could, maybe, afford to pay for its own reconstruction I can here defenders of Bush saying. True enough, had not the US oil giants already decided the fate of Iraqi oil. Oil companies want oil money padding up their profits, not being used in a fashion best suited to some sort of utopian dream world. Morality? Fuck that, there’s profit to be made.
In reality, the real reason for the pull back has nothing to do with Iraq itself and everything to do with domestic politics. Bush’s approval ratings are amongst the lowest ever recorded. Charlie Manson could hardly be less popular were he president. There are mid-term elections later this year and the Republicans face the very real (and very glorious) prospect of losing control of both houses. The only way that this can be avoided is to get Iraq off the front pages. So there will be no more money. Troops will be withdrawn regardless of the security situation. Both Bush and Blair have signposted the impending withdrawal recently in total contradiction to previous assertions that Iraq would not be abandoned until it was a haven of peace and tranquillity. Which it clearly isn’t.
Years ago I saw Jasper Carrot do a show somewhere. This would have been in the early to mid eighties when many people thought that a nuclear war between East and West was inevitable. Jasper did a skit about this and asked what CND would be doing after the bomb. Would they, he enquired be walking around with placards saying “I told you so!!”? I feel a bit like that writing about Iraq. I was not blogging in 2003, but I was of course opposed to the invasion. Everything the anti war movement said has turned out to be correct. There were no WMD in Iraq. They were utterly unable to defend themselves with conventional weapons when faced with the invasion. Bush and Blair lied to forward their own agendas – whatever they may have been; oil and finishing what his father failed to do in Bush’s case, Blair’s insecurity at Britain’s diminishing role on the global stage? I don’t know.
The fact is that the invasion happened. We, or rather people acting in our name, as our elected representatives have destroyed the infrastructure and community of Iraq. The very least we can do now is put this right. We should be listening to Iraqi politicians, to the civic leaders, to the population asking them what they want, what they need and giving it to them without question, without hesitation, even if it means dividing the country up into its pre WW1 states. Leaving the country in chaos achieves nothing, except giving succour to those who would use our withdrawal to ferment more hatred against us. Bush and Blair owe it to us as much as to the people of Iraq to be real men of courage, true men of peace not pusillanimous cowards.
posted by phylos @ 20:37
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