Tuesday, February 14, 2006

The way it is

I often cite to Juan Cole's blog, Informed Comment, to learn the status of political developments in Iraq, and it's no doubt a prime authority. Today, however, I found this essay, which presents a wide perspective on the results of the recent choice of Prime Minister Jaafari, and on the prospects for Iraq in the months and years ahead. It's not pretty, not pretty at all, which, as the writer points out is just fine for Bush/Cheney and the NeoCons. Here's the money quote:

"Baghdad - which accounts for 25% of the country's population - has virtually no water or electricity. The Americans for their part may have become more "invisible", retreating from main urban centers, but their air war is even more devastating. The White House/Pentagon policy is now a "back to the future" of turning Iraq into Afghanistan, where warlords, religious or secular, and tribal sheikhs defend their mini-states armed to their teeth, and criminal gangs run parallel to death squads. There isn't a remote possibility of forging a government of national unity under these circumstances. Which suits Washington fine. The only way for the United States to prolong its Iraqi adventure is to perpetuate chaos; Iraq as the new Afghanistan. Few dispute that the US invaded Iraq for its oil resources, mostly untapped, and that it's located in the heart of the world's energy system. Thus, if the US controls Iraq, it extends its strategic power."


This observation comports with my view of the post-9/11 world, as governed by Bush/Cheney. The continuance of a campaign against terr'r, or against anything that they can make Americans fear, perpetuates their power; and so the prospect of another "failed state" in Iraq, a "breeding ground for terrorists" allows them to keep our troops there to control the area and to persuade Americans the administration is protecting us from harm. Brilliant. Big Brother twenty years later.

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