Gordon Johndroe is the chief spokesman for Bush's National Security Council.
At the White House, he dismissed today's anti-American demonstration in Najaf with these words:
Iraq, four years on, is now a place where people can freely gather and express their opinions.A sentiment which was not shared elsewhere.
And that was something they could not do under Saddam. And while we have much more progress ahead of us...this is a country that has come a long way from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein.
OH my lord, Vigilante. A picture speaks a thousand words, especially when it shows the dissonance between official blabber and life on the ground.
ReplyDeleteThis demonstration has been reported as having been in the tens of thousands. Has anyone read of a more specific estimate thanthat?
ReplyDelete"Iraq, four years on, is now a place where people can freely gather and express their opinions."
ReplyDeleteRight. And they're asking the invaders to get out.
Holy cow, I had something written up on this subject and was going to post it tonight.
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, the reality disconnect between the Iraqi's demanding we get out and the statement released by the Bushies about how the Iraqis are free to express their views is light years apart. Of course its par for the course with Bush anyway in that he hears nothing that doesn't fit comfortably in his little bubble.
Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr did not attend the Najaf protest and hasn't been seen in public in weeks, but he sought in a statement read to the crowd to present himself as a representative of all Iraqis:
ReplyDelete"So far 48 months of anxiety, oppression and occupational tyranny have passed, four years which have only brought us more death, destruction and humiliation. Every day tens are martyred, tens are crippled, and every day we see and hear U.S. interference in every aspect of our lives, which means that we are not sovereign, not independent and therefore not free.
This is what Iraq has harvested from the U.S. invasion.
. . . It is in this historical moment that we direct our speech toward the American and European people: We are a people who love peace and independence and refuse to become slaves. We call upon the free people of the world to pressure their governments in order to put an end to the plight of the Iraqi people."
LA Times
The Shia and Sunni have been battling each other for centuries, and will continue to do so long after the United States is gone. The fact is we removed a stabilizing force and civil war erupted. This was Bush the Crusader waging war against evil with no thought given to the terrible consequences of such an action.
ReplyDeleteAs to the picture, it is truly sad. War is a horror beyond all belief. I would, however, be curious who was responsible for this young man's devastating injury. I would wager it was a neighbor, a friend, or the local militia and not the U.S. or the coalition forces. We need to get the hell out and let them do what they seem to like doing best, i.e. maiming and killing each other.
Leave it to Bust to spin that as a positive development.
ReplyDeleteAs you can easily see from the devastating picture, that is just what the Iraqis are doing, expressing their feelings freely.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way that the surge, or the four years of killing by and of Americans, is going to make a difference, except to let the violence explode like a flood when we finally (if ever) leave.
It's as simple as X-Y-Z:
ReplyDeleteMad Mike says,
"As to the picture, it is truly sad. War is a horror beyond all belief. I would, however, be curious who was responsible for this young man's devastating injury. I would wager it was a neighbor, a friend, or the local militia and not the U.S. or the coalition forces."
The obvious point, Mike, is that as long as we are there, we will be blamed for it. Either we permitted 'X' act of violence, or we encouraged 'Y' act of brutality. As long as we are the occupiers, we are 'Z' losers.
vigilante, I just want you to know I'm here. I read your blog every day and I read every comment. I resepct everyone who posts here.
ReplyDeleteBut I cannot bring myself to post as it would start a debate without purpose. For the time being I'll confine my opinions about Iraq and our future there to my blog. Of course any or all of you are always welcome to disagree with me there.
But let me just say I know you all care deeply and I know you all want the best for America and for Iraq and its people.
I wish I could, for even one single beat of my heart, believe as you do..... that we could improve or even cure the situation in Iraq by simply disappearing from the Iraqi landscape, withdrawing quickly and completely.
Since you may well win this Washington, D.C. political battle on timetables and withdrawal, I will pray every day that vigilante and all of you are correct, that Iraq can emerge both free and safe from this four year nightmare.
the Wizard.....
This is for Wizard:
ReplyDeleteby Wayne White (Middle East Institute, Middle East Policy Council,
Washington, DC), replying to Juan Cole:
These are ugly scenarios, for sure. Such actions would be the primary trigger for a post-U.S. withdrawal civil war--with violence much worse than witnessed to date. I agree very much with Juan that staying on in Iraq at this late stage of the game can probably achieve little more than the loss of more American lives & money, but I have no illusions about what might well happen afterward. The only factor that would lie beyond anyone's ability to predict is the intensity of that struggle.
Indeed, many of those favoring the continued presence of substantial U.S. combat forces for several more years use such potentially dire scenarios as a justification for remaining in Iraq. However, they themselves are making a highly questionable assumption: that by staying on, extending the time-line of our armed presence in Iraq, post-withdrawal outcomes would be any prettier.
A sobering reminder that we need to intensify the pressure on our representatives to END THIS DISASTROUS WAR!
ReplyDeleteI feel guilty for being able to laugh and feel secure while this stuff is going on.
Courtesy of LiveLeak: John Bolton losing another argument on British TV.
ReplyDelete