Iraq is Just Fine, Nothing to See Here
Recently we’ve seen the Bush Administration and its supporters go after journalists for, in the war supporters’ minds, focusing too much on the negative news coming out of Iraq and neglecting all the good that’s going in that country following the invasion. Now, god knows I’ve criticized journalists, mainly so-called TV-journalists, though for entirely different reasons, such as, failing to do their watchdog duty PRIOR to the invasion (when it was plainly clear that our country was not getting the straight story from the republican White House on why they were forcing us into a war of choice). However, to even suggest that what is now occurring in Iraq is the press’ fault is absurd and nothing less than self-delusion. Then again, Bush supporters, and conservatives in general, are not known for their level-headed and well reasoned thinking — just remember the overly rosy predictions made before the war when, for example, Cheney mentioned that US forces would be greeted as liberators with petals and candy. In response to criticism coming from the republican White House and from its conservative media surrogates, some journalists have stepped forward to confront their critics and remind them that this has been one of the deadliest wars for journalists with over 40 dead, and many more wounded.
Of course, the real aim of such criticism coming from this republican administration and its supporters is to distract the American public from the utter mess that Bush’s war of choice in Iraq has wrought in that country. Aside from the 2,325 American and the over 30,000 Iraqi dead since the start of the war, daily life in Iraq has been anything but the la la-land that that Cheney painted before the start of the war. Just to give you a taste what Liberated Iraq™ looks like see this video here and this other one here.
The videos show one side of the story, a side of the story that the Bush White House and his conservative supporters don’t want Americans to even think about. Meanwhile, half way around the world, Iraqis in their now liberated country must deal with disconcerting messages like this streaming across their TVs:
Here’s the translation:
“The Ministry of Defense requests that civilians do not comply with the orders of the army or police on nightly patrols unless they are accompanied by coalition forces working in that area.”
The source of this message is Riverbed, a girl living in Iraq that’s maintained a blog since the start of the war, where she routinely posts what daily life is like in Iraq.
In the post where she provides the message quoted above, she goes on to describe what she and her cousin did after they read that message as it scrolled across the bottom of their TV:
We discussed it today as it was repeated on another channel.
“So what does it mean?” My cousin’s wife asked as we sat gathered at lunch.
“It means if they come at night and want to raid the house, we don’t have to let them in.” I answered.
“They’re not exactly asking your permission,” E. pointed out. “They break the door down and take people away- or have you forgotten?”
“Well according to the Ministry of Defense, we can shoot at them, right? It’s trespassing-they can be considered burglars or abductors…” I replied.
The cousin shook his head, “If your family is inside the house- you’re not going to shoot at them. They come in groups, remember? They come armed and in large groups- shooting at them or resisting them would endanger people inside of the house.”
“Besides that, when they first attack, how can you be sure they DON’T have Americans with them?” E. asked.
We sat drinking tea, mulling over the possibilities. It confirmed what has been obvious to Iraqis since the beginning- the Iraqi security forces are actually militias allied to religious and political parties.
But it also brings to light other worrisome issues. The situation is so bad on the security front that the top two ministries in charge of protecting Iraqi civilians cannot trust each other. The Ministry of Defense can’t even trust its own personnel, unless they are “accompanied by American coalition forces”.
It really is difficult to understand what is happening lately. We hear about talks between Americans and Iran over security in Iraq, and then American ambassador in Iraq accuses Iran of funding militias inside of the country. Today there are claims that Americans killed between 20 to 30 men from Sadr’s militia in an attack on a husseiniya yesterday. The Americans are claiming that responsibility for the attack should be placed on Iraqi security forces (the same security forces they are constantly commending).
All of this directly contradicts claims by Bush and other American politicians that Iraqi troops and security forces are in control of the situation. Or maybe they are in control- just not in a good way.
Of course, to hear the Bush Administration tell it, Iraq is just fine, nothing to see here, move along, move along.
