Iraq: beautiful one day, perfect the next
Post-invasion iraq - - Posted on June, 19 at 11:26 am by Tim
How do we know the Bush administration and other coalition of the willing nations are lying to us about conditions in Iraq? Because they keep telling us they are. The Washington Post has a copy (pdf) of a memo sent from the US Emabssy in Iraq. So while the President was doing his “upbeat” assessment of “progress” in Iraq duing and after his surprise visit, the staff at the Embassy laid out the real situation:
Among the other troubling reports:– “Personal safety depends on good relations with the ‘neighborhood’ governments, who barricade streets and ward off outsiders. The central government, our staff says, is not relevant; even local mukhtars have been displaced or coopted by militias. People no longer trust most neighbors.”
– One embassy employee had a brother-in-law kidnapped. Another received a death threat, and then fled the country with her family.
– Iraqi staff at the embassy, beginning in March and picking up in May, report “pervasive” harassment from Islamist and/or militia groups. Cuts in power and rising fuel prices “have diminished the quality of life.” Conditions vary but even upscale neighborhoods “have visibly deteriorated” and one of them is now described as a “ghost town.”
– Two of the three female Iraqis in the public affairs office reported stepped-up harassment since mid-May….”some groups are pushing women to cover even their face, a step not taken in Iran even at its most conservative.” One of the women is now wearing a full abaya after receiving direct threats.
– It has also become “dangerous” for men to wear shorts in public and “they no longer allow their children to play outside in shorts.” People who wear jeans in public have also come under attack.
– Embassy employees are held in such low esteem their work must remain a secret and they live with constant fear that their cover will be blown. Of nine staffers, only four have told their families where they work. They all plan for their possible abductions. No one takes home their cell phones as this gives them away. One employee said criticism of the U.S. had grown so severe that most of her family believes the U.S. “is punishing populations as Saddam did.”
– Since April, the “demeanor” of guards in the Green Zone has changed, becoming more “militia-like,” and some are now “taunting” embassy personnel or holding up their credentials and saying loudly that they work in the embassy: “Such information is a death sentence if overheard by the wrong people.” For this reason, some have asked for press instead of embassy credentials.
– “For at least six months, we have not been able to use any local staff members for translation at on-camera press events….We cannot call employees in on weekends or holidays without blowing their ‘cover.’”
– “More recently, we have begun shredding documents printed out that show local staff surnames. In March, a few staff members approached us to ask what provisions would we make for them if we evacuate.”
– The overall environment is one of “frayed social networks,” with frequent actual or perceived insults. None of this is helped by lack of electricity. “One colleague told us he feels ‘defeated’ by circumstances, citing his example of being unable to help his two-year-old son who has asthma and cannot sleep in stiflng heat,” which is now reaching 115 degrees.
– “Another employee tell us that life outside the Green Zone has become ‘emotionally draining.’ He lives in a mostly Shiite area and claims to attend a funeral ‘every evening.’”
– Fuel lines have grown so long that one staffer spent 12 hours in line on his day off. “Employees all confirm that by the last week of May, they were getting one hour of power for every six hours without…..One staff member reported that a friend lives in a building that houses a new minister; within 24 hours of his appointment, her building had city power 24 hours a day.”
– The cable concludes that employees’ “personal fears are reinforcing divisive sectarian or ethnic channels, despite talk of reconciliation by officials.”
Posted in Post-invasion iraq |
June 19th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Right you are Obs. The problem, I think, is that a traditional leftist intervention would have been almost as prone to disaster as the traditional right wing action has turned out to be. There’s a bunch of reasons why the U.N has been so quiet on this front post-1990’s and personally i don’t think all of them are legitimate. Recent UN reforms may have a profound effect, especially if neo-con style intervention continues to undermine itself in the sands of Mesopotamia.
Shock and Awe won an uncontested bout. It’s a familiar theme in politics these days.
June 20th, 2006 at 9:59 am
Well orang it all began way back in the late 60s when a million Muslim troops poised on Israel’s borders and Nasser told the UN to piss off so they could implement their final solution. Unfortunately for the Palestinians, the UN did as it was told and as a form of penance it’s been sucking up to them ever since.
June 20th, 2006 at 10:41 am
Warning: Not for plastic turkey lovers
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2006/Summary+of+IDF+investigation+of+incident+on+the+Gaza+beach+9+June+2006.htm
June 20th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
Actually IB, on a good day I perceive Tony Blair as left wing. seriously.
Obs, basically I think, that if Operation Iraqi Freedom, had been the result of a left progressive policy it would not have been Operation Iraqi freedom, for all intents and purposes. The motives and strategies, actions and allies would all have been completely different. The military action might have been similar but the post-reconstructiona and nation-building would have been unrecognisable. About the only thing that would remain the same is that the whole shebang would have been done in the name of Iraqi freedom. I’m not sure whether the left or the right would have proved more proficient at doubletalk.
Interesting that you admit the original idea of a free Iraq (and an un-oppressed world, for that matter) springs from a leftist well. But you forget that the Neo-cons also have a fairly long pedigree, and while some goals may coincide with certain progressives (get rid of Sadaam) their broader frameworks are directly opposed to each other. Bush, perhaps motivated by the experiences of his father, hijacked ‘beacon of light’ rhetoric, and then proceeded to let the Neo-cons into the steering room. In a nutshell: Bush believes Fukuyama, Kofi Annan doesn’t.
You’re right though, there is an overlap, and it is one Tony Blair. I haven’t been able to muddle through all the new info surrounding how he made his decisions, but I think that Blair genuinely thought he could influence the direction of the war. He jumped on because he thought a completely unilateral America would be still more dangerous than what transpired. Who knows, it may yet turn out he was a moderating influence. Nevertheless the moment he stepped onboard he was tied to Operation Iraqi Freedom, for better or worse.
And that explains why I still have sympathy for Tony Blair. I reckon Obs, that your theory is based on a public relations line cooked up in Washington. The reality can be seen on the ground in Iraq, or if you dont want to go so far, at the top of this thread.
Having acknowledged a certain crossover between the two ‘liberation traditions’ we might usefully take a look, not at the beginning of the war, but at our present juncture. Again, I’m not completely up-to-date on events but it seems to me that certain progressive forces (within the Iraqi Gov, and via the U.N) have been able to take advantage of that other power vaccuum in Iraq. Pull me back if I’ve gone too far, but if something good comes out of this Blair could consider himself vindicated, at least a bit.
Doesn’t excuse the lying of course! And all the rest. But that’s realpolitik as played way out on the edge, folks.
June 21st, 2006 at 12:29 am
mG,
All the left progressive will in the world can’t change one simple fact. If Iraqis are not prepared to grab the baton and run with it, all the blood and treasure is wasted on them. Bear that in mind. It’s estimated around 25% of rebuilding effort is lost on security. I need only remind you what business overdraft rates of 23% did to our economy, without Redferns and Cronullas everywhere. In the final analysis we can democratically change the emphasis of our govts and pull out and leave them to it, wiser for having asked a fundamental question about Muslim Arabs. It may be then that a subsequent Sunni/Shiite schism in the ME keeps militant Islam off our backs. If not we will finish that filthy mediaeval doctrine once and for all in the forseeable future, starting with the last Crusade against Iran. That die may already be cast.