US Iraq occupation criticised in army report

[ze_dscherman]

American military commanders did not impose curfews, halt looting or order Iraqis back to work after Saddam Hussein’s regime fell because US policymakers were reluctant to declare American troops an occupying force, according an internal Army review.

As a result, the Bush administration’s first steps at reconstruction in Iraq were severely hampered, creating a power vacuum that others quickly moved to fill, and a growing mistrust on the part of ordinary Iraqis, the report said.

Since those first days, the US effort in Iraq has been hampered by a growing insurgency with persistent and deadly attacks against American forces.

The review, a postwar self-evaluation by the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), said the political decision to call the US forces that arrived in Baghdad “liberators” instead of “occupying forces” left the division’s officers uncertain about their legal authority in postwar Baghdad and other cities.


More: http://www.examiner.ie/breaking/2003/11/28/story123291.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. This should come as no surprise

since the whole escapade was planned by neocons who had no military experience (they had "better things to do" than go to Viet Nam). They expected the troops to be greeted with roses, and that everything would be hunky dory. They had no clue what they were getting into, and that's why we have the mess we have today. This was the very thing we protestors were talking about back in Jan, Feb, and March, and the 'mericans in our neck of the woods told us we were nuts-they knew everything was in good hands because the President told them so. Think any of those folks might listen to the generals now that their loved ones in the Guard are away from home for a year and a half?

[ze_dscherman]

3. Are they liars or delusional?

I do hope they are merely liars of the worst kind, leading others to slaughter deliberately. Then they may stop when they sense they can't archieve their goals. However the price they are willing to pay with the blood of others may be very high.

If they are delusional political sectarians, they won't stop at all. They will try to drag the world into their abyss - twilight of the gods, once again.

[rfranklin]

2. Another Bush failure...

This guy can't get anything right. Unfortunately, too many of our fellow Americans get the story straight either. They're too impressed by images of the Great Turkey Server to realize what a screw-up he is.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. But Richard Perle told us to "Relax, Celebrate Victory,"

This is the dude who before the war told everyone that it would be a piece of cake. The Iraqis would be throwing flowers at the feet of our victorious military. He said that they would sing songs about us. Yeah, I bet they are but I don't think they were exactly the kind of songs he was fantasizing about.


Even as late as May 2nd reality hadn't dented their fantasy:

http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/press/0502perle.htm

2 May 2003

"Relax, Celebrate Victory," By Richard Perle

From start to finish, President Bush has led the United States and its coalition partners to the most important military victory since World War II. And like the allied victory over the axis powers, the liberation of Iraq is more than the end of a brutal dictatorship: It is the foundation for a decent, humane government that will represent all the people of Iraq.

This was a war worth fighting. It ended quickly with few civilian casualties and with little damage to Iraq's cities, towns or infrastructure. It ended without the Arab world rising up against us, as the war's critics feared, without the quagmire they predicted, without the heavy losses in house-to-house fighting they warned us to expect. It was conducted with immense skill and selfless courage by men and women who will remain until Iraqis are safe, and who will return home as heroes.


Now Perle has his eyes set on Iran:

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3769853

Iran 'Up to Eyeballs' in Terror - Pentagon Adviser

Thu November 6, 2003

BERLIN (Reuters) - Influential Pentagon adviser Richard Perle said on Thursday that Iran was "up to its eyeballs in terrorism" and the United States should quietly be encouraging a democratic revolution from within.

"Is there any doubt about Iran's support for terrorism, about their payments to Hamas and Hizbollah?" Perle said in a speech in Berlin, referring to Islamic radical groups.

Speaking later to Reuters, he said there was "massive discontent" among Iranians with their ruling Islamic clerics.

"I think we may well see a regime change in Iran brought about by Iranians, but they need some help. They need more broadcasting so that communications are improved. We should be prepared to help them get newspapers published in their own country," Perle said.


All of this was spelled out in the following report that Perle & Feith wrote when they were working has political advisers for Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Perle and Feith are two of the most influential unelected officials in the US government. They also work for the Israeli government. This is not just a major conflict of interest, it is against the law. This is treason.

A Clean Break
A New Strategy for Securing the Realm

http://www.israeleconomy.org/strat1.htm

Work closely with Turkey and Jordan to contain, destabilize, and roll-back some of its most dangerous threats. This implies clean break from the slogan, "comprehensive peace" to a traditional concept of strategy based on balance of power.

Change the nature of its relations with the Palestinians, including upholding the right of hot pursuit for self defense into all Palestinian areas and nurturing alternatives to Arafat’s exclusive grip on Palestinian society.

Forge a new basis for relations with the United States—stressing self-reliance, maturity, strategic cooperation on areas of mutual concern, and furthering values inherent to the West. This can only be done if Israel takes serious steps to terminate aid, which prevents economic reform.



What we need to realize is that the neocons are loyal to Israel first and foremost. Yet, they are in control of all aspects of American foreign policy. These men are traitors. They have committed crimes against humanity all for the security and economic interests of not the USA but of Israel.

So now that they have had such a huge success in Iraq, it's onto Iran and the rest of the middle east and at this point it seems there is little that can stop them or stand in their way.

[sistersofmercy]

6. Bravo, my friend! Excellent post! eom

[teryang]

5. This is the PPPPPPP management theory

"Prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance."

However the first mistep was in invading Iraq, and many experienced Army personnel know it.

[leesa]

7. The US had no legal authority from the very beginning of this farce

so this is a moot point. We had no legal or moral authority to begin this war at all. Same with Afghanistan.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

8. So, did the 3rd I.D. ask itself what would have been accomplished by...

...initially taking a very hard line (curfews, etc.) after illegally invading Iraq in the first place? Isn't it possible that the Iraqi people would have been even more initially pissed off at the American "liberators"?

No, ignoring the illegality of the invasion for a few moments, the real problem is that the U.S. failed to follow up by immediately restoring food, water, and electricity, and getting real work for the Iraqi people for real wages. People who are comfortable, who have enough to eat and drink, and can pay for those services, are far less prone to committing robberies and/or crimes of any sort. They are also far less prone to becoming part of a resistance movement.

The next step should have included the initial stages of self-governance from the ground up, giving the Iraqis a real sense of participation in the next form of national government.

But no...I'm convinced that the NeoCons have the same attitude toward the Iraqis as the Spanish conquistadors had toward the native populations of the countries that now form Central and South America. That same attitude was also present among the early American pioneers who spread westward into the Indian territories.

[teryang]

9. Right, it's about conquest

The plan was kill em, and lot god sort em out. The idea that things should actually improve after a regime change to make people more receptive seem to be of no concern whatever, or worse deliberately sabotaged.