Hunkering Down In Iraq

[bigtree]

November 29, 2006


"We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people." -- Bush, 2003


In his second trip outside the country since the stifling of his legislative enablers in Congress, Bush traveled to Jordan to see if he could get a vote of approval from Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and other foreign leaders for his rejected plans to "stay the course" and escalate the Iraq occupation. It's not surprising to find Bush with his back to America, looking for a way to skirt the will of the American people, expressed in the last election, to begin to take our soldiers out of Iraq and out of the way of the Iraqi's civil war. What's stunning is the Bush regime's arrogant plans and preparations to hunker-down and dig in instead of packing up to leave.

After months of escalating the occupation of Baghdad and defending the center of Bush's junta as his last stand in Iraq, Bush is set to send even more soldiers there to reinforce their green-zone of defense around the crumbled Maliki regime. About 3,500 combat engineer battalions of reserves are to be sent to Baghdad to support the 20,000 U.S. troops already mired there. These are units which build the 'berms' and checkpoints which are a likely defense against a predicted, coming onslaught against the government center in the certain anarchy developing out of the collapse of the alliance with Shiite cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, which had originally enabled Maliki's election by a single vote. Now the swollen ranks of followers of the former rebel leader - from 10,000 when our forces were battling him, to about 50,000 now - will presumably act out their interests in Iraq from outside of the political arena.

In September, it was Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who walked away from his political role in the 'unity government' and presumably, took his thousands of followers with him as well. Sistani "abandoned attempts to restrain his followers" and declared he no longer believed he could stand in the way of the growing civil war. "I will not be a political leader any more," he reportedly told aides. "I am only happy to receive questions about religious matters." It was Sistani who forged an alliance with former militant Sadr allowing the elections to proceed. It's no exaggeration that, without Sistani's participation there may never have been elections in Iraq, or a Maliki government.

Yet, Bush is intent on turning his back on these Iraqis to huddle away in Jordan with his exile puppet, Maliki, and try to sell him on the Pentagon's scheme to send 20,000 to 30,000 more U.S. soldiers to Iraq for a "short period" of time to step up the training of Iraqis to kill each other better. Bush's 'exit plan' is shaping up as a scramble to dig our forces even deeper in Iraq to make them integral partners with the Maliki regime as Iraqis line up to rebel against them. There is no place in our own constitution providing for our nation's defenses to be used to defend the Iraqi government. It's not a democracy, it's a military junta operating in a perpetual state of emergency and with a suspended constitution.

The new regime there isn't pledged to some mutual defense of America as our NATO allies have agreed to. In the period following the sham elections (held under the increased occupation of their foreign invaders), Iraqis have had almost no opportunity at all to effect any of the changes they presumably voted for. In fact, many of these Iraqis have themselves been the target of deadly reprisals from the increasingly autocratic government security forces.

Who are the constituents Bush expects Maliki to represent? The Kurds are a good as autonomous in their determined isolation up north. The Sunnis have been under assault since the purge of Batthists and others sympathetic to their community by the initial installed 'authority', and have endured joint U.S./Iraqi attacks on their communities before, during, and after the elections. The Shia leaders have left Maliki, even as he postponed his planned encounter with Bush today. There is no agreeable constituency for these two impotent leaders outside of their own generals, who dictate their respective nations' militarism with every exercise of their own defense; Iraqis, correctly defending the destiny of their homeland; Americans, vainly defending themselves as they wait for the orders from Bush to come on home.

They're all hunkering down there, waiting for Bush to turn around, come back to America, and listen to and carry out the will of the American people. Our nation's soldiers are digging in to defend themselves against the certain collapse of whatever is left of the Maliki regime that Bush is still insisting they prop up with their lives and livelihoods. We know that Bush wants to use the troops for anything that keeps them in place for future meddling, and delays the inevitable summation of his epic failure.

They're his personal prop for victory speeches. They're his hired muscle in hell's kitchen, waiting for a new contract. They are also our sons and daughters, our mothers and fathers, waiting for some rationality to their mission . . . and a ticket home. They deserve better than this lame-duck loser who is more interested in currying the favor of foreign leaders than he is in humbling himself before the citizens of his own country who he has so cynically pledged to serve.


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[evilgenius602]

1. I admire Sistani's demurer

He's from a school of islamic thought called quietism. It's to be admired. It's a voluntary wall between church and state. He's to be honored for that.

[bigtree]

2. I caught the wind of this in early September when Sistani walked

September 3, 2006 at 04:32:41

Sistani Led His Followers to Elect Iraq's New Regime. Today He Walked Away

Sistani's departure from Iraq's political scene and his return to his religious role signals an end to the Maliki regime's attempt to consolidate power and sell his reconciliation plan to the myriad of warring factions who are engaged in armed and deadly struggles against his regime, and against each other as well. It was Sistani who brought the thousands of his followers to the polls, forcing Bush to make good on his promise of early elections.

{snip}

It's also clear that, without Sistani's involvement in Iraq's political future, Sadr's political influence will be elevated in the short term. It remains to be seen, though, if Sadr, who is arguably more prone to lead his followers to armed and active resistance, and, whose followers are already engaging government troops in street battles, will follow Sistani and lead his congregation away from the political sweet spot he's carved out for himself in the Iraqi legislature.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_ron_full_060903_sistani_led_his_foll.htm

[bigtree]

3. final version and link

November 30, 2006 at 06:31:08

Hunkering Down In Iraq

by Ron Fullwood

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_ron_full_061130_hunkering_down_in_ir.htm

http://www.opednews.com