Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

[WilliamPitt]

It is truly amazing. For decades, Saddam Hussein and his Ba'athists were our guys. We used them to overthrow an Iraqi government which had the gall to nationalize its oil, we used them to contain an Iran that was dabbling with the Soviets, we used them to squash Islamic fundamentalists in Iraq.

And then Hussein used our weapons, training and money to take Kuwait. Because he threatened the petroleum balance, we bashed him back into Baghdad, and put the screws to him and his people for twelve years. In that time period, President William Jefferson Clinton used a combination of sanctions, military power and United Nations inspectors to destroy Hussein's stockpiles of WMDs, which by the way we helped Hussein assemble in the first place.

In comes Bush, and out goes Hussein and the Ba'athists. Chaos results.

But today, we are letting Ba'athists back into positions of power. Today, we are basically reconstituting Hussein's army so it can fight in Fallujah. Our old proxies are back in the game. All that is left, really, is to let Hussein out.

The Iraqi people were right. Most of them despised Hussein, but were not siding with us because they weren't sure who was going to win this thing. They were right to be cautious - a lot of Hussein's people are getting guns and power, and are being keys to the country again. Saddam Hussein, basically, has won the war.

Epic failure. Massive failure. Total and complete failure.

[Walt Starr]

1. Iraqification

Deja Vu, eh?

[Jacobin]

3. light at the end of the tunnel.............

can't afford to lose..............

body counts are good....................

just invade laos and cambodia and all will be well...........

can't cut and run.................................................

[Walt Starr]

4. Yeah, but when do we start bombing the Moqtada al Sadr trail?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Wetzelbill]

7. Politically impossible to leave, militarily impossible to win

[gasperc]

9. Clinton and Gore concluded occupying Iraq would be futile

and the plan to invade rejected as a solution to force Hussein to comply with UN resolutions.
i.e. they knew we could easily topple the government but then what?

[Wetzelbill]

13. Just like Daddy Bush and Scowcroft said about marching to Baghdad

it would result in occupation and would be disastrous.

Duh!!!

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Teenage wasteland.

[bigbillhaywood]

5. I get down on my knees and pray, we don't get fooled again. Bah, bah, bah.

[Wetzelbill]

6. The Neo-cons would like to find another Saddam.....

to kick some ass and quell the whole country into submission so Halliburton, Bechtel and the boys can privatize and deregulate everything. The needed a Saddam-like leader, just not, uh....Saddam.

The Baath party is actually a social reform party. Iraq used to have a great educational and health system. Then we got involved circa 1980 and trashed the whole country, backed Saddam's worst atrocities and played both Iraq and Iran against each other. We perverted the whole place.

How about, a failure of biblical proportions?

Awful.

[gasperc]

8. Simpler, we couldn't vote Hussein out, thanks for kicking him out

now get the fuck out or we'll (the Iraqis) keep on killing

:beer:

[Q]

10. Please report to camp 92-A...

...for re-education and indoctrination into the New World Order. Bush* can do no wrong because God is on his side. Welcome to the one party state...where Republicans act like Nazis and Democrats act like Republicans.

- What does all this have to do with the Iraq invasion and occupation? Study history and weep.

[Jacobin]

14. Sorry, but 92A is all backed up.....line a mile long

Please point me to an alternative camp.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. I noted that today when I heard a former general will head some police

pathetic with a capitol P.

[bigtree]

12. And, the U.S. doesn't intend to leave the Iraqi army to its own devices

anytime soon. They plan to establish U.S. supported military and national security institutions which they describe a necessary for "civilian control and oversight."

It appears that the U.S. military is going to create the same type of junta that they deposed. How will America regard this armed bunch several years from now when some enigmatic leader has consolidated power there, and goes against our interests; or against our renegade puppet government with their army, trained and armed by the Americans?

What responsibility will we have when they eventually act against Turkey; or the Kurds? Will this be a legitimate force for future action against Iran?

Me Book

[catmandu57]

15. The next time

someone gets froggy about kicking ragass in Fallujah they'll be met with a better organized, professional army. These "people" are just fucking brilliant, the best and the brightest.
How in the fuck did we ever get so far with leadership like this?

[stellanoir]

16. "they're all wasted !!!. . ."

Am trying to compile a llist of all the innumerable mis-steps and enormously insensitive blunders committed during this "liberation"/occupation of Iraq.

It's a somewhat daunting task to keep track of all of them as each new day brings yet another whopper.

Am torn between the following titles for the list. . .

"A Neocon's guide to winning the hearts and minds"

or

"Occupations for Dummies"

or

"How to alienate and create total mistrust in an entire population"

any suggestions. . ?

[underpants]

17. HE'S AN S.O.B.!

Yeah but he is OUR S.O.B.!

Dead on Will.

[NormanConquest]

18. "Who's Next?" nt

[VelmaD]

19. Nice...

Is it part of something that's going up on truthout or just a little rant for us? :)

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. But - but - but - but ...

It's supporters of the old Ba'athist regime who are fighting the marines in Fallujah! It must be true, Donny Rumsfeld told me so just yesterday!

[tom_paine]

21. Nicely written. Is this the first paragraph of a new article?

n/t

[WilliamPitt]

22. Probably

[bobthedrummer]

23. The Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war has failed, the use of mercenaries

has failed, PNAC has failed-and we now have increased anti-Americanism worldwide thanks to these failed policies of George W. Bush aka The War President:grr:

Saddam's gone, and our US troops should come home ASAP.

[fishnfla]

24. The Abu Ghraid prison torture story

seems the only difference now is the sadists are being paid for by the US taxpayer.......

[Beetwasher]

25. Front Page Of the NYT Today: Hussein's Agents Are Behind Attacks in Iraq

Pentagon Finds.

Now look at the left side of the front page:

These are the people we're handing over Iraq to.

Deal to End Falluja Standoff Is Announced; 10 Americans Killed
By JOHN KIFNER and KIRK SEMPLE

Published: April 29, 2004


FALLUJA, Iraq, April 29 — American military officials said today that a new Iraqi security force made up of former Iraqi soldiers and commanders will replace the American troops now in Falluja and assume responsibility for the city's security.

--snip--

The insurgents just won a major battle in Fallujah. They fought the US to a standstill and now the US is turning the town over to the Iraqi's. And not just any Iraqi's, but Husseins guys, you know, the guys that the other side of the front page of the NYT is saying are responsible for the attacks. They won.

Abominable, abject failure.

[JHB]

26. A friendly dictator was always the goal, even with Bush41

Look back to 1989, and you'll find that the biggest Desert Storm hawks had been touting Iraq as "the" place to do business in the 90's.

Look to the aftermath of Desert Storm, when Poppy chose not to smash the last of Saddam's forces, called for revolution, but then sat aside while Saddam's troops gunned down the uprisings. Why? Because Bush wasn't really asking for uprisings, he wanted a coup. He wanted someone just like Saddam but without the name recognition to take command of the non-smashed army and return to business as usual.
To his surprise, he found out that Saddam had been very efficient at preventing potential rivals from developing a power base, so no one rose to challenge him (except for the Kurds and Shiites, but they don't count for Bush's purposes, so once Bush allowed Saddam's helicopter gunships to fly again, they were cut down pretty quickly).

Look at Shrubbie's planning, or excuse for same: waltz in and set up Chalabi to run things, finally back to business as usual. Except the Iraqis don't live in American Enterprise Institute Sleepy-Bye Dreamland, and so didn't follow that script (How DARE Saddam not actually have WMDs!).

So, with Chalabi sinking (while expertly raking the cash in), it's no wonder Bush goes back to the original Plan B: one of Saddam's generals, ready and willing to return to business as usual.

[DinahMoeHum]

27. Our puppet broke the string, and he thought he'd like to sing. . .

Five will get you ten that Chalabi will be the main Iraqi man in the "government" after June 30. Anyone wanna place bets on how long he'll last?

:evilfrown: