IMPERIALISM'S WOES

Given the number of bombs set off in Iraq, it would be ironic indeed if the Americans were hoisted by their own petard. But it seems to the case. There was a tortuous and dishonest rationale for the invasion. First the weapons of mass destruction, and following the failure to discover the relevant evidence, there was the idea of bringing democracy to Iraq, to which end elections were held and a government established. You might get away with two governments if one is Caesar’s and the other God’s, but Caesar, when not driven by public relations, usually establishes one government with clear lines of command and control.
Reuters reports:

The Daily Telegraph characterised the relationship between the two as stormy and said they had frequent shouting matches. “I can’t deal with you anymore. I will ask for someone else to replace you,” Maliki told Petraeus at one meeting, it said.

The newspaper and another media report said at one video teleconference with Bush, Maliki, angry over the U.S. military’s alliance with some Sunni Arab tribal groups, had threatened to arm Shi’ite militias.

Sam Dagher, writing in The Christian Science Monitor blames the situation on the division between Iraqis:

Iraq is in the throes of its worst political crisis since the fall of Saddam Hussein with the new democratic system, based on national consensus among its ethnic and sectarian groups, appearing dangerously close to collapsing, say several politicians and analysts.

This has brought paralysis to governmental institutions and has left parliament unable to make headway on 18 benchmarks Washington is using to measure progress in Iraq, including legislation on oil revenue sharing and reforming security forces.

And the disconnect between Baghdad and Washington over the urgency for solutions is growing. The Iraqi parliament is set for an August vacation as the Bush administration faces pressure to show progress in time for a September report to Congress.

It does not look as if the benchmarks for the Iraqi Government set by Washington are going to be met. An Iraqi government can only be a real government when the occupiers leave. That may not guarantee domestic peace, but it would create the conditions for real negotiation.

Postscript:

The Iraqi soccer team has remarkably won the Asian Cup. We will see what consequences this might have on the situation in Iraq.

About these ads