Bush Shakes Up Iraq Administration (Washington Post) I'm listening to BBC World Service right now. The British pundits are utterly confused at the moment about what exactly has happened and why. We all might be critical (or not, I suppose) of various aspects of the reconstruction, but at this point I'm rather surprised. I suppose this is a bigger situation than the administration can embed, though that's just a little cynical .... (Do the World Service broadcast readers drink heavily? They're hilarious.) But apparently the situation is that much of a mess. I suppose it gives the administration something of a breather, as they can say, "We know, we know. Look--we're making changes." And that is just a little cynical. :m:, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I wonder how long it will take untill the Shiaa will insurrect like in Iran . Will it be during the proces of creating the government , will it be shortly after , perhaps it will take sometime like with the Shah in Iran ? I say its not holding untill 2004 .
Ought-four ugliness We'll see how smart international opposition is going into the '04 election. Any hit against this country will play into Bush's hands, but I do think the eventual collapse of our first try in Iraq will have severe repercussions for the boy who told us that we "can't get fooled again". Fool me once, George ... wait, who am I kidding? You didn't fool me, George .... But think of the United States now as a big rock concert; no, wait, not even that. A teenybopper concert. It may be a diverse crowd: little girls dressed to the "t" in slut, middle-aged men drooling over Britney or whomever, testosterone-charged boys showing off; the one thing they all have in common is that they want more than anything to be part of the movement. They want to be "tight" and even "inside". It gives them comfort to have trivial knowledge to trade in ritual talk that makes them sound more intelligent. Maybe we can bring back the Macarena. Depending on how badly things might go, it will be interesting to watch Americans spin Iraq into a positive light; I might have to gnaw off my left foot. To the other, I'm also hoping for some insight from the people who want to tell me about how good a job we're doing in Iraq. Seriously, this is a sort of hopeful moment for me.° I knew things were bad, but I didn't think they were bad enough for the administration to shuffle the deck and try to deal a new hand. That is, I didn't think the administration was smart enough to do so. So guess what? It looks like George fooled me. (But you know what they say ... fool me twice ... no, wait ... you can't get fooled again.) Notes: ° hopeful moment - Idealistically, it's a hopeful moment. On the one hand, I want to be a realist; to the other, though, I have to hope for the best for the Iraqi victims of this whole debacle. Of course, as the war dogs note, sometimes force is necessary, so perhaps it will be a cataclysmic uprising among Iraqis killing many occupiers and expelling them from Baghdad that will finally start the progressive route. I hope not, but this is the Bush administration. :m:, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I think that the US, or should I say the present administration, has confused the means and the end. Democracy is indeed an end in itself, as away of selecting, or more importantly de-selecting the rulers of a country. Sceptical as I am about democracy I have no better alternative and it seems to be effective in creating states which generally serve the best interests of their citizens. But the end isn't really democracy for Bush is it? The end is a particular type of government. After all the US has happily gone about sacrificing democracy for 'the right people' all over the globe in the past. I don't think they'll stop now. Had Saddam Hussein been democratically elected would the US have not had a beef with him? Don't think so. I sit here listening to all this talk of democracy and how Iraq will be this beacon to the Middle East and I just smile and chuckle in a resigned, sad way. I love the Middle East, and I also think I understand it. I feel a sense of foreboding about Iraq, but what can I do when confronted by the madness in Washington but laugh? My mind is drawn to Algeria in (1998?- the precise year escapes me). They voted, GENUINELY (no one doubted the result) for a hard-line Islamic government that vowed to end democracy. What exactly do you about that? well, you back the government that lost! That's what we (Europe and the US) did anyway. I'm not satying that Iraq will do the same, but let's be clear, there are issues between Iraqis and the US. BIG issues. A few years may see these swept under the carpet, but they will emerge. But more importantly it's Israel. Everyone's saying how great this is for Israel, well I'm not so sure. You see, Iraqis do not like Israel. They never will. So ... Let's suppose the US succeeds in rebuilding Iraq. Huge oil wealth, infrastructure rebuilt, US-friendly government in power, lid kept on Israel and military rebuuilt. After all, it's a US ally so they can get the good stuff. BIG economy, big money, big population, big military. But... Somewhere down the road the exploitation, the social gaps, the inevitable repression rears up and the government iis overthrown. Who do they target? Who's under threat? Who's got a nice big arsenal? My point is that Arabs do not share certain values with the US and never will. The main issue is Israel. It doesn't matter how many beads you give them, or nice shiny baubles, there is, as they see it, a fundamental injustice in Israel. And as long as the US bankrolls Israel they will blame the US. A sense of injustice is a powerful force. A genuine injustice will never die. Iraqis just don't share certain fundamental views with the US, and until the US alters its policy there is trouble to come for the foreseeable future. Democracy or not. On this issue the US is wearing the black hat. I'm not saying there's a real good guy here, but the US is fundamentally on the side of wrong, and the world knows it.
Iraq's infrastructure and society have been falling apart for a very long time. Even before the '91 Gulf War.
Iraq's infrastructure and society have been falling apart for a very long time. Even before the '91 Gulf War. No that is not true, Iraq had the best infrastructure in the ME for a while. It was the bombing of the country, and the brutal sanctions. Iraq had free healthcare, education,etc. I think you are confusing that statement with Iran!
cap My point is that Arabs do not share certain values with the US and never will "never will" sounds too final and i doubt if you really meant that. however if you do see fundamental differences b/w arabs and us, what are they? (we are not talking about their predilections for little boys - just kidding!) excellent post i must say the iraq admin was changed to a civilian one in order to make it more palatable to the natives (or so i heard anyway)
Whirly whirly whirly whirly girl! Oooh! Whirly whirly! Oooh! Whirly whirly! I agree that "never will" is too final a judgment in the sense that Islam is not finished transforming in response to the needs of Muslims. Just how much transmogrification it can stand is another question entirely.° The democracy issue is a tough one, because--accepting the loose definition that makes the US a democracy--the Iraqi people have a right to elect whatever government (wise, silly, or pabulum bland) they wish, and nobody has any illusions that the US won't be tampering with the electoral structure for years to come. So I think the end, for Bush, is something economic. Cheap oil means consumer spending. Cheap oil means cheap energy, which means cheaper production, economic growth, a rise in the standard of living and more consumer/taxable dollars. There's a joke that the poorest member of the Bush cabinet has a tanker named after her, but I actually can't imagine that Powell is as well off as Rice, but what does it matter? And in addition to cheap Iraqi oil, there is also the prospect of American-dictated stability, a cornerstone money pit by which we might eventually reign in some greater control over the energy market. Apropos Algeria (and, incidentally, Rwanda), I happened across a BBC article yesterday that notes the inadequacy of the UN presence amid increasing ethnic violence: there are only 620 UN troops in DRC. I wonder how many people are going to die before the world gets serious about that one. But don't worry, folks. There's nothing in DRC that the US wants, so we won't be doing anything to get in the way of the slaughter .... You gotta admit: that one just hurts. In the meantime, the UN did manage to count thirty-two casualties, including three infants. Of course, the implication is that they're fighting over gold deposits°, so I don't know what to think. Democracy doesn't work; mediation doesn't work .... I honestly think there's something important we're all missing (except, maybe, a few Buddhists on the Tibetan plateau) about the fact that we are one human species.° But I tend to think in terms of generations from time to time. It's true that Iraqis just don't share certain fundamental views and values with Americans, and I'll avoid other redundancies enough to merely say that what everybody ought to do instead of build bombs is build spaceships. One of these days, somebody will get to pack up and fly away and be done with the rest of us. It's not so much love it or leave it, but the feeling that even though it's our house in the middle of the street, something tells you that you've got to get away from it. People seem very fatalistic. I promise you all that it doesn't have to be this way. And I know some of you know that. I'm thinking ... oh, hey ... crap, I'm thinking. Okay, it's time to smoke. Notes: ° transmogrification - I continue to hold out hope that the mystical pseudo-Christianity that has, in the past, been quite perverse (cf. Barrett, The Magus) and even ridiculously obscure (cf Mathers, The Lesser Key of Solomon), but the noble efforts of the misguided philosophers such as Nicholas of Cusa, Saint Anselm, and Thomas Aquinas (Augustine, Origen, Irenaeus of Lyons, Ignatius of Antioch ....) actually provides a solid backdrop against which one might stage Christianity according to minimal and interpretive a priori structures. The functional value of this is that there is a heritage that can be tapped among the greater portion of, for instance, American Christianity; Elsa Tamez's Infinite Justice, Infinite Forgiveness (PDF download!)) has gotten some play lately for touching that vein. In the history of Islam, when Muslims had power and wealth, philosophical interpretations of Islam flourished. Rumi, the best-known and best-selling dervish in the United States, for instance, came from a family of influence during the Seljuk Empire. What empires do Muslims hold? George Bush, however, waves a proudly Christian banner over the American Imperium. Nonetheless, in better times, Islam will look somewhat different than it does now. Universities and even Sufi schools, in days past, received the modern equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Remember that Muslims carried science during this period, as well. But I do not know exactly how much variation Islam can withstand, and that's a big question mark; otherwise, I see no reason why improving the state of affairs in Muslim nations won't result in a similar cultural and intellectual flourish. (How's that for a digression?) ° gold deposits - I can't even tell you what my source is, but I came across a random article about a year ago while drinking wine and chatting with a friend. All I can tell you is that it asserted a link between African gold mines and the spread of HIV, including studies involving the prostitutes that serve the mines. Bottom line: there's already a war going on (so much for peace breaking out), but I'm willing to bet that the gold mines are a human disaster in and of themselves. Third-world gold mines, as I understand it, are squalid to say the least. ° one human species - At least, we were the last time I checked. I don't know what the genome map has told people. Maybe the eugenics people were right. Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that the Jews were the chosen, master race? Er ... oh, hell. Never mind. I'll just smoke some more and try to come up with something a little funnier. :m:, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! (P.S. - I'm listening to one of the coolest songs in the world right now, and what scares me is that it's an 80's tune.)
It's true that Iraqis just don't share certain fundamental views and values with Americans, in that case i gotta ask you to elaborate as well. fundamental seems to imply basic human stuff and thus how different can another human be? is fundamental views and values a work ethic? political system? freedom? secular state? child/cousin brides? Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out that the Jews were the chosen, master race? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! the gentiles might go into a frenzy again.
