This is the headline from an AP article this morning. I felt my bile begin to rise… again… as I recalled similar headlines from March of 2003, as Saddam lit oil fires to reinforce his crumbling elite Republican Guard ringing the besieged city “like a bracelet”… To the reporter’s credit, he does point out that this is,” the largest show of Iraqi force since the fall of Saddam Hussein.”
Heh… Republican Guard… indeed the ironies abound. The best irony just is… and it is not subject to the aggrandizing celebratory spin and propaganda that we will inevitably see as the US basically attempts to expand their tiny “Green Zone” foothold in Baghdad… with Iraqi bodies. But, hey… this is Memorial Day weekend and I should be respectful of the hundreds of thousands of people killed or wounded on both sides to secure dwindling oil resources for future generations of Americans, and bring this little slice of “Democracy” to the middle east…
More irony… “We will establish, with God’s help, an impenetrable blockade surrounding Baghdad like a bracelet surrounds a wrist,” Defense Minister Saadoun al-Duleimi said. Or… Baghdad Bob said… over two years ago at the behest of Saddam Hussein…
“I don’t think it’ll be a short war,” Ambassador Mohammed Aldouri told CNN (over two years ago)..”If the Americans will not stop this aggression, the war will continue for years. We’ll see a unified society, a unified army.”
Two U.S. soldiers died when their helicopter was shot down. Today. One U.S. pilot described the situation as a “hornet’s nest,” with Iraqis peppering helicopters with small arms and anti-aircraft fire from “all sides.” Two years ago.
Is it outside the realm of possibility that all of the oil which was mismanaged by America, and seemingly vanished might soon reappear as another “Ring of Fire” encircling Baghdad once again, except this time coming from the skies above…? Have a respectful, safe, and pensive Memorial Day… and appreciate the irony.
There will be at least 675 checkpoints and al-Dulaimi said this is the first phase of a security crackdown that will eventually cover all of Iraq.
Also at the press conference was Bayan Jabor, the Minister of Interior who added, “These operations will aim at turning the government’s role from defensive to offensive.”
This is really, really bad news.
The Iraqi security forces already have an extremely bad name throughout much of Baghdad. I’ve had three Iraqi doctors tell me, in different hospitals at different times, that they call the Iraqi National Guard the “dogs of the Americans.”
Another close friend of mine in Baghdad, also a doctor, wrote me recently to say;
“Iraqi forces now have what they call “liwaa al deeb,” which means the Wolf Brigade. This is a very American name, and is an ugly name which gives the impression of violence. In the past the Iraqi troops held names of some famous Muslim and Arabic symbols which were more accepted. Anyway, the name wouldn’t matter if their behavior was straight….they now practice a kind of state sponsored terrorism.”
He went on to give an example of their not-so-straight behavior…
“Eyewitnesses in Al-Saydia area to the south of Baghdad told me that recently when a car bomb detonated and destroyed the area nearby, people were astonished to see the so-called police looting a destroyed mobile phone store that was nearby! The police now are a bunch of thieves. Many of then are already criminals who were released from Abu Ghraib prison before the war.”
…out of concern for his family, Abu Talat has returned to Baghdad. He fears that his two youngest sons will be detained simply because they are of “military age,” according to the US military…”The Americans are detaining so many people there, any man between the ages of 16 and 25 years is being immediately detained without question.”
He or any of my other friends there could end up like the three civilians who were shot dead by US soldiers yesterday while they were traveling in a minibus in al-Dora, Baghdad.
Lieutenant Jamie Davis, a spokesman for the US military, said of the slaughter, “The details are sketchy and we don’t know who was involved.”
According to AFP, the bus driver who survived the incident said US troops opened fire after he pulled over to get out of their way.
Now with over 675 checkpoints to be manned by the “dogs of the Americans,” we’ll all have to get used to countless more civilian deaths where “the details are sketchy.” link
more to be think about this weekend… I don’t know if I’m really going to be able to stomach the Memorial Day spin from Bu$hCo that’s probably coming…
He was in charge of organizing the right-wing death squads in El Salvador; I suggest much of this is his handiwork.
Dear Iraqi troops,
I wish you the best of luck with this mission. Remember, bullets and bombs can’t hurt you as long as you believe in freedom.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush
The article notes that there are around 89,400 in the police force. But that number does not include the number who deserted. The fact that many of them have deserted does not bode well for the government. Something to ponder: Are we losing even worse than we thought? The fact that the Iraqi government is deploying almost half of their forces around the capital and using th same kind of language as Saddam used makes me wonder. Besides Basra, parts of Baghdad, and Kurdistan, do we really control any meaningful swaths of territory in Iraq?
and fewer what they never had.
And all in all, it is probably better that way.
Halliburton et al are not complaining, why should you?