|
Is Iraq's 'democracy' under
threat?
Linda S. Heard
Online
Journal
Friday Aug 31, 2007
It appears
that the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has loosened the
strings that bind him to Washington. He no doubt sees the writing
on the wall.
Little progress has been made in Iraq and the US president, George
W. Bush, has lined up Al Maliki to take the fall.
The right-wing US media have dutifully adopted the drum beat,
starting with the Washington Post's neoconservative columnist
Charles Krauthammer.
"Fair-minded observers, both critics and supporters of the
war, agree that the surge has yielded considerable military progress,
while at the national political the Al Maliki government remains
a disaster," he writes.
The "fair-minded observers" alluded to are senators,
congressmen and members of think tanks who have returned from
what Krauthammer calls "the battlefield" with glowing
reports on their military's achievements.
(Article continues below)
In reality, those so-called experts were given a guided tour
of the Green Zone, an upbeat lecture, courtesy of General David
Petraeus, and a hearty meal before being driven in an armoured
vehicle to the airport.
Wasn't impressed
One such Green Zone tourist who wasn't impressed was Rep.Jan
Schakowsky (D-Ill.) She complained she only caught fleeting glimpses
of Iraqis out of a helicopter or a speeding convoy and was appalled
to hear from Petraeus that US troops would be needed in country
for a further 10 years.
Other Democrats, in particular Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin,
are happily playing the new blame Al Maliki game. They have both
called for his ouster.
There's just one problem. Al Maliki is no willing patsy.
"There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it
were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Karl
Levin," he told a press conference. "They should come
to their senses."
Last Sunday, he lashed out at American forces for operations
in which civilians were killed. "When they want to detain
one person, they should not kill 10 others," he said quoting
Iraqi officials who "regularly report civilians killed in
the raids."
These uncharacteristically outspoken complaints come hard on
the heels of a warning delivered by the prime minister to the
White House in answer to Bush's criticisms and the former chairman
of and now second ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services
Committee, John Warner's call for his replacement.
"Those statements do not concern us a lot," said Al
Maliki. "We will find many around the world who will support
us in our endeavour."
It seems the warning was heeded. Bush quickly backtracked calling
Al Maliki a good guy with a difficult job.
Many argue Al Maliki has an impossible job. Is there anyone apart
from a strongman dictator capable of unifying Iraqi groups with
competing ambitions, sectarian allegiances and ideologies?
There is a candidate waiting anxiously in the wings who is being
embraced by Bush's former Iraq envoy Robert Blackwill. This secular,
no-nonsense tough guy is none other than the former Iraqi interim
prime minister Eyad Allawi.
Better bet
The White House denies it supports Allawi's bid, but from its
point of view Allawi, a pro-Western, ex-CIA asset, who harbours
little love for Iran would be a better bet than the current incumbent.
"I want to save Iraq," Allawi told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
"I want to save the mission of the United States."
That must be music to Washington's ear. Just one small difficulty
though. As the result of elections showed, Allawi -- a former
Ba'athist, who spends most of his time shuttling between London
and Washington -- has very little support among the Iraqi people.
So even if Al Maliki's government collapses -- as it might, given
the number of defections -- when presumably new democratic elections
would be called, Allawi doesn't have a hope in hell.
Or does he?
Brigadier General John Bednarek, a senior member of the US Task
Force Lightning operating in Diyala province may have provided
a clue.
"Democratic institutions are not necessarily the way ahead
in the long-term future," he said. His commander Major General
Benjamin Mixon concurs. He advocates putting in place a "government
that is really a partner with the United States. . . ."
According to CNN, some US commanders suggest privately that the
entire Iraqi government must be ousted by "constitutional
or non-constitutional" means and replaced with a stable "but
not necessarily democratic" entity.
If this is, indeed, the plan one can only wonder how stripping
Iraqis of their democratic rights would be sold to the American
people and the world when democracy has been continuously and
loudly trumpeted as the most important saving grace of the war?
The scene is already being set. The US is openly arming Sunni
militias and, under new constitutional changes, ex-Ba'athists
may be welcomed back into the government.
The danger is, of course, if Shiites see their grip on the country
-- gained by sheer force of numbers -- slipping away, the US could
be faced with a new and even deadlier insurgency.
One thing's for sure. This cakewalk gets gooier by the day.
|
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
|
|
