Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Freedom and Democracy on the March in Iraq?
From the New York Times comes more bad news out of Iraq. Seems even those Iraqis who voted in the elections are resorting to non-democratic means to get their way.
This is just one result of not having enough troops on the ground in Iraq. Our failure to build a real international coalition and have enough troops to secure the cities and towns of Iraq resulted in the flourishing of militias who now seem willing to impose their will and to act unilaterally. This is not a good sign for the future of the still unwritten constitution. Bush & Co. have been pushing the idea that Iraq has been making real strides on the political front. This coup has to be seen as real set back and as just one more indication that Bush & Co. have no idea of what is really happening in Iraq. Of course, we wouldn't even be having these problems if we hadn't rushed to invade Iraq on some deluded premise cooked up in radical right wing think tanks.
Oh, and the same story mentions that on Tuesday five American soliders were killed by insurgents. Four died in Northern Iraq and one died in a car bombing in Baghdad. On Monday a U.S. Marine was killed on Monday in Ramdi. It also mentions that at least nine Iraqi security officials were killed in four incidents that involved small arms. These aren't random car bombings. These are organized attacks that are targeting specific individuals or types of people. Yet another sign that Gerogie has no idea about what is really going on in Iraq. Yet, Georgie and his rubber stamp Congress remain on vacation and don't seem all that concerned that even more chaos is breaking out in Iraq.
From the New York Times comes more bad news out of Iraq. Seems even those Iraqis who voted in the elections are resorting to non-democratic means to get their way.
Armed men entered Baghdad's municipal building during a blinding dust storm on Monday, deposed the city's mayor and installed a member of Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia. [. . .] "This is the new Iraq," said Mr. Tamimi, a secular engineer with no party affiliation. "They use force to achieve their goal."The armed men installed "Hussein al-Tahaan, is a member of the Badr Organization, the armed militia of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq." SCIR controls much of the soutern part of Iraq, mostly by imposing a strict version of Islamic law. It appears the PM of Iraq doesn't plan to do much about this and even seems to approve of the action. His spokesperson "gave clear indications that the prime minister would not stand in the way of the move."
This is just one result of not having enough troops on the ground in Iraq. Our failure to build a real international coalition and have enough troops to secure the cities and towns of Iraq resulted in the flourishing of militias who now seem willing to impose their will and to act unilaterally. This is not a good sign for the future of the still unwritten constitution. Bush & Co. have been pushing the idea that Iraq has been making real strides on the political front. This coup has to be seen as real set back and as just one more indication that Bush & Co. have no idea of what is really happening in Iraq. Of course, we wouldn't even be having these problems if we hadn't rushed to invade Iraq on some deluded premise cooked up in radical right wing think tanks.
Oh, and the same story mentions that on Tuesday five American soliders were killed by insurgents. Four died in Northern Iraq and one died in a car bombing in Baghdad. On Monday a U.S. Marine was killed on Monday in Ramdi. It also mentions that at least nine Iraqi security officials were killed in four incidents that involved small arms. These aren't random car bombings. These are organized attacks that are targeting specific individuals or types of people. Yet another sign that Gerogie has no idea about what is really going on in Iraq. Yet, Georgie and his rubber stamp Congress remain on vacation and don't seem all that concerned that even more chaos is breaking out in Iraq.