Our policy is to make Iraq a colony. We won't let go. Rolling Stone story

[JohnyCanuck]

From www.rollingstone.com

The Quagmire

As the Iraq war drags on, it's beginning to look a lot like Vietnam

By ROBERT DREYFUSS

<snip>

But to hear President Bush tell it, the war in Iraq is going very, very well. In mid-April, appearing before 25,000 U.S. soldiers at sun-drenched Fort Hood, in Texas, Bush declared that America has succeeded in planting democracy in Iraq, creating a model that will soon spread throughout the Middle East. "That success is sending a message from Beirut to Tehran," the president boasted to chants of "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" from the troops. "The establishment of a free Iraq is a watershed event in the global democratic revolution." Staying on message, aides to Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, later suggested that U.S. forces could be reduced from 142,000 to 105,000 within a year.

In private, however, senior military advisers and intelligence specialists on Iraq offer a starkly different picture. Two years after the U.S. invasion, Iraq is perched on the brink of civil war. Months after the election, the new Iraqi government remains hunkered down inside the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, surviving only because it is defended by thousands of U.S. troops. Iraqi officials hold meetings and press conferences in Alamo-like settings, often punctuated by the sounds of nearby explosions. Outside the Green Zone, party offices and government buildings are surrounded by tank traps, blast walls made from concrete slabs eighteen feet high, and private militias wielding machine guns and AK-47s. Even minor government officials travel from fort to fort in heavily armed convoys of Humvees.

<snip>

In fact, it may already be too late to prevent Iraq from exploding. Iraq's new government is stuck in a fatal Catch-22: To have any credibility among Iraqis it must break with the U.S. and oppose the occupation, but it couldn't last a week without the protection of American troops. The Bush administration is also stuck. Its failure to stabilize Iraq, and the continuing casualties there, have led to a steady slide in the president's popularity: Polls show that a majority of Americans no longer think that the war in Iraq was worth fighting in the first place. Yet withdrawing from Iraq would only lead to more chaos, and the rest of the world has exhibited little interest in cleaning up America's mess. Of the two dozen or so countries that sent troops to Iraq, fewer and fewer remain: Spain, Portugal, Hungary and New Zealand have already quit, and the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Italy have announced they are getting out. Even if the United Nations agreed to step in, there is little or no chance that the administration will internationalize control over Iraq. In the face of a full-scale civil war in Iraq, says a source close to the U.S. military, Bush intends to go it alone.

"Our policy is to make Iraq a colony," he says. "We won't let go."

More...

Welcome to Rome boys and girls.

[aquart]

1. The clue was the word "homeland."

We never refer to our country that way. It's only a homeland if we have colonies elsewhere. Bush was already thinking of himself as emperor.

[Roland99]

18. "Homeland"? Where is that mentioned in the article?

[aquart]

22. Not in the article. In the administration.

[calimary]

2. Sigh... Well, then, george, NEITHER WILL WE.

DAMN him. DAMN him straight to HELL.

Recommended.

[leftchick]

3. SURPISE! The resistance have "tentacles".....

HEllloooo Lt. Gen. Buchanan! Have you read or been in any other US occupation? Why do these supposed Military veterans continue to make such naive statements? The mind boggles.

~snip~

According to U.S. officials, the resistance attacks are being aided by an extensive network of informers. Insurgents, apparently making use of engineers and former insiders, have been able to hit oil installations and power plants expertly, foiling U.S. efforts to sustain Iraqi oil exports and to provide electricity and water to Iraqi cities. "They have tentacles that reach all through the new government and the new military," Lt. Gen. Walter Buchanan, who commands U.S. air forces in the Persian Gulf, admitted recently.

[understandinglife]

4. "We The People...." don't dig imperialists. It's time for someone to ...

....inform Bu$h that "We The People...." know exactly how to get rid of imperial regimes -- his is going down, now.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - STOP THE ATROCITIES; INDICT AND PROSECUTE THE EVIL BU$H REGIME

[Plaid Adder]

5. Top 10 Reasons We Don't Want To Be An Empire

Wrote these up 2 years ago now, but they're still relevant:

Top 10 Reasons We Don't Want To Be An Empire

10. Building Death Star would leave no money in state coffers for basic services.
9. Alliteration makes "Evil Empire" sound much more convincing than "Benevolent Empire."
8. History suggests average empire has a 100% chance of falling.
7. Sounds too much like "Vampire."
6. Republicans resistant to renaming themselves "Imperial Party."
5. Actually, Republicans would be happy to do so, but it's a pain in the butt to change all the letterhead.
4. Administration reluctant to make parallels between Bush and Caligula any more obvious than they already are.
3. Christian right concerned that becoming an empire might lead to becoming empiricists.
2. Difficult to promote global democracy while crushing entire world in vise-like chokehold.
1. Nobody loves an empire.

Faugh,

The Plaid Adder

[leftchick]

6. lol! Perfect and I Love number 3.....

Let me add my newest favorite toast anytime I have a libation. Which seems to be much more often these days, go figure...

EMPIRES FALL
THIS ONE WILL TOO
HERE'S TO THE DAY
WHEN THIS ONE IS THROUGH!

[JohnyCanuck]

7. I'll drink to that

:beer:

[The Magistrate]

21. Thank You For The Laugh, Ms. Adder

Nos. 9, 7, 4, and 3 are especially convincing....

[The Doctor.]

8. Now, at what point before it's collapse was Rome engaging in

self-deception?

Something about being militarily over-extended, corrupt at the highest levels, top-heavy as a government, and all while blaming the descent on 'immoral Liberals'...

sound familiar?

[jahyarain]

9. SOMEBODY, PLEASE!

stop that dumb motherfucker from talking before he gets us all killed

[DirtyDawg]

10. Geedubya could care less...

...about his poll numbers so long as he can get his hands on Iraq and it's resources. He's like the Monkey with his hand in the jar - can't get it out without letting go...and won't let go. So he'll just sit there and die along with brave American men and women and untold Iraqis. Unless he's stopped. And the only way to stop him is to vow to never again vote for a Republican candidate for anything. Only his own party can put a halt to this madness and the only way to get them to do it is make sure they know they're going to have a hell of a time getting re-elected with this baggage.

[JohnyCanuck]

11. One slight correction.

He's like the Monkey with his hand in the jar - can't get it out without letting go...and won't let go. So he'll just sit there and die along with brave American men and women and untold Iraqis.

No chance of this particular monkey doing any of the dying that's to be done holding onto Iraq for Halliburton, KBR and big oil. It's not his own monkey ass that will ever be in harm's way from roadside IEDs, car bombs, or RPG and mortar attacks.

[Robworld]

12. You mean to tell me we went into Iraq to takeover?

http://www.dumdumgoestothecircus.com/

[Robeysays]

13. we have fallen SO far.

i haven't been alive long enough to know a time when America was loved by the rest of the world. my parents remember, and the stories my grand parents tell me about the world after WWII. we were the bastion of peace and democracy. its to bad the right corrupted it before i could enjoy the love.

[For PaisAn]

34. Hi Robey

and welcome to DU.
:hi:

[eridani]

14. Paging Howard Dean

This is what Bush wants for his "tremendous success." Don't endorse it--fight back!

[eridani]

15. Democratic National Platform, 1900

We assert that no nation can long endure half republic and half empire, and we warn the American people that imperialism abroad will lead quickly and inevitably to despotism at home.

Looks like great-grandma and great-grandpa knew a thing or three that we seem to have forgotten.

[Roland99]

16. Are we sure that's attributed to the Propagandist?

Seems a bit vague to whom that quote is from. And, if this speech was made a few weeks ago, why are we just now hearing about this line?

The line doesn't show up in any Google search.

[KamaAina]

17. So, basically, al-Jaafari is the "mayor of Baghdad"

much like Karzai is the "mayor of Kabul" over in that other country we hosed. I'm satisfied with that outcome for my $80 billion and thousands of lives a year; how about you? :sarcasm:

Man, that is scary stuff. :scared: Anyone know about Robert Dreyfuss, the author? Does he have cred or is this "Chicken Little" stuff? (a man can hope, can't he?)

[Frederik]

19. More like

the mayor of the Green Zone I think.

[ima_sinnic]

20. Robert Dreyfuss is very credible

He's an investigative reporter who has been writing for Mother Jones and The Nation for quite some time now.
One of my faves that he did is The Lie Factory, in Mother Jones, exposing Rumsfeld's Office of Special Plans:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/01/12_405.html

[othermeans]

23. 80 of OUR Tanks destroyed! At 4.3 mil a tank that's 340 million dollars!

[opihimoimoi]

25. But, but, Iraq will soon be the 51st State,then it all makes perfect sense

My, we are a blind bunch of mice....

[Dangerman]

24. I told you...

Getting rid of Saddam was not a good thing to start with, but did America listens to me? Noooooooo!

[ClintonTyree]

26. And we get this information from a Rock and Roll Magazine....

because our gelded Main Stream Media doesn't want to give the bush administration a black eye. The Corporate Media that is enjoying nice fat profits thanks to bush's never ending quest to skew the playing field in favor of Corporate America, will concentrate on runaway brides, sharks, Michael Jackson etc. To watch and listen to them you'd never know there was a war going on at all. This is not by accident. They are fully aware of their decisions to cover the days' news with smoke and mirrors, distracting the American public with sensationalist stories while the real, horrible news goes unreported.

Who would have ever thought 10 years ago, that the most reliable and factual news in our country would come from a Comedy show (TDS), a rock and roll magazine and numerous blogs? The print media has marginalized itself and sits dumbfounded trying to figure out, why? They've cut investigative journalists to the bare bones, pay them squat, gutted newsrooms and other resources to shore up the bottom line. Profits. That's all they're concerned with, profits, and they're sinking, fast. The television media is nothing more than infotainment, what we used to get on shows like "Hard Copy", "Entertainment Tonight" and "MTV News". I won't even mention "talk radio", it's too disgusting to elaborate on. It's a disgrace and they must share the blame along with bush and his oil saturated pals.

bush's ill-advised, illegal and unmoral war on Iraq will be a drain on the US economy for decades to come. It is up to us, the American people to say, NO MORE WAR. People say we cannot abandon Iraq now that we've broken it. I say, bullshit, we must. Our country must come first. We must get our own house in order before attempting to convert the world to our "fabulous" system of greed, corruption and imperialistic insanity. LEAVE IRAQ NOW! :grr:

[teryang]

27. Great summary of the impending collapse

But, but, but, they're going to get Zarqawi any day now. Victory is right around the corner.

The one dimensional presentation of the war by the mainstream media could end. This article makes the rest of media look incredibly stupid. There is blood in water, how long can they resist the sensational appeal?

Nothing fails like a military defeat.

[Disturbed]

28. The Lame Stream Media is as corupt as the..

Bush Fascist Junta. The LSM is complicit in an illegal invasion of a sovereign country and the Occupation. I believe that the LSM Corp. CEOs should be prosecuted along with the Bush Junta.

[Disturbed]

29. The Lame Stream Media is as corupt as the..

Bush Fascist Junta. The LSM is complicit in an illegal invasion of a sovereign country and the Occupation. I believe that the LSM Corp. CEOs should be prosecuted along with the Bush Junta.

[Callboy]

30. never take your eye off the

barrel of oil, my friend.

[Vogon_Glory]

31. As The Colonized, Is It Any Wonder That

As the colonized, is it any wonder that Iraqi nationalists are fiercely resisting what they see as foreign occupiers less interested in the well-being of Iraq and Iraqis than in Iraq's oil supply?

Even for Iraqis less worked-up about the nationalist and religious aspects of the occupation struggle, is it any wonder that they're bitter at the US for not living up to such basics usually provided by occupiers such as public order (No matter how unjust or brutal) and basic services?

As an amateur historian, I'd think that even the would-be colonizers and imperialists of the last century would be tearing their hair out in frustration and shaking with rage at the incompetence of George Deucey-U Bush and his Duck Soup Posse.

Even if the US manages to put down the insurgency (questionable), I very much doubt that most Iraqis, Sunni or Shi'ia alike, will forgive us for this botch anytime soon. We're likely to feel the ill effects of this war for decades.

[paineinthearse]

32. Civil war is the subject of Gupta's new article in Z magazine.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3606844&mesg_id=3606844

[txaslftist]

33. Sheesh....

You would think that the government of a people who fought against a vastly superior colonizing force to build a nation from nothing would realize that defeating a nationalist rebellion is damn near impossible.

Wake up, Bushistas! The insurgency in Iraq is nationalist. It won't go away until WE go away.

No more crap about how "we broke it so we gotta fix it". We broke it, but our being there is only making it more broken. Every attempt we make to fix it fux it.

Lets get the fux out!

[Godai Kyoko]

35. Is Vietnam the only frame of refernce?

The US has successfully dealt with several conquests. We lost a couple too. Japan is a great success that has turned its past into a sort of amuzment park/cartoon. Germany isn't a great success, they seem to be going back to their bad old ways, but the past 49 years have been more successful than not. Italy after a few rocky years has been a tremendous success. South Korea is one of the great economic menaces, after being the backwater before the war and demolished during the war.

The Philippines and Vietnam were disasters, but that just lowers that average.

I think we should examine our motivations on this. Sure, everything Bush does is wrong, but having done, lets make things right in the future. We don't want to go to the place of hating Bush so much that we ally ourselves with otther baddies.