Wars
of the Laptop Bombers
Today's
Stories
January 27,
2005
Christopher
Brauchli
The
FBI's Carnival of Errors
January 26,
2005
Saree Makdisi
An
Iron Wall of Colonization: Fantasies and Realities About the
Prospects for Middle East Peace
Scott Fleming
In Good Conscience: an Interview with Concientious Objector Aidan
Delgado
Dave Lindorff
Filling Saddam's Shoes: the Puppet Regime Return's to Torture
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Salazar and Obama: Two Dismal Debuts
Toni Solo
The
US and Latin America: a Not-So-Magical Reality
William James Martin
Condoleezza Rice: Confused About the Middle East
William A.
Cook
Bush's Second Inaugural Address: the Lost Ur-Version
Eric Hobsbawm
Delusions
About Democracy
Alexander Cockburn
The CIA's New Campus Spies
January 25,
2005
Brian Cloughley
Iraq
as Disneyland
Mike Roselle
Satan is My Co-Pilot
Josh Frank
/ Merlin Chowkwanyun
The War on Civil Liberties
John Chuckman
Freedom on Steroids
Paul Craig
Roberts
A
Party Without Virtue
Dr. Teresa
Whitehurst
The
Intolerance of Christian Conservatives
James Petras
The
US / Colombia Plot Against Venezuela
Website of the Day
Lowbaggers for the Environment
January 24,
2005
Fred Gardner
Last
Monologue in Burbank
Lori Berenson
On the Politicization of My Case
Uri Avnery
King
George
January 22
/ 23, 2005
Jennifer Van
Bergen / Ray Del Papa
Nuclear
Incident in Montana
Alexander Cockburn
Prince
Harry's Travails
Jeffrey St. Clair
The Company That Runs the Empire: Lockheed and Loaded
Stan Goff
The Spectacle
Saul Landau
Nothing Succeeds Like Failure
Gary Leupp
Official Madness and the Coming War on Iran
Fred Gardner
Is GW Getting the Runaround?
Phil Gasper
Clemency Denied: the Politics of Death in California
Stanley Heller
A Kill-Happy Government: Connecticut Chooses Death
Greg Moses
The Heart of Texas: an Inauguration Day Betrayal on Civil Rights
Justin Taylor
The Folk-Histories of John Ross
Daniel Burton-Rose
One China; Many Problems
Elaine Cassel
Try a Little Tyranny: Questions While Watching the Inaugural
Mike Whitney
Failing Upwards: the Rise of Michael Chertoff
Mark L. Berenson
My Daughter Has Been Wrongly Imprisoned
Christopher
Brauchli
It Doesn't Compute: a $170 Million Mistake
Gilad Atzmon
Zionism and Other Marginal Thoughts
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Day of the Rats
Mark Donham
The Secret Messages of Rahm Emmanuel
Ben Tripp
Adventures in Online Dating
Walter Brasch
Hollywood's Patriots: Soulless Kooks, Mr. Bush?
Poets' Basement
Wuest, Landau, Ford, Albert & Drum
January 21,
2005
Dave Lindorff
A
Great American Journalist:
John L. Hess (1917-2005)
Sharon Smith
The
Anti-War Movement and the Iraqi Resistance
Don Santina
Baseball, Racism and Steroid Hysteria
Ron Jacobs
Locked Out and Pissed Off: Protesting the Bush Inauguration
Kurt Nimmo
The Problem with Mike Ruppert
Don Monkerud
Once They Were Cults: Bush's Faith-Based Social Services
Alan Farago
Swimming Home from the Galapagos
Derek Seidman
An
Interview with Army Medic and Anti-War Activist Patrick Resta
Read How the
Press & the CIA
Killed Gary Webb's Career
January 20,
2005
Paul Craig
Roberts
Dying
for Sycophants
William Cook
The
Bush Inauguration: A Mock Epic Fertility Rite
Joshua Frank
The Democrats and Iran: Look Who's Backing Bush's Next
Eric Ruder
Why Andres Raya Snapped: Another Casualty of Bush's War
Mike Whitney
Coronation in a Garrison State
Robert Jensen
A Citizens Oath of Office
Peter Rost
Bush Report on Drug Imports: Good Data, Bad Conclusions
David Underhill
Is It Torture Yet?: the Eclectic Fool Aid Torture Test
James Reiss
Adieu, Colin Powell: Pea Soup in Foggy Bottom
CounterPunch
Staff
Voices
from Abu Ghraib: the Injured Party
January 19,
2005
Marta Russell
Social
Security Privatization & Disability: 8 Million at Risk
Mike Ferner
Marines
Stretching Movement: Protesting Urban Warfare in Toledo
Nancy Oden
The
Nuremberg Principles, Iraq and Torture
Tony Paterson
A Catalogue of British Abuses in Iraq
Dave Lindorff
Bush's Divide-and-Conquer Plan to Destroy Social Security
Doug Giebel
BS and CBS: When 60 Minutes Helped Promote WMD Fantasies
Alexander Cockburn
Will
Bush Quit Iraq?
January 18,
2005
Paul Craig
Roberts
How
Americans Were Seduced by War: Empire and Militant Christianity
Jennifer Van
Bergen
Federal
Judge: Abu Ghraib Abuses Result of Decision to Ignore Geneva
Conventions
Douglas Lummis
It's a No Brainer; Send Graner: a Rap for Our Time
Ron Jacobs
Syria Back in the Crosshairs?
Seth DeLong
Enter the Dragon: Will Washington Tolerate a Venezuelan-Chinese
Oil Pact?
Lance Selfa
Stolen Election?: Most Democrats Didn't Even Bother to Inquire
Paul D. Johnson
Mystery Meat: a Right-to-Know About Food Origins
Elisa Salasin
An Open Letter to Jenna Bush, Future Teacher
January 17,
2005
Heather Gray
Misconceptions
About King's Methods for Social Change
Robert Fisk
Hotel Room Journalism: the US Press in Iraq
Dave Lindorff
What the NYT Death Chart Omitted: Civilians Slaughtered by US
Military
Jason Leopold
Sam Bodman's Smokestacks: Bush's Choice for Energy Czar is One
of Texas's Worst Polluters
Gary Leupp
A Message from the Iraqi Resistance
Douglas Valentine
An Act of State? the Execution of Martin Luther King
Harvey Arden
Welcome to Leavenworth: My First Encounter with Leonard Peltier
Greg Moses
King
and the Christian Left: Where Lip Service is Not an Option
January 15
/ 16, 2005
James Petras
The
Kidnapping of a Revolutionary
Robert Fisk
Flying Carpet Airlines: My Return to Baghdad
Ron Jacobs
Unfit for Military Service
Brian Cloughley
Smack Daddies of the Hindu Kush: Afghanistan's Drug Bonanza
Fred Gardner
The Allowable-Quantity Expert
Dr. Susan Block
The Counter-Inaugural Ball: Eros Day, 2005
John Ross
Zapatista Literary Llife
Suzan Mazur
Unspooking Frank Carlucci
M. Shahid Alam
America's New Civilizing Mission
Frederick B. Hudson
Jack Johnson's Real Opponent: "That I Was a Man"
Mike Whitney
Bush's Grand Plan: Incite Civil War in Iraq
Tom Crumpacker
A Constitutional Right to Travel to Cuba
Bob Burton
The Other Armstrong Williams Scandal
John Callender
La Conchita and the Indomitable 82-Year Old
Lila Rajiva
Christian Zionism
Saul Landau
An Imperial Portrait: a Visit to Hearst's Castle
Doug Soderstrom
A Touch of Evil: the Morality of Neoconservatism
Poets' Basement
Davies, Louise, Landau, Albert, Collins and Laymon
January 14,
2005
Robert Fisk
"The
Tent of Occupation"
Lee Sustar
Bush's Social Security Con Job
José
M. Tirado
The Christians I Know
Dave Zirin
The Legacy of Jack Johnson
Sheldon Rampton
Calling John Rendon: a True Tale of "Military Intelligence"
Tracy McLellan
Under the Influence
Yves Engler
The Dictatorship of Debt: the World Bank and Haiti
Tom Barry
Robert
Zoellick: a Bush Family Man
Website of
the Day
Ryan for the Nobel Prize?
January 13,
2005
Mark Chmiel
/ Andrew Wimmer
Hearts
and Minds, Revisited
Joe DeRaymond
The Salvador Option: Terror,
Elections and Democracy
Greg Moses
Every Hero a Killer?...Not
Dave Lindorff
The Great WMD Fraud: Time for an Accounting
Jorge Mariscal
Dr. Galarza v. Alberto Gonzales: Which Way for Latinos?
Christopher Brauchli
Gonzales and the Death Penalty: the Executioner Never Sleeps
Gary Leupp
"Fighting
for the Work of the Lord": Christian Fascism in America
January 12,
2005
Robert Fisk
Fear
Stalks Baghdad
Josh Frank
The
Farce of the DNC Contest
Jack Random
Casualties
of War: the Untold Stories
John Roosa
Aceh's Dual Disasters: the Tsunami and Military Rule
Carol Norris
In the Wake of the Tsunami
Mike Whitney
Pink Slips at CBS
Alan Farago
Can
the Everglades be Saved?
Paul Craig
Roberts
What's
Our Biggest Problem in Iraq...the Insurgency or Bush?
January 11,
2005
Tom Barry
The
US isn't "Stingy"; It's Strategic: Aid as a Weapon
of Foreign Policy
James Hodge
and Linda Cooper
Voice
of the Voiceless: Father Roy Bourgeois and the School of the
the Americas
Linda S. Heard
Farah Radio Break Down: Joseph Farah's Messages of Hate and Homophobia
Derrick O'Keefe
Electoral Gigolo?: Richard Gere and the Occupied Vote
Gila Svirsky
A Tale of Two Elections
Harry Browne
Irish
"Peace Process", RIP
January 10,
2005
Ramzy Baroud
Faith-Based
Disasters: Tsunami Aid and War Costs
Talli Nauman
Killing
Journalists: Mexico's War on a Free Press
Uri Avnery
Sharon's Monologue
Dave Lindorff
Tucker
Carlson's Idiot Wind
Dave Zirin
Randy
Moss's Moondance
Dave Silver
Left Illusions About the Democratic Party
Charles Demers
Plan Salvador for Iraq: Death Squads Come in Waves
William A.
Cook
Causes
and Consequences: Bush, Osama and Israel
January 8 /
9, 2005
Alexander Cockburn
Say,
Waiter, Where's the Blood in My Margarita Glass?
John H. Summers
Chomsky
and Academic History
Greg Moses
Getting Real About the Draft
Walter A. Davis
Bible Says: the Psychology of Christian Fundamentalism
Victor Kattan
The EU and Middle East Peace
John Bolender
The Plight of Iraq's Mandeans
Robert Fisk
The Politics of Lebanon
Fred Gardner
Situation NORML
Joe Bageant
The Politics of the Comfort Zone
Mickey Z.
I Want My DDT: Little Nicky Kristof Bugs Out
Ben Tripp
CounterClockwise Evolution
Ron Jacobs
Elvis and His Truck: Out on Highway 61
Saul Landau
Sex
and the Country
Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Time to End the Blackout
Ellen Cantarow
NPR's Distortions on Palestine
Richard Oxman
Bageantry Continued
Poets' Basement
Gaffney, Landau, Albert, Collins
January 7,
2005
Omar Barghouti
Slave
Sovereignty: Elections Under Occupation
Kent Paterson
The Framing of Felipe Arreaga: Another Mexican Environmentalist
Arrested
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Old
Vijay Merchant and the Tsunami
David Krieger
Cancel the Inauguration Parties
Gideon Levy
New Year, Old Story
Dave Lindorff
Ohio Protest: First Shot Fired by Congressional Progressives
Christopher
Brauchli
Privatizing the IRS
Roger Burbach
/ Paul Cantor
Bush,
the Pentagon and the Tsunami
January 6,
2005
Brian J. Foley
Gonzales:
Supporting Torture is not His Greatest Sin
Greg Moses
Boot
Up America!: Gen. Helmly's Memo Leaks New Bush Deal
Petras / Chomsky
An
Open Letter to Hugo Chavez
Alan Maass
The Decline of the Dollar
Dave Lindorff
Colin Powell's Selective Sense of Horror
Jenna Orkin
The EPA and a Dirty Bomb: 9/11's Disastrous Precedent
P. Sainath
The
Tsunami and India's Coastal Poor
January 5,
2005
Alan Farago
2004:
An Environmental Retrospective
Winslow T.
Wheeler
Oversight
Detected?: Sen. McCain and the Boeing Tanker Scam
Jean-Guy Allard
Gary Webb: a Cuban Perspective
Fred Gardner
Strutting, Smirking, As If The Mad Plan Was Working
David Swanson
Albert Parsons on the Gallows
Richard Oxman
The Joe Bageant Interview
Bruce Jackson
Death
on the Living Room Floor
January 4,
2005
Michael Ortiz
Hill
Mainlining
Apocalypse
Elaine Cassel
They
Say They Can Lock You Up for Life Without a Trial
Yoram Gat
The
Year in Torture
Martin Khor
Tragic
Tales and Urgent Tasks from the Tsunami Disaster
Gary Leupp
Death
and Life in the Andaman Islands
January 3,
2005
Ron Jacobs
The
War Hits Home
Dave Lindorff
Is
There a Single Senator Who Will Stand Up for Black Voters?
Mike Whitney
The Guantanamo Gulag
Joshua Frank
Greens and Republicans: Strange Bedfellows
Maria Tomchick
Playing Politics with Disaster Aid
Rhoda and Mark
Berenson
Our Daughter Lori: Another Year of Grave Injustice
David Swanson
The Media and the Ohio Recount
Kathleen Christison
Patronizing
the Palestinians
January 1 /
2, 2005
Gary Leupp
Earthquakes
and End Times, Past and Present
Rev. William
E. Alberts
On "Moral Values": Code Words for Emerging Authoritarian
Tendencies
M. Shahid Alam
Testing Free Speech in America
Stan Goff
A Period for Pedagogy
Brian Cloughley
Bush and the Tsunami: the Petty and the Petulant
Sylvia Tiwon
/ Ben Terrall
The Aftermath in Aceh
Ben Tripp
Requiem for 2004
Greg Moses
A Visible Future?
Steven Sherman
The 2004 Said Awards: Books Against Empire
Sean Donahue
The Erotics of Nonviolence
James T. Phillips
The Beast's Belly
David Krieger
When Will We Ever Learn
Poets' Basement
Soderstrom, Hamod, Louise and Albert
December 23,
2004
Chad Nagle
Report
from Kiev: Yushchenko's Not Quite Ready for Sainthood
David Smith-Ferri
The
Real UN Disgrace in Iraq
Bill Quigley
Death
Watch for Human Rights in Haiti
Mickey Z.
Crumbs
from Our Table
Christopher Brauchli
Merck's Merry X-mas
Greg Moses
When
No Law Means No Law
Alan Singer
An
Encounter with Sen. Schumer: a Very Dangerous Democrat
David Price
Social
Security Pump and Dump
Website of the Day
Gabbo Gets Laid
December 22,
2004
James Petras
An
Open Letter to Saramago: Nobel Laureate Suffers from a Bizarre
Historical Amnesia
Omar Barghouti
The Case for Boycotting Israel
Patrick Cockburn / Jeremy Redmond
They Were Waiting on Chicken Tenders When the Rounds Hit
Harry Browne
Northern Ireland: No Postcards from the Edge
Richard Oxman
On the Seventh Column
Kathleen Christison
Imagining
Palestine
Website of the Day
FBI Torture Memos
December 21,
2004
Greg Moses
The
New Zeus on the Block: Unplugging Al-Manar TV
Dave Lindorff
Losing
It in America: Bunker of the Skittish
Chad Nagle
The View from Donetsk
Dragon Pierces
Truth*
Concrete
Colossus vs. the River Dragon: Dislocation and Three Gorges Dam
Patrick Cockburn
"Things Always Get Worse"
Seth DeLong
Aiding Oppression in Haiti
Ahmad Faruqui
Pakistan and the 9/11 Commission's Report
Paul Craig
Roberts
America
Locked Up: a System of Injustice
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
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Here for More Stories.
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January 27, 2005
Scowcroft and Baker Up the Ante
The
Widening Chasm Among Conservatives
By
MIKE WHITNEY
The machinery of state decision-making
is rarely exposed to public scrutiny. The cover of representative
government is a scrupulously maintained fiction concealing the
nuts-and-bolts of real statecraft. Normally, politicians and
their accomplices in the media can keep the illusion of representative
government intact; avoiding the embarrassing implication that
the current order is really upheld by the decision-making of
elites. It's only when a major rift appears between the members
of the ruling class that we have the opportunity to marvel at
the moving parts of the imperial apparatus.
The deteriorating situation
in Iraq has precipitated this very scenario. The rift we allude
to, has, in fact, developed into a yawning chasm; pitting one
faction of conservative elder statesmen against their antecedents
in the Bush administration. This battle of the giants can be
expected to grow exponentially as the principle characters clash
over the future of the Iraq occupation.
On the one hand, we have perhaps
the most widely respected (conservative) policy experts alive
today, advising the administration to withdraw from Iraq. Zbigniew
Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft and James Baker have joined the ranks
of anti-war Leftists in calling for an immediate withdrawal of
all American troops. They have noted the failed attempts by the
Bush administration to establish even minimal security or to
achieve the overall objectives of the invasion. With Iraq tilting
precipitously towards civil war, and with America's prestige
irreparably damaged, their protestations should be regarded as
an appeal for a return to political sanity.
Clearly these staunch supporters
of American supremacy would never accept such a humbling defeat
if there was even the remotest possibility of success. This gives
us some idea of the extent to which the media has been concealing
the crucial details of the disaster in Iraq from the public.
Even those who are most likely to benefit the most from regional
domination are jumping-off the sinking ship-of-state.
The significance of this rebellion
among conservative members of the ruling establishment can,t
be overstated. The war in Iraq didn,t evolve from a viable threat
to national security, but from consensus among elites that America's
future depended on projecting power into the Middle East. This
is apparent in everything from the manipulation of interest rates
to accommodate aggression, to the fabricated threats promoted
by the corporate media, to the signatures of the 60 oil giants
(reported by Secretary of Treasury, Paul O, Neil) on Cheney's
Energy papers. (which divided up Iraqi oil fields months before
the invasion)
Democracy:
for elites, that is.
One of the illusions of American-style
democracy is the notion that policy is driven by the will of
the people. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact,
the entire corporate system of delivering information ("the
media") is predicated on the idea of selectively creating
a message that is compatible with the aims of elites. The interests
of the public are never seriously entered into the policy-making
equation, except in terms of how their approval can be obtained
through the normal channels of calculated misinformation.
Policy is shaped by elites,
for elites. It only changes when particular policies lose favor
among the men who are ensconced at the foot of power. That's
what makes the Baker-Scowcroft-Brzezinski insurgency worth noting;
they point to the growing number of policy-wonks, corporate big-wigs
and political powerbrokers who no longer support the Iraq occupation.
Their position of influence and respect among their colleagues
would seem to make them the last best hope for anti-occupation
Americans.
James Baker who was instrumental
in waging the legal battle that put G W Bush in the White House,
has said that continued American presence in Iraq threatens to
"undermine domestic support" and perpetuate the belief
in the region that Iraq is part of Washington's "imperial
design".
Baker, a devoted Bush loyalist,
has no problem with the morality of the occupation, only with
its efficacy. For him to suggest withdrawal is a clear indication
that the mission is unsalvageable.
Brent Scowcroft implicitly
supports Baker's analysis. Scowcroft, who is former National
Security Advisor, served in both the H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford
administrations and has solid record of commitment to conservative
issues. Ideologically he is cut from the same cloth as Bush,
although the extremism of the neocons has created a significant
divide between old guard Republicans like Scowcroft and the new
establishment.
At a recent meeting of the
New America Foundation, Scowcroft gave a bitter critique of the
Iraq conflict warning that the "war of choice" was
jeopardizing long-held alliances and endangering America's stature
in the world.
He said that the upcoming elections
"won,t be a promising transformation, and has the potential
for deepening the conflict; we may be seeing incipient civil
war at this time."
Scowcroft emphasized his deep
misgivings about war by suggesting that we should consider "whether
we get out now" before more damage is done to American credibility
and prestige.
(Scowcroft also provided a
withering summary of the Afghanistan debacle, the likes of which
have only previously appeared on Left-wing web sites. He said,
"We did not go into Afghanistan because it was Afghanistan,
we went in because it was the headquarters for Al Qaeda and the
Taliban was supporting Al Qaeda. And we have pretty well cleaned
out the Taliban and Al Qaeda from Afghanistan. Now Afghanistan
stands as it was when the Soviet Union left"A FAILED STATE.
And, one election a democracy does not make.
We,ve been really lucky about
Karzai, he turned out to be pretty good, and rather lucky for
us -- but he is still more the MAYOR OF KABUL than he is the
president of Afghanistan. The warlords are not only alive and
well, they are thriving and running much of that country.
They probably have at their
disposal more resources than they ever had before because Afghanistan
is TURNING INTO A NARCO-STATE. We have precious little experience
in dealing with failed states and putting them together we have
to prevent it from receding back to the condition it was in 94
when we gave up on it before and have it become a haven for terrorism."
"Narco-state"? "Mayor
of Kabul"? "Failed state" run by "warlords"?
These are the very same observations made by critics of the Afghanistan
war for more than three years. It is extraordinary to see that
these SAME VIEWS ARE SHARED BY REPUBLICAN INSIDERS behind closed
doors. Although, the media still characterizes Afghanistan as
a Bush success, it's refreshing to know that serious analysts
are not similarly in denial. Afghanistan has been a dismal failure;
Scowcroft's comments only reinforce that point.)
Zbigniew Brzezinski has provided
an even more scathing appraisal of the Iraq war. Brzezinski,
former National Security Advisor for Jimmie Carter, is widely
regarded as one of the foremost authorities on international
affairs and foreign policy. Apart from being the architect of
America's clandestine war in Afghanistan in the 1980's (through
the funding and arming of Islamic militants) he's a master of
American Realpolitik and a Machiavellian-type strategist. His
book "The Grand Chessboard" provides the basic blueprint
for American global domination through projection of force into
Eurasia and consolidating control over Middle East oil in the
Caspian Basin. The current imperial strategy being carried out
by the Bush White House is mainly Brzezinski's invention.
Brzezinski's criticism was
succinct and blistering: "A great deal of what is happening
thus far in American Foreign Policy has been influenced by the
ongoing conflict in Iraq. that war which was a war of choice
is already a serious moral set back to the United States. A
moral set-back both in how we start, how it was justified, and
because of some of the egregious incidents that have accompanied
this proceeding. The moral costs to the United States are high.
It's a political setback.
The United States has never
been involved in an intervention in its entire history like it
is today. It is also a military set back. "Mission Accomplished"
are words that many in this administration want to forget.
While our ultimate objectives
are very ambitious we will never achieve democracy and stability
without being willing to commit 500,000 troops, spend $200 billion
a year, probably have a draft, and have some form of war compensation.
As a society, we are not prepared
to do thatThere comes a point in the life of a nation when such
sacrifices are not justified . . .and only time will tell if
the United States is facing a moment of wisdom, or is resigned
to cultural decay."
Brzezinski's is not a man given
to rhetorical flights of fancy. He's known for his bare-knuckle,
"take-no-prisoners" Kissinger-style approach to foreign
policy. His denunciation of the war in Iraq as a "moral
setback" or, more significantly, as a sign of "MORAL
DECAY" will be construed by many political realists as a
sign that we cannot succeed in our stated goals.
Brzezinski's assessment of
war extends far beyond the battlefield to its devastating affect
on America's "international legitimacy". As a sign
of how despised the Bush crusade has been around the world, Brzezinski
cites a poll taken earlier in the year that shows a vast number
of interviewees were disappointed "that more Americans were
not killed" in the invasion. Brzezinski opines, "That
is some measure of the depth of the animus to our policies."
As for Brzezinki's estimate
of what it will take to succeed in Iraq ("500,000 troops,
$200 billion a year, and a draft") it is an astute approximation
that is entirely consistent with the conclusions of many in the
Defense establishment, including General Shinseki who was removed
from duty for making similar calculations.
The broader issue, however,
is summarized by the comments of James Dobbins from the conservative
Rand Corporation when he admitted, "THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM
IS TO REALIZE THAT WE CAN,T WIN" Dobbins remarks are underscored
by Iraq's Intelligence Chief, General Mohammed Shahwani concession
that the, "US was facing 40,000 hard-core fighters"
and a support group of as "many as 150,000 to 200,000".
Predictably, the story was
buried in the western press, but the implications are clear.
The Pentagon has been lying to the American people about the
size and strength of the insurgency, (previous estimates were
between 5,000 to 20,000 total) and the likelihood of winning
the conflict is slim to none.
America's right-wing elite
fully grasp the meaning of these numbers. That's why retired
General Gary Luck was sent to Iraq to provide a comprehensive
assessment of the current reality on the ground. Secretary Rumsfeld
knows full-well that Luck will return home with a detailed analysis
of a deteriorating security situation and a well rehearsed appeal
for more ground troops. Whether or not Luck's report will be
the basis for reinstating the draft is uncertain, but it will
signal the steady escalation of men and resources devoted to
America's latest quagmire.
The growing chasm between American
elites will have no measurable affect on the embattled White
House. Already, the administration has announced its intention
to keep at least 120,000 troops deployed in Iraq for at least
the next three years. This is a clear message to the nay-sayers
that their advice has been duly rejected. As Donald Rumsfeld
said just recently, "They,ll be no second guessing".
The grand-plan to occupy Iraq will continue and the voices of
reason will be silenced.
By marginalizing Baker, Scowcroft
and Brzezinski the administration is severing relations with
their ideological forebears. The project in Iraq is now cut-off
from the reasoned analysis of conservative policy experts and
is supported only by the hard-right ideology of political extremists.
As the ground is increasingly cut away from more and more of
the people who might provide some rational relief to the bloodletting;
the project becomes more infused with the incendiary rhetoric
of religiosity and nationalism. The crusade in Iraq is now propped
up by nothing more than the flimsy stanchions of hubris and delusion;
the foundation blocks of catastrophe.
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can
be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com
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