Perhaps
Junior should have listened to dad.. Well spotted by Iraq
Body Count for this pertinent quote from TIME
Magazine March 2, 1998: |
Echoes of the past“Our
armies do not come in your cities and lands as conquerors or
enemies, but as liberators… I am commanded to invite you
to participate in the management of your own civil affairs.” |
The exiles return
The Iraqi army, numbering 400,000, is disbanded creating huge unemployment.
Later the CPA promises to build a new army of just 35,000 troops with
no tanks, heavy artillery or airplanes — which may later prove
problematic for this proud nation that has had recent conflicts or
territorial disputes with most of its neighbours including Iran, Saudi
Arabia, Turkey and Kuwait.
More galling for the average citizen who has toiled under dictatorship, war and sanctions for the past 30 years, the US anoints a new ruling elite in the form of Iraqi exiles who have little empathy or knowledge on the ground of the hardship endured by the nation. The Iraqi Governing Council is a hodge podge of CIA corrupt cronies.
Most shocking is the rise of Ahmed Chalabi, a convicted felon in Jordan, whose private militia is flown in by US authorities. The US gives him access to files of thousands of former Ba’athists allowing him to wreak hideous revenge. Chalabi’s relations quickly climb the greasy US pole, taking key positions in the new set up.
The eventual choice as ‘leader’ of ‘sovereign Iraq’, Iyad Allawi, who actually helped get Saddam Hussein into power, is hated universally across Iraq. A stooge for a multitude of spy agencies including the CIA and MI6, Allawi is a confirmed terrorist, in the truest sense of the word, not the warped Bush meaning which includes citizens fighting for the real liberation of Iraq aka the departure of US troops. Allawi stands accused of blowing up a school bus many years ago and most recently shooting six prisoners in Baghdad, just prior to taking ‘power’.
Many of the exiles that were on the comical Iraqi Governing Council spent more time out of the country, and pertinently, do not bring their families back to the motherland — they truly do not have the support of the nation. Even the US viceroy, Paul Bremer, in a huff, hits out at the council where 50% of its members are not in the country at any given time.
Torture and terror
As the rebellion picks up, increasingly tetchy and paranoid US forces start arresting thousands of innocent civilians, carting many off to the now infamous Abu Ghraib prison, a location reviled because Saddam used it as a torture centre. Rumours of American torture are confirmed with lurid photos and videos emerging from this dirty den. American intelligence officials admit to the International Committee of the Red Cross that up to 90% of those detained are totally innocent.
The worst atrocities are now taking place beyond the reach of most journalists as the country descends into total chaos. We have no concept of what US marines are doing beyond Baghdad because it is simply too dangerous to report beyond the boundaries of Baghdad. Countless re-enactments of Falluja — that indiscriminate massacre — could be taking place right now.
All internal efforts to bring elections to the country are swiftly thwarted by US authroties who instead appoint many corrupt and brutal men to high positions. The concept of making Iraq a beacon for democracy in the region looks more and more ridiculous.
