News from the Colonies - America's War in Iraq

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Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the bombing was the work of Zionists and the CIA.

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Hey, while we're getting all the blame ......lets take out the big fat one on the temple site in Jerusalem.
The "abomination of desolation" spoken of in Daniel.
It's time is about up.
 
Of course it is. As tragic as the unfolding continues to be, the sooner it is recognized the better. What the USA has blundered into in ignorance will require gaining new understanding in order to extricate ourselves. This understanding may come very hard to us. We also will need incredible restraint (gained through understanding) in order to weather the terrific blowback that likely coming- regionalization of this war, and serious geoeconomic distruption. The greater our situational awareness now, the better our chances for achieving the best outcome. We do have to face certain facts now:

" So, is it a civil war yet?"

civ·il war (plural civ·il wars) noun - war within country: a war between opposing groups within a country

This definition sadly applies to Iraq now, because all 3 elements are apparent: (1) War, (2)Opposing domestic groups, and (3)Fighting between them.

While major media de-emphasizes the rapidly-multiplying Iraqi militia, you can still learn about a few active examples:

PUK/Peshmerga Kurdi/Ansar al-Islam
Sadr/Mahdi Army
SCIRI / Badr Brigade
Jaish Ansar al-Sunnah
Jaish al-Islami fiil-Airaq
Moqawama al-Islamiya al-Wataniya
al-Tawhid wal-Jihad
Anbar Revoltionaries
Asaeb Ahl el-Iraq
ar-Rayat as-Sawda
al-Haqq
al-Awda
Abu Theeb
Hamzah

There are probably more factions than I found in a quick search, certainly many more than the major media informs us of. Scarcely reported, but also verifiable, is the fact that various of these have been fighting one another since the US invasion. Much of the early violence was carried out through manipulation of occuuption forces who eagerly attacked opponents of a series of parties who held Washington's ear (Chalaby, Allawi). Now that US forces are increasingly bogged down, sectarian attacks are becoming more direct. -But scarcely covered in the media.

In partial defense of abyssmal media coverage, Iraq is a far more dangerous place for journalists than was (for example) Lebanon in 1975. As Lebanon descended into civil war -even throughout the entire horror- Western journalists traveled and mingled far more openly than they can in Iraq today. The difference is that Iraq is gripped by a "supercharged" civil war, that is focused under and powered by even more intense regional and global tensions than Lebanon fell victim to. Already in the teeth of this perfect storm, Iraq has had no opportunity to decompress from Saddam's iron-fisted suppression of sectarian conflicts.

There is institutional denial over the Iraqi civil war, because the implications are frankly horrific. Catering to a poorly-informed audience, "infotainment"-style media has no time nor inclination to explain the complexities of how and why things are unravelling. The most convenient shorthand, much encouraged by the architects of this war, is to ignore the internal Iraqi conflict that has been ignited at all cost... Ignore the historical and ethnical background, ignore the regional dangers, and instead remain fixed upon the ever-changing spin coming from Washington and London.

But harsh reality will not be denied. A significant aspect of present reality is that no "nation-building" objectives can be accomplished by US forces in Iraq. American and British troops are being largely garrisoned, because their presence is indisputably insufficient for suppression of resistance and civil war, while obtrusive enough to be vulnerable and incendiary. US-sponsored forces such as the new Iraqi national army and police are hopelessly infiltrated by the militias. They are being looted of intelligence and equipment, while ending up incapable of remaining cohesive under combat. There is in reality no means for effectively putting out the fire of civil war in Iraq.

Nor have coalition forces been necessarily delaying the inevitable. Past conflicts holding immense global implications have typically presented an initial "phoney war" period, where not much seems to be happening. The seemingly isolated bombings, kidnappings, thefts, imbezzlements, border infiltrations, skirmishes, etc. are exactly the kind of prelude that was seen in the Lebanese war. In a similar background, a multitude of militias have been very busy over the past 3 years probing friends and foes, recruiting, securing funding, and arming up. Not a lot is presented for sensationalist headlines, save sporadic bombings. But this does not mean nothing of significance is occuring.

Our headlines consistently fail to connect the dots between rising tensions involving Shi'a and Sunni across the region. Headlines fail to follow the political and ethnic fault-lines that continue beyond the southern border of Iraq, to where there are fire-fights in the streets of Riyadh, and attempts made on critical petroleum choke-points. Headlines fail to recognize that we are witnessing the precipitous destabilization of the entire Gulf Region.

Like the Sorceror's Apprentice, the Bush Administration has in ignorance set many troublesoome things in motion while lacking the experience and awareness to deal with the multiplying consequences. And the Bush Administration consistently attempts to deny, and distract the world from the unfolding disaster: "What civil war?" "What regional destabilization" "What incitement to chaos"? This consistent refusal to address reality illustrates a profound failure of leadership, and the emptiness of the neoconservative mideast strategy. The result will be a very rude awakening for those who still give these collossal bunglers the benefit of the doubt.

Who will ultimately pick up the pieces? You and I. So let's pay close attention. -And let's not get fooled again.
 
Anyone got a link to the declaration type thing? I would have thought that the USA would have steered clear of something clearly defined such as declaring war against Iraq and worded it somewhat different.
 
"the usa officially declared war, yes."

Not true. A declaration of war requires a Congressional Resolution in accordance with the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which was enacted in order to avoid a repeat of the Vietnam quagmire.

There has never been an American declaration of war on Iraq- Which is a violation of the law:

Sec. 4. (a) In the absence of a declaration of war, in any case in which
United States Armed Forces are introduced--
(1) into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in
hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances;
(2) into the territory, airspace or waters of a foreign nation, while
equipped for combat, except for deployments which relate solely to supply,
replacement, repair, or training of such forces; or
(3) in numbers which substantially enlarge United States Armed Forces
equipped for combat already located in a foreign nation;
the president shall submit within 48 hours to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and to the President pro tempore of the Senate a report, in
writing, setting forth--
(A) the circumstances necessitating the introduction of United States
Armed Forces;
(B) the constitutional and legislative authority under which such
introduction took place; and
(C) the estimated scope and duration of the hostilities or involvement.
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(b) Within sixty calendar days after a report is submitted or is required
to be submitted pursuant to section 4(a)(1), whichever is earlier, the
President shall terminate any use of Untied States Armed Forces with respect
to which such report was submitted (or required to be submitted), unless the
Congress (1) has declared war or has enacted a specific authorization for
such
use of United States Armed Forces, (2) has extended by law such sixty-day
period, or (3) is physically unable to meet as a result of an armed attack
upon the United States. Such sixty-day period shall be extended for not more
than an additional thirty days if the President determines and certifies to
the Congress in writing that unavoidable military necessity respecting the
safety of United States Armed Forces requires the continued use of such armed
forces in the course of bringing about a prompt removal of such forces.
Click to expand...

It is increasingly easy for the United States government to break the law, and for the Executive to expand an autocratic state within a democratic wrapper, because most Americans are not paying attention.
 
I think the Turkish Ottoman Empire got it right when they conquered the area a few centuries ago, long before the British created what is now known as Iraq.

They divided the region up into three separate provinces, according to the ethnic/religious groups who lived there - the province of Mosul in the north, the province of Baghdad in the center and the province of Basra in the south.
 
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I am just curious, how many of you have been affected by the 'war'? How many have lost a loved one or close friend?

My buddy was killed in Iraq a month ago. He was a medic on his way to treat some soldiers that were hurt in a roadside bomb. They hit another bomb on their way to help the others and he was killed instantly.

I want to remember my friend as a hero since he was doing such a great deed, but I can't help thinking of all the reasons why he shouldn't have been there in the first place. Although his purpose there was good, he shouldn't have had to be there at all.

Maybe I'm just bitter. Has anybody out there lost a loved one and still supports this 'war' or 'battle' or whatever you wish to call it?
 
What does an interim PM know about the state of Iraqi politics, anyway? We need to trust Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Bush. They are the arabists who know the score much better than Arabs do, and better than the Arabs we appointed. Things are working out fine. We're going to have a tough slog, long war, and so forth. Nothing to worry about. Would they lie to us?
 
Maybe I'm just bitter. Has anybody out there lost a loved one and still supports this 'war' or 'battle' or whatever you wish to call it?

Well...
My 19 year old nephew has done a tour in Iraq and he's of to Afganistan in a month or two.
It does tend to bring the war home.

Dee Cee
 
BTW

UK guns in al-Qaeda hands

The admission of the two UK arms firms that they had concerns over where the guns might end up could prove politically damaging to the government at a time the coalition is struggling to stabilise Iraq.
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I hate this flat land, there's no cover
for sons and fathers and brothers and lovers
I can take the killing, I can take the slaughter
But I don't talk to Sun reporters
I never thought that I would be
Fighting fascists in the Southern Sea
I saw one today and in his hand
Was a weapon that was made in Birmingham

Billy Bragg
 
"My 19 year old nephew has done a tour in Iraq and he's of to Afganistan in a month or two."

Wishing the best of luck and safe return to him, Dee Cee.
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4825200.stm

Despite the investment that has undoubtedly taken place, virtually all basic services are in a worse state now than they were before the invasion.

There is less clean water, less sewage control, less gas, less petrol, less power. Baghdad now has an average of only 5.8 hours of electricity a day. At present Iraq is producing 1.8 million barrels of oil a day; just before the invasion the figure was 2.5 million barrels a day.
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But there is a real, abiding anger that the richest nation on Earth should have taken over their country and made them even worse off in so many ways than they were before.
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It's difficult to come up with a comment. It's all so fucking sad. What should we say now? The US liberated Iraq? Brought democracy?

If you see a US patrol, you should brake sharply and keep away from it. The gunners on the vehicles kill people every day for getting too close to them. Every Iraqi has a horror story about a friend or relative who misunderstood an instruction, often in English, and was shot at.
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I guess it's better to be killed by an american at random than a henchman from Saddam for ridiculing his moustache?


(insert as much sarcasm as you please throughout the post.)
 
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