Report from Baghdad: Inside the Gates of Hell
The latest from Iraq and Afghanistan leaves little room for optimism. The offensive at the Syrian border has failed and anti-American sentiment is nothing short of seething. We are losing the war on all fronts.
"We are approaching a situation that is unstable, a war of all against all, complete chaos, where government is ineffective, security is ineffective, and anybody can be killed at any time." Kenneth Katzman, Congressional Research Service (SF Chronicle, 5/17/05).
The propaganda machine was geared to roll out fresh video and bone chilling stills of mass graves, innocent Iraqi citizens killed by ruthless criminals and terrorists under the guise of insurgency. Instead, one of the victims survived to tell a different story. It seems it was the American trained Iraqi security forces that carried out these particular executions. No trial, no jury, no due process of law, this is what we have wrought in the name of democracy.
Dr. Condoleezza Rice lands in Baghdad in the whisper of night, assures our troops that all is well, the light is clearly visible, progress is being made. Hard work. Very hard. Quietly she wonders if she has enough security for a surprise visit to Kabul.
The White House blames Newsweek for the riots in occupied Afghanistan and Pakistan, our closest ally in the region. It was Newsweek (that former bastion of liberal journalism) that reported the defilement of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay. It was Newsweek, in an apparent compensation for their shameless and enthusiastic support of the war and the White House warlords, that concocted the story of flushing the Koran. Perhaps a harried young reporter, too tired and busied to make another phone call, spun up a tale so twisted it could not possible be doubted.
Blaming Newsweek for the riots in Afghanistan is like blaming George Tenet for the war in Iraq. That dog don’t hunt.
So Newsweek takes the fall and we wonder what the payoff is – just as we wonder what it was for CBS when Dan Rather and 60 Minutes killed the Bush military desertion story before it could affect the election.
"The insurgency is very violent," observed Dr. Rice while issuing a thinly veiled threat at Syria after seven days of attacks along the Iraqi-Syrian border, allegedly killing 125 insurgents. How do we know they were insurgents? They were the ones that were dead.
"The Americans were bombing whole villages and saying they were only after foreigners. An AK-47 can't distinguish between a terrorist and a tribesman, so how could a missile or a tank?" Former Governor of Anbar Province, Fasal al Goud (Knight Ridder 5/17/05).
The death toll since the latest line in the sand (the naming of a new and improved Iraqi government) has crossed the 450 mark at a sprint. Face down in a shallow grave, hands tied behind their backs, some with their throats cut, others with bullets implanted in their brains, thirteen in Sadr City, ten near Ramadi, eleven in Hoqoul and an even dozen in Shaab north of Baghdad.
In targeted assassinations, Colonel Jassam Mohammed al-Lahibi, Sheik Qasim al-Ghirawi and an unnamed official in the Education Ministry were gunned down within hours in separate locations of Baghdad.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said, "These groups are professional… They do not hesitate to kill hundreds of Iraqis with no remorse" – "and neither do we" you could almost hear him mutter beneath his breath.
On Iraqi television every Saturday evening, Iraqis are treated to the popular program "Terror in the Hands of Justice," featuring interviews with recently captured terrorists, criminals and foreign-born insurgents.
Democracy, the president noted in chastising his good friend Vladimir Putin, is more than elections. It is transparency in governance, the unwavering rule of law, and a free press.
There was no notice on Terror in the Hands of Justice concerning the release of Raja Nawaf Farkan al-Mahalawi, Governor of Anbar Province, kidnapped by the insurgents and held for the length of the American offensive.
We are making progress, Dr. Rice insisted while acknowledging that international diplomacy and nation building in a hostile land are hard work – very hard.
Jazz.
JACK RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CRONICLES (CROW DOG PRESS) AND GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION (DRY BONES PRESS). HIS CHRONICLES APPEAR ON COUNTERPUNCH, DISSIDENT VOICE & OTHER SITES. SEE JACKRANDOM.COM.
The propaganda machine was geared to roll out fresh video and bone chilling stills of mass graves, innocent Iraqi citizens killed by ruthless criminals and terrorists under the guise of insurgency. Instead, one of the victims survived to tell a different story. It seems it was the American trained Iraqi security forces that carried out these particular executions. No trial, no jury, no due process of law, this is what we have wrought in the name of democracy.
Dr. Condoleezza Rice lands in Baghdad in the whisper of night, assures our troops that all is well, the light is clearly visible, progress is being made. Hard work. Very hard. Quietly she wonders if she has enough security for a surprise visit to Kabul.
The White House blames Newsweek for the riots in occupied Afghanistan and Pakistan, our closest ally in the region. It was Newsweek (that former bastion of liberal journalism) that reported the defilement of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay. It was Newsweek, in an apparent compensation for their shameless and enthusiastic support of the war and the White House warlords, that concocted the story of flushing the Koran. Perhaps a harried young reporter, too tired and busied to make another phone call, spun up a tale so twisted it could not possible be doubted.
Blaming Newsweek for the riots in Afghanistan is like blaming George Tenet for the war in Iraq. That dog don’t hunt.
So Newsweek takes the fall and we wonder what the payoff is – just as we wonder what it was for CBS when Dan Rather and 60 Minutes killed the Bush military desertion story before it could affect the election.
"The insurgency is very violent," observed Dr. Rice while issuing a thinly veiled threat at Syria after seven days of attacks along the Iraqi-Syrian border, allegedly killing 125 insurgents. How do we know they were insurgents? They were the ones that were dead.
"The Americans were bombing whole villages and saying they were only after foreigners. An AK-47 can't distinguish between a terrorist and a tribesman, so how could a missile or a tank?" Former Governor of Anbar Province, Fasal al Goud (Knight Ridder 5/17/05).
The death toll since the latest line in the sand (the naming of a new and improved Iraqi government) has crossed the 450 mark at a sprint. Face down in a shallow grave, hands tied behind their backs, some with their throats cut, others with bullets implanted in their brains, thirteen in Sadr City, ten near Ramadi, eleven in Hoqoul and an even dozen in Shaab north of Baghdad.
In targeted assassinations, Colonel Jassam Mohammed al-Lahibi, Sheik Qasim al-Ghirawi and an unnamed official in the Education Ministry were gunned down within hours in separate locations of Baghdad.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said, "These groups are professional… They do not hesitate to kill hundreds of Iraqis with no remorse" – "and neither do we" you could almost hear him mutter beneath his breath.
On Iraqi television every Saturday evening, Iraqis are treated to the popular program "Terror in the Hands of Justice," featuring interviews with recently captured terrorists, criminals and foreign-born insurgents.
Democracy, the president noted in chastising his good friend Vladimir Putin, is more than elections. It is transparency in governance, the unwavering rule of law, and a free press.
There was no notice on Terror in the Hands of Justice concerning the release of Raja Nawaf Farkan al-Mahalawi, Governor of Anbar Province, kidnapped by the insurgents and held for the length of the American offensive.
We are making progress, Dr. Rice insisted while acknowledging that international diplomacy and nation building in a hostile land are hard work – very hard.
Jazz.
JACK RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CRONICLES (CROW DOG PRESS) AND GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION (DRY BONES PRESS). HIS CHRONICLES APPEAR ON COUNTERPUNCH, DISSIDENT VOICE & OTHER SITES. SEE JACKRANDOM.COM.
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