Iraq snapshot

Friday, February 24, 2012

Iraq snapshot

Friday, February 24, 2012.  Chaos and violence continue, the press loves to play, can you be both something and also linked to that something (no), Iraqi youths turn out to protest and make new demands, the 2012 budget is finally passed in Iraq, Veterans For Peace calls on the White House to drop the charges against Bradley Manning, and more.    Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports the US Embassy in Iraq has issued a statement on yesterday's attacks throughout the country which includes, "These heinous acts targeted people going to work and shopping, children going to school and security forces working to protect the citizenry."  Yes, that would be wrong.  Which is why, of course, that the US government evacuated every Iraqi out of the country in February 2003 in anticipation of the invasion.  It's why the US ensured that no one was in Falluja before they started their November 2004 assault.  What's that?  Oh, right.  The US government didn't do either of those things.  It launched a war and didn't give a damn about children going to school or people going to work or people shopping or anything.  It launched an illegal war of choice and now it thinks there's some high ground that can be stood on?  There is none.   Last December, Iraq War veteran Ross Caputi (Guardian) wrote about the November 2004 attack on Falluja:   I do not see any contradiction in feeling sympathy for the dead American Marines and soldiers and at the same time feeling sympathy for the Fallujans who fell to their guns.  The contradiction lies in believing that we were liberators, when in fact we opprssed the freedoms and wishes of Fallujahs.  The contradiction lies in believing that we were heroes, when the definition of "hero" bares no relation to our actions in Fallujah. What we did to Fallujah cannot be undone, and I see no point in attacking the people in my former unit.  What I want to attack are the lies and false beliefs.  I want to destroy the prejudcies that prevented us from putting ourselves in the other's shoes and asking ourselves what we would ahve done if a foreign army invaded our country and laid siege to our city. I understand the psychology that causes the aggressors to blame their victims.  I understand the justifications and defense mechanisms.  I understand the emotional urge to want to hate the people who killed someone dear to you.  But to describe the psychology that preserves such false beliefs is not to ignore the objective moral truth that no attacker can ever justly blame their victims for defending themselves.   Ross Caputi is the founding director of the Justice for Fallujah Project. And the birth defects that continue to be found in the children born in the area after the 2004 assault is not something Iraqis have forgotten or will.  Alsumaria TV's most watched report this month was this report on the birth defects in Falluja.  Last week, Matthis Chiroux spoke at the Occupy Military Recruiters actions in Manhattan (link is video at World Can't Wait).     Matthis Chiroux: Hey everybody, I'm Matthis. I haven't spoken out in awhile. I've been going to college and learning about the corruption in the market places and the courthouse and right here in these military recruiting centers. And on these US military bases all over the world. These abuses are not part of the story these recruiters are trying to sell your kids. They're trying to sell your kids the Boy Scouts. They're trying to sell your kids the Girl Scouts. They're trying to sell your kids the Peace Corps. The mission they are selling is to engage and destroy so called enemies of the United States of America. Killing bombing writing through streets with guns doesn't help people, is not the Boy Scouts, is not the Girl Scouts, is not fostering democracy. It's fostering a lot of debt. It's fostering a lot of hatred. It's fostering a lot of abuse. And the military, it bears the face of that abuse You see it in vets who come home and can't ever feel normal again. You've seen soldiers who are still in the military can't picture a life without war.   Matthis is an Afghanistan War veteran and Iraq War resister.  He and Ross Caputi made some very important observations that appeared to escape our 'wise' press.  Fortunately, on the second hour of today's The Diane Rehm Show (NPR), Diane and guests Abderrahim Foukara (Al Jazeera) and Moises Naim (El Pais) were able to discuss yesterday's violent attack across Iraq in an adult manner.       Abderrahim Foukara: Obviously, these bombings in Iraq have happened in a very interesting context because Maliki has been touting himself as the leader of the Iraqi Spring.  He's been saying, 'My government' which is a Shi'ite dominated government 'has brought stability to Iraq.'  The Iraqis are actually gearing up for hosting the Arab Summit in Baghdad as another sign that the government in Iraq thinks that Iraq is stable.  The Saudis, to placate the Iraqis and reward them for joining the boycott of the sanctions against Syria, have said that they will actually -- that they have actually appointed an ambassador for the first time to Iraq since 1990.  So I think this spate of bombings is really the answer to all this talk coming out  of Baghdad that the situation is under control.   Diane Rehm: Could this be sectarian warfare?   Abderrhaim Foukara:  There is definitely sectarian warfare.  Nouri's government is Shi'ite dominated government and it's seen by many Sunnis -- not just in Iraq but also in the neighborhood of Iraq --  it's seen as a proxy of Iran.   Moises Naim: It is sectarian and has sectarian elements but let's remember it is also about power.  These are the use of sectarian sentiments and manipulation of religious feelings and ethnic divides  this is a very, very basic fight for power and how to share power between different groups that are jockeying to dominate politics and government in Iraq.