Daily Update
A weblog of the post 9/11 world
updated 11:00 a.m. ET December 5, 2003
Is the US looking for an Iraqi strongman?
The Times of London writes that the US is starting to "think the unthinkable," considering a "search for a '
strong man with a moustache' to stop the present rot." The paper writes that the Americans have adopted the old British strategy of "deal with local leaders and leave them to it," and that the only goal now is to "get out with dignity."
"This strategy is now being rammed down the throat of the Pentagon proconsul in Baghdad, Paul Bremer, by George W. Bush's new 'realist' Deputy National Security Adviser, Bob Blackwill. He answers to Ms. Condoleezza Rice, not Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, and is the new boss of Iraq. The Pentagon, Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Paul Wolfowitz, architects of the old 'idealist' strategy, are in retreat. The Iraqi Governing Council, which Mr. Bremer reluctantly created, will be disbanded. Washington must find someone with whom it can do business, someone who can deliver order in return for power. That search is Mr. Blackwill's job." In another potential policy reversal, The
Associated Press reports that Iraqi political parties and coalition authorities, are discussing the
creation of a 1,000-member militia to bolster the US military's fight against a guerrilla insurgency. If created, the paramilitary battalion would represent a significant policy reversal by Washington. The US previously declared private militias illegal and called on Iraqi political leaders to disband the groups.
Mitch Potter of the
Toronto Star writes that for most US soldiers in Iraq, "
self-preservation appears to have taken hold as the overriding ethos."
War or peace, right or wrong, win or lose, none of it seems to matter any more to many enlisted Americans in Iraq, for whom a political exit strategy cannot come too soon. Simon Tisdall of the
Guardian reports that the next few months could be
the most dangerous yet, as Iraq attempts to make the transition to legitimate, democratic governance. A civil war, he writes, is not out of the question yet.
The Economist agrees with this assesment, noting that
Iraq is on the edge, and that it is unclear, for America and its Iraqi allies, whether success or failure beckons. But progress toward peace and prosperity, the magazine writes, is still feasible. Despite serious problems with security, political instability, and "massive" unemployment," some areas, such as the economy, are slowly on the mend.
For many Iraqis, living standards have shot up. Laborers get double their pre-war wages, many other public-sector workers between four and ten times more.
Reuters reports that the Iraq economy got
even more of a boost on Friday when 16 countries signed a deal to release more than $2 billion in short term export guarantees for companies looking to win reconstruction contracts in Iraq. The deal will make it possible for Iraqi agencies and oil concerns to buy big-ticket items from abroad using letters of credit guaranteed by national governments. The US is also trying to convince other nations to erase some of Iraq's $200 billion debt, but France has said that is
highly unlikely, "because the US-occupied land is not a sovereign country." Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous said that when the time comes France, Iraq's third largest creditor, "will be ready to be very generous."
But there are still problems with the actual reconstruction efforts, according to some sources.
CorpWatch, a liberal organization that tracks large corporations, says the actions of Bechtel, the huge San Francisco-based multimational construction firm which won the contract to rebuilt Iraq schools, leave it unclear if Bechtel is "
part of the solution or part of the problem."
"The impression we often get at the meetings is that Bechtel is more powerful than the army," said Dr. Nabil Khudair Abbas [from the planning center at the Ministry for Education in Iraq]. Bechtel representatives, however, want no more complaints from Dr. Abbas. The program is a gift from the US taxpayers, and has been approved by Congress, they say. "No matter what we do, the Iraqis will never be on the losing end," a Bechtel representative told him. His grievances – the fact that of the 750 schools which are included in his mandate, 20 were destroyed during the war and 170 were looted because the occupation forces failed to provide adequate security – do not in the least interest Bechtel. Often the question of progress in Iraq depends on a media outlet's position on the political spectrum. The conservative
ChronWatch presents a list of what it calls "Quagmire-Free News:
Accomplishments in Iraq – Since May 1st," which has been circulating on the Internet. Rather than focusing on the number of casualties since President Bush declared major combat over May 1, the piece lists the numerous accomplishments the coalition has made since that time.
Pro-war Christopher Hitchens and anti-war Tariq Ali, both well known columnists and writers,
debate the occupation of Iraq on
Democracy Now! in a segment entitled "Postponed Liberation or Recolonization?"
The Washington Post tells the story of the
Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, and the obstacles it has overcome to stay together, even after the US invasion of Iraq. It is scheduled to appear Tuesday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington in a joint concert with the National Symphony Orchestra.
Also...
•
Geneva Accord plan stirs the pot (
The Age)
•
Seeking a common ground on Islam (
MSNBC)
•
Ashcroft puts civil disobedience on trial (
TomPaine.com)
•
Officials concerned about US holiday terror threat (
CNN)
•
What did you do in the war? (
The Washington Post)
• Feedback appreciated. E-mail
Tom Regan
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