09/12/03
"next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn's early my
country tis of centuries come and go
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deafanddumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
iful than these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"
He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water
-- e.e. cummings
09/10/03
Rumsfeld drops clues to new NeoCon strategy for exiting Iraq
Here's an odd headline from the NY Times: More Troops Will Destabilize Iraq, Says Rumsfeld and the quotes attributed to Mr. Rumsfeld are even stranger. Read it, if only for the humor of it.
"Our goal is not to create a dependency in Iraq by flooding the zone with Americans. To the extent there's too heavy a footprint, you hurt them, not help them."
Let's see. We've got 130,000 troops there, plus some 12,000 coalitiion troops. Then we have the minions of Halliburton, Bechtel and other unsavory corporations. What, I wonder, would it take to "flood the zone."
"I don't believe it's our job to reconstruct the country[.] The Iraqi people will have to reconstruct that country over time."
This is, of course, laughable on its face, given the contracts already awarded for reconstruction. So what is he talking about?
Well, it seems that the public, the press and, yes, even the Congress have begun to notice that the US has no exit strategy. While Rumsfeld is certainly not providing one here, I believe he is hinting at some steps this Administration may take:
- Begin--ever so slowly at first--to disavow responsibility for Iraq. I believe the US' interest in a new UN resolution derives at least in part from a hope of casting some of the responsibility for Iraq onto the UN, without of course actually putting the UN into a position of responsibility.
- Regarding the UN,
Mr. Rumsfeld said the main benefit of another United Nations resolution would not be to attract additional international troops saying only 10,000 to 15,000 troops might be added — but to offer political cover to reluctant allies so they would help pay for the reconstruction, for which Mr. Bush has requested $20 billion from Congress for the next year
While remodeling our perceptions of the Administration's liability for this debacle, suck as much money as possible from our "allies" (read "suckers"). Note that Mr. Rumsfeld returns to the idea of reconstruction, which he has already foresworn.
- Then we have--
He noted that Iraq could not rely on its oil revenue alone to rebuild its decrepit infrastructure, but must plan on developing industries like tourism that would showcase national and historic treasures like the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon.
"They have to create an environment that's hospitable to investment and enterprise."
Can we all agree that this idea is as kooky as they come? Let me think! Disney could reconstruct the Hanging Gardens of Babylon maybe. No, I think I'd rather see one of Saddam Hussein's bombed-out palaces. They're sure to have tour busses.
Can we also agree that Donald Rumsfeld knows this is a kooky idea? So why say it? Because, by golly, he's setting the Iraqis up for failure!
So Step 3 is this: Blame the Iraqis for not taking our advice, blame the UN for failing in its responsibility, declare that the US has done all that a sober and Christian nation can do, and withdraw the troops.
Let's watch!