The Najaf bombing: U.S. occupation yields catastrophe...

[King_Crimson]

Found at www.wsws.org Here's a few sniplets:

By Bill Vann

1 September 2003

The August 29 car bombing that claimed the lives of 82 people and wounded hundreds more in the city of Najaf has underscored the catastrophe inflicted on the Iraqi people by the US war and occupation. It has also exposed the disarray within the Bush administration as it confronts a quagmire of it's own making.
<snip>

Whoever was the author of the latest bombing, the throngs of mourners in Najaf on Saturday were inclined to blame the US occupation for the tragedy. As they walked to the shrine of Imam Ali, where the attack took place, many thousands chanted, "Down with America," and carried banners equating Bush with Saddam Hussein.
The Najaf bombing follows by just ten days the truck-bomb attack that claimed 23 lives at the Baghdad headquarters of the United Nations. The UN bombing, in turn, came on the heels of an August 7 bomb attack on the Jordanian embassy that killed 19.
These attacks have demolished Washington's claims that Iraq is slowly returning to "normal" and proven that the US occupying army of 140,000 troops is incapable of securing the country.
<snip>

The deepening quagmire in Iraq is the product of an illegal war launched to further the interest of the US corporate elite. Contrary to the prescriptions of "liberal" pundits and Democratic politicians- ranging from the introduction of more US troops to greater UN authority to the rapid creation of an Iraqi stooge regime-nothing progressive, democratic or humanitarian can come from such a criminal undertaking. The Iraqi people did not ask the Americans and British to invade and occupy their country. The indispendable precondition for genuine reconstruction of Iraq is the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US and allied troops from the country.
This must be accompanied by a thorough, independent and public investigation into the conspiracies and lies that led to this imperialist war, and the punishment of those politically responsible.

The last paragraph says it all. Put them at the end of a hangmans noose like they did the Nazi's at Nuremberg and let their hollow bodies twist in the wind!

[mike_c]

1. agreed-- the invasion of Iraq was the culmination of 100 years...

...of foreign policy based upon greed, corruption, and violence. In Iraq, all pretense of any better motive was insultingly thin. The U.S. has exposed itself for what it really is-- a vicious global parasite for whom the apex of morality is corporate profit. The Bush* admininstration is directing it's domestic agendas in exactly the same way, without any pretense of having the interests of most Americans at heart.

[King_Crimson]

3. Another quote from the article mentions...

that Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer Al-Hakim, who was killed in the attack, was hand-picked by Wahington to act as a front for it's neo-colonial military occupation. And another Shiite cleric, Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum, announced he was leaving the council, saying the US occupation authorities had proven they "can't do anything about the security situation."

[RichM]

2. Outstanding overview & analysis.

Especially interesting: the internecine rivalry between the CIA/State Dept on the one hand, & Cheney/Pentagon on the other.

Also to be noted: the utter worthlessness of most Democrats:

"Contrary to the prescriptions of "liberal" pundits and Democratic politicians - ranging from the introduction of more US troops to greater UN authority to the rapid creation of an Iraqi stooge regime - nothing progressive, democratic or humanitarian can come from such a criminal undertaking..."