'Mission Accomplished' Deja Vu

[tekisui]

Source: Al-Jazeera.net

For some reason I've started receiving Newsweek in the mail. No wonder the industry is facing tough times if this is how they handle their subscription base, because I'm sure I'm not paying for it.

Nonetheless, I was shocked at the cover this week which proclaims "Victory at Last: the Emergence of a Democratic Iraq" with a photo of Bush and his infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner in the background.

I had just returned to the States from my sixth trip to Iraq where I expected to film a preview of the elections for an episode of my show Fault Lines, but instead found a civil war in the making.

Iraqis are going to the polls in a democratic election, but most will vote along ethnic lines and that could spark conflict, especially in troubled areas like Kirkuk.

For some reason I've started receiving Newsweek in the mail. No wonder the industry is facing tough times if this is how they handle their subscription base, because I'm sure I'm not paying for it.

Nonetheless, I was shocked at the cover this week which proclaims "Victory at Last: the Emergence of a Democratic Iraq" with a photo of Bush and his infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner in the background.

I had just returned to the States from my sixth trip to Iraq where I expected to film a preview of the elections for an episode of my show Fault Lines, but instead found a civil war in the making.

(snip)

All this sounds more like a path to civil war than to civil democracy.

The US desperately wants next week's elections to be accepted as legitimate, so it can move forward with it's plans to leave Iraq. A repeat of the laughable Afghan elections earlier this year won't do. But with the shenanigans in Baghdad and the foregone acceptance by the Iraqis I met of voter fraud, it's easy to see why even CentCom commander General David Petraeus jokes about the process, calling it "Iraqracy" rather than democracy.

A good read: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2010/03/06/mission-accomplished-deja-vu

[leftstreet]

1. Ouch. "Iraqracy"

oops

K&R

[tekisui]

3. The sun is rising in Iraq right now.

Today will determine a lot of Iraq's future. And, our involvement there. Did you catch what Al-Maliki said last week that “in late 2011, there must not be a single U.S. soldier left in Iraq,”

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-06/iraq-votes-in-wide-open-election-as-u-s-prepares-to-withdraw.html

It doesn't sound like he is distinguishing between combat and training troops. It also puts us in a damn tight spot after the election.

[jimshoes]

2. Which mission got accomplished actually?

It kept changing month to month as near as I could tell.