Login HereTomorrow is three years since George Bush pronounced:
"There are some that feel like if they attack us that we may decide to leave prematurely. They don't understand what they are talking about if that is the case. Let me finish. There are some who feel like the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring 'em on."
I’m sure we’ll be talking a lot about the insanity of George’s willingness to play provocateur – so long as he is not in the line of fire. But the opening of that statement is also important - what did George mean by “prematurely?”
The youtube above – The Bases are Loaded - by Dahr Jamail and Chalmers Johnson - with Gary Hart, Raed Jarrar and more - suggests one answer as it reports on the really big “surge” in Iraq – the “surge” in construction.
What are we building? Despite the occasional feel-good reports on TV, it’s not homes, schools, power plants, water treatment plants, hospitals, or any other structures that the Iraqi people need since our invasion and occupation have destroyed their infrastructure. Instead, we’re building mega-bases – a development that does not suggest George and friends (including his buddy Joe Lieberman who is so happy with all the progress in Iraq plan to leave anytime soon.
Given the number of candidates – Republican and Democratic – who support leaving “residual troops” in Iraq – it’s nice to know they’ll have all the comforts of home – and so conveniently located to the major oil pipelines, too!
In contrast to life on the big bases, the people of Iraq continue to live under siege conditions:
On May 21 U.S. and Iraqi forces imposed a security crackdown on the city following continuing attacks. Local non-governmental organisations such as the Iraqi Aid Association (IAA) have told reporters that the U.S. military is not allowing them access to the city.
"We have supplies but it is impossible to reach the families. They are afraid to leave their homes to look for food, and children are getting sick with diarrhoea caused by the dirty water they are drinking," IAA spokesman Fatah Ahmed told reporters. "We have information that pregnant women are delivering their babies at home as the curfew is preventing them from reaching hospital."
Medical services are inaccessible to most because the hospital is located on the other side of the Euphrates River from the rest of the city. Extra security checkpoints have severely hampered movement within the city, and most businesses have closed. A year ago the local police cut mobile phone services.
The curfew is also restricting residents' ability to go out and find much needed supplies in the markets. Residents told IPS that there is on average only two hours electricity in 24 hours.
Maybe those mega bases have a few spare generators they could share? I’m sure Joe and George would be happy to help with the delivery. Bring 'em on ... indeed.
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zed?
must be!
See? Even us lurkers get lucky once in a while!
Bring it on GOP! Now! You want to bounce? I’m here. Let’s do it!
Republicans! I want to radically deal with you.
Posted today, a slice of life from Baghdad:
Inside Iraq
Michael Moore is bringing it ON now. Sicko is great.
I hope enough people see it that the debate is reframed.
Meanwhile, I am sure that LowJoe is right about how the progress in Iraq is going, if that means permanent infrastructure for the occupation.
While most (except Richardson) D candidates have said something about “residual forces”, that doesn’t necessarily mean keep the bases and the 140 acre embassy. It could mean repositioning to the borders to block others moving in. A few days ago TPM was asking for questions to ask candidates (Josh hopes to get interviews with all of them). I sent in questions about the bases and the embassy. Too much vague talk from the front 3.
They just want the land, the oil, and the strategic position to keep on going and expand. Screw the people..that’s just “human debris”, put them somewhere, in tents on land reserved for them.
Sound familiar?
Laura Doty @ 7
link doesn’t work - took me to a 404
Oh well…I shall be really snarky. These are the same people bragging about Katrina reconstruction. Ask Orleanians about broken promises.
Perhaps Republicans AND Democrats who want to maintain “residual” (whatever ‘residual’ means) troops in Iraq should re-locate to the Green Zone. That way they could get a better ‘feel’ for the situation. I’m beginning to feel somewhat radical.
Picking up on the last thread, naming what is happening in Iraq as an Occupation would be a powerful thing. This wasn’t ever a war. It was an invasion, with a planned occupation. Imagine if such language were employed daily.
Imagine, too, if people spoke of invading– and occupying– Iran.
A few more people would wake up and smell the fascism.
Of course, as the news stories pointed out a couple of months ago, most of the civilian (so-called) successful construction jobs turned out to be about as far from being successful as can be. Cheap, sh*tty concrete that was mostly sand, falling down, unsafe for occupancy. IN other words, a typical BushCo clusterf*ck operation.
The only thing successful about the construction jobs done for civilians was the contractor’s ability to rip-off the US taxpayer.
Looks like Laura’s link is fixed now … and the Inside Iraq blog is always worth reading.
Gordon - with candidates like HRC talking about 50,000 troops left in country … it’s a worrisome thing. And as Dahr says in the video - he can’t imagine them turning over the keys to these mega bases to the Iraqis.
I can’t encourage folks enough to watch the video … it’s full of important and good information.
The chaos and destruction is not incompetence. Bush and Cheney have accomplished exactly what they set out to do. The embassy and basebuilding will not stop, and no they do not give a rat’s ass about anything else. That should be obvious to all by now.
The thing to watch is american oil companies getting contracts in Iraq- once that happens- we ain’t leavin- we gotta protect “OUR” oil.
Clusterfuck will try to force this to happen before he leaves office. The oil companies will push for it- but they want guarantees that we are willing to kill Iraqis to protect their investment in “our” oil.
OT-to the max, but this won’t HOLD till later.
www.kpig.com
Shit kickin authentc REAL music, on real stringed instruments, americana and blue and new grass style, LOTS of great dobro work, old timey, and even some comedy tossed in.
It’s Yer Cuzzin Al, 30 years on the air.
They hafta cut to spots so they insert wierd stuff sometimes, but, hold that dial, it always comes back to the finest of real music, with real people playin it.
Larue now returns All Pups back to The Lake On Fire . . ;-)
dakine01 @ 15
Well first we ripped off the Iraqis by using a lot of that embargoed oil money to pay for “reconstruction”.
The rest we tossed around like footballs. Who the eff knows where it ended up.
RW Cole - the much vaunted first version of the “supplemental” included a benchmark requiring adoption of the HydroCarbon law which was designed to give Big Oil a big role.
OK Kiddo … the Green Zone was hit by 7 mortars last night. I’ve heard they’re no longer able to use the pool on a regular basis.
So sorry, that’s 6pm to 9pm, Left Coast Zoned.
Sigh . . . DOH! Cue the fiddler, run n get the dobro a dram!
Siun @ 20
It is getting really scary, because the “minister” fleeing the Iraqi law, is holed-up in the Green Zone. Maliki is pissed and the parliament is trying to step down. I posted on this earlier today, if anybody wants links, I’ll go find them.
suin
Yeah I know- and the Iraqi Parliament has done domething on the oil issue- but I’m not sure what.
Siun @ 16
It’ll be awhile before the Iraqis can afford to buy anything that can use those runways. But the US is much better at destroying than building. I expect they’d just blast them all back into lumpy sand. Hey, it’s not their money. It’s ours (and the Iraqis).
“the Green Zone was hit by 7 mortars last night. I’ve heard they’re no longer able to use the pool on a regular basis.”
Oh dear. What’s the world coming to? What’s next. No martinis? ;0)
I think that the Parliament is going to allow each region of Iraq to sign it’s own contracts. Our good buds the Kurds say they want to be first to sign a contract with Exxon Mobil.
The Kurd’s good friends- the Turks- want to be the first to kick the holy hell out of the Kurds
Iraq “gold rush”:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/mon.....raq101.xml
I wouldn’t get too comfortable with those new bases.
Anything that can be built can be blown up. I’d bet the plans for each place has been studied intensively by the Iraqi with that very thought in mind.
In fact, until recently the design plans for this new embasy were on the web.
i think i heard somewhere that instead of signing the oil law BushCo wants, they renewed the oil contract with China. Those wily chinese! going in and doing a trade agreement!
Iraq Minister refuge in Green Zone:
http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_6252009
Somebody call for a martini?
If ya want to know how big a lie Bush was telling when he said that the strategy was “when they stand up, we stand down”- consider that the Iraqis are not to be allowed to have armour, artillery, or airpower (other than a few transports and helicopters.) That’s the part of the plan that protects Israel. Iraq can’t invade anyone or even defend itself. This is all quite deliberate.
I was against this war from mid-August 1990 on. After the current invasion, one of the first things I heard which made me say “These fuckers are total idiots,” was when we started bringing in workers from outside Iraq to do work which would have paid tens of thousands of Iraqis. That, and firing the Iraqi Army’s NCOs and company grade offices, and not securing the weapon depots, and…….
Twisted Martini @ 31
Only…if I may indulge of the olive :}
Siunshine! Great post.. I watched the video recently.. a must see when thinking about an exit strategy. It sure looks like the fewer numbers of bases and their positions have at least some consideration of leaving in mind, imo.
Should we send CNN and MSNBC an email telling them the green zone was hit by seven mortars last night?
I have strong New Orleans ties, and I do think it is criminal, outrageous that these guys cannot fix a NO levy while spending a billion $$ on an embassy that is quite likely to be hit by a car bomb before its formal opening. Last week, I had a big, serious public cry about what has happened to the country I have known. May be time for another.
The last I heard on the oil issue is that any lawmakers foolish enough to give away Iraq’s oil to foreign investors is likely to be assassinated, quickly. They realize that they need foreign investment, but the huge giveaways that Bush wants are a deal killer.
There’s got to be some sleight of hand when the oil deal is done. Iraqis have thought all along that Boosh invaded em for their oil- so he’s got to hide it- it’s not clear exactly how he plans to do that.
Give me some good links that debunk the flypaper theory will ya? I was going at it with my brothers and of course when I start to get fired up they dismiss me by saying I subscribe to conspiracy theories.
Given the ability of the Iraqi resistance so far to shut down every avenue of escape from Iraq for US forces except the road to Kuwait … these bases will become fortresses under continuous seige if we attempt to keep residual forces. Still, requiring forces at the key pipeline locations to control oil reserves is the game and I suspect Bush - and fear whoever follows him - will think the cost is worth it.
Twisted Martini @ 32
Have to say the thing I like best about a martini, is the gin soaked Spanish olives (and I did say gin). I could eat ‘em ’til I pass out. If truth we’re told, I’m a tequila (Classico) man. But the sweet thing (Lahoma), well… she likes martinis. Low on the vermouth, heavy on the vodka. Chilled, out of the freezer. No olives please. ;0)
Iraqi forces have nothin but pickup trucks and AK47s- plus a few mortar and RPG rounds. I don’t think they’re gonna go toe to toe with the US military– if they tried to attack the permanent bases they’d be wiped out in hours by air attacks.
They’d need tanks and ground to air missles to have a prayer.
The attempt to control the oil is well understood by the Iraqis … see the interview in the video with Nadia Keilani in particular.
Eureka - it astonishes me that CNN, et al don’t even check the reports from the English language versions of reliable Iraqi news sites. Then again, they might notice what’s really going on…
What do they mean by South Asians? Sounds so Orwellian.
Ed*ard Teller @ 33
And what? Don’t leave us hanging like that! /wink/
ah but RWC - we’re selling a large number of tanks to the Green Zone government now … wonder if they will manage to keep control of them?
and btw, China has written off most of the Iraqi debt they held … and has been having very friendly discussions with the Green Zone government.
So oil IS what it’s about? If so, next stop Iran?
I’ve thought that, too, except, there’s no country that’s safe now, with climate change. And it’s our mess to deal with.
What haunts me day and night is how the people of Iraq are suffering, and how effectively–in the main–their voices/experiences are being blocked in the U.S. In this era of global communication, affecting not to know about the torture of innocents, of the murders of teenagers, of the daily deprivation and harrow is unacceptable. I picture a day when not only Iraqis, but our children can justifiably ask each one of us “where were you?”
Dahr Jamail! Here’s his web site. He came up to Alaska a couple of years ago, and I missed him. Next time.
RWC - a very good resource on oil legislation is the Norwegian historian, Reidar Visser at http://historiae.org/index.asp. If you don’t know his work, you might find it useful.
Siun @ 41
Today, I am sorry I can’t link to it, a reporter (very deliberately I thought) asked a pentagon guy (military), why they were focusing on clearing the IED dangers from the road leading south out of Baghdad. He blew it off and cited other areas of preoccupation of attention surrounding Baghdad, but I go the distinct feeling that they are
“prepping” the road to Kuwait. Just my two cents. It was on the teevee. MSNBC or CNN, but I’m not sure which.
Thanks ET - The description of conditions in Fallujah is from Dahr’s site - and folks really should sign up for his email updates - they are very valuable.
He’ll also have a book coming out this Fall.
One word: Chalabi
Laura Doty @ 14
That’s what TeddySanFran has been saying for a while now. I agree with both of you.
Speaking of Lieberman and Iraq, I thought Booman brought up a good point!
“Since Lieberman is intent on lying to you, I’ll tell you the truth.
Organizations like al-Qaeda are openly hostile to BOTH Iran and the current Iraqi government. They don’t just hate the Iraqi government because they cooperate with Americans. They hate it because it is dominated by Shi’ites and is too friendly with Iran.
If Iran’s influence is the primary concern for this country and our Arab allies, then we should join al-Qaeda in opposing the current government in Baghdad. But Iran’s influence in not our primary concern. We decided, quite willingly, to give Shi’ites more power and influence when we agreed to let Iraqis have elections. If that was a mistake, then Lieberman should say so.
There is no prospect of both Iran and al-Qaeda taking over Iraq. It’s one or the other or neither, but not both. And one more point…
The Sunni Arabs of Iraq do not like al-Qaeda even though al-Qaeda is a Sunni Arab organization. Why? Well, al-Qaeda isn’t very likeable, frankly. They’re no fun. They have screwed up religious beliefs, they terrorize and murder people, and they get upset if you have a beer. Iraqis are fairly secular when it comes to people getting all up in their grill about their morals. So, once America leaves Iraq, the Iraqis will kill every al-Qaeda member they can locate. If we wan’t to destroy al-Qaeda in Iraq we should leave it to the Sunni Arabs to do it.
But Lieberman doesn’t want you to know that.”
LS - they are having a lot of trouble using that road (the only way out) now … that’s the cause of the problems with supplies getting in, the move to use more MREs instead of real meals, etc.
The quickest way to say it is … we have already lost the war in Iraq, now the only question is how bad the exit will be when we finally notice.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 26
Fetch me my Sabatier’s and a snifter of Louis XIII, I’ll fend with these infidels.
(cue Gary Owen)
Siun @ 51
Link does not work. However, the Norwegians already have a contract for drilling in the Kurdish region of Iraq, since 2005. It ticked off the US, and they retaliated by putting Norway on the Terror List (SEC). They want it all for Exxon, Chevron, etc. They put Norway on the terror list, because they are doing business with Iran and Cuba, and they are not part of EU. Norway has extensive oil reserves off the coast in the North Sea. Tantalizing to both the US and Russia no doubt, with whom they have recently begun to do business with.
siun
Thanks for the link. I’ll check it out!
I had no idea that we have 737 permanent bases around the world. “Known” bases.
Siun @ 58
That is what is freaking me out and them I guess!
CTuttle @ 56 quoting Booman: “If that was a mistake, then Lieberman should say so.” HAHAHAHAHAHA! Christy will be posting pictures of pig-birds before that will happen.
Lieberman? The belief here is that Lieberman should be forced to register as an agent working for a foreign government.
To leave prematurely = before all their oil is signed over to US and UK controlled companies.
When people in Congress talk about the Iraqi government not cooperating, this is what they are talking about.
We will be there to burn and destroy and kill and threaten and wreck hospitals and target professionals and bomb houses of worship until their government agrees to give up their oil. Nice country ya got there. Would be a shame if something were to happen to it. Oh, you won’t give us the oil? Well too bad then, so sorry.
Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi,1 (Arabic: أحمد الجلبي ‘Ahmad al-Jalabī) (born October 30, 1944) was interim oil minister in Iraq[1] in April-May 2005 and December-January 2006 and deputy prime minister from May 2005 until May 2006. Chalabi failed to win a seat in parliament in the December 2005 elections, and when the new Iraqi cabinet was announced in May 2006, he was not awarded a post. Once dubbed the “George Washington of Iraq” by American neoconservatives, he has fallen out of favor and is currently under investigation by several U.S. government sources. He is also wanted for massive bank fraud in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. However they dropped the charges after he became a member of Iraqs government in 2005.
LS @ 23
I missed it LS. But I’m still at comment 23 so maybe it’s here.
Outstanding video, siun. A real eye-opener.
Siun @ 58
Best case: They politely show us the door! Worst case: American Embassy, Saigon, ‘75!!! 8-(
I drew a comparison between Bush’s “Bring ‘em on” statement and John Paul Jones’ statement “I have not yet begun to fight.” The really serious, crucial difference is that John Paul Jones was on the main deck of the Bon Homme Richard! He was not sitting comfortably in an air-conditioned office many thousands of miles away from the front!
BIG, big difference!!!
LS @ 58
What?? You mean as in “beware XC skiers wearing backpacks”??
My God. If the MSM would do their job, the overpopulation problem would be over. 2/3 of the world would die laughing!
We not only need to get the oil “signed over” we need to protect against a revolution and nationalization. We need to CONTROL Iraq.
American Indians have something in common with Iraqis.
And the innocents, Sunni and Shiite alike? What will happen to them when the hate-for-all begins?
Who will stand up for peace and mediation? Who will the diplomats be? Hand-wringing and finger-pointing won’t absolve any of us from our share of this fiasco. If we don’t have a government that works, then we need some other means of reaching out.
rwcole @ 71
Uh, no. We need to leave.
GordonM @ 70
Seriously, it is absurd.
CTuttle @ 67
And American Embassy Saigon, ‘75 is the visual that allows the wing-nut wurlitzer to spout that Dems/Congress/Libruls lost the war. Even though all but about 200 troops on embassy duty had left the country two plus years before. Because the Congress had stopped the funding of the South Vietnamese gov’t, it was all the fault of the DFH, antiwar type libruls.
We will never ‘control’ Iraq without controlling Iran.
How much per gallon do the Europeans pay for gasoline?
Twisted Martini @ 32
I’ll buy a round for everyone who watched that video, TM.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 72
True, White men never realize the consequences of their misbegotten ways!!! ;-)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 64
which ones?
dakine01 @ 76
There is no doubt in my mind that the military is trying to “dissolve” away the troops this time. Wake one day, and oh, they’re gone…hmmmm….This is the Bush Neocon Oil war, no one can change that. On the otherhand, some bozo will be left behind to run the “Embassy”. Good luck…Bozo.
Loo Hoo. @ 79
Thanks LooHoo, that’s mighty generous. I watched it a few days ago. It is quite stunning and well worth the time. Make mine a chocolate martini!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 78
More than we do.
Ed*ard Teller @ 81
Joe and Hadasa… nevermind.
GordonM @ 70
Yikes, that’s me. The Norwegian part and the skiing part. I hate looking over my shoulder when I’m out skiing!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 77
Brilliant.
Two more US KIA’s today. In looking at the stats, IED’s are the major form of attack, however, it caught my eye that more of these attacks are combined with small arms fire. If that is so, then one interpretation is that the “Insurgents” are getting more confident. They are blowing the IED and hanging around to shoot. If my WAG holds up, I don’t think it is a good sign for the surge.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 78
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12452503/
LS @ 82
I volunteer L. Paul Bremer, with Wolfie and Rummy as aide de camps!!!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 76
How about we just leave them the fuck alone. that’s what the problem has always been. We did not like Iran’s democratically elected gov in 1953, so we put the Shah in power. That got us the ayatollahs. We overthrew Iraq’s gov to put Saddam in. That got us the mess we’re in now. You’d think we’d learn, but fuck no, let’s control Iran, so we can control Iraq??
dakine01 @ 75
Yup. Although it doesn’t go past 65 Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965 by Mark Moyar makes the case. The book claims that Diem was a wise and effective leader, that Halberstam and Sheehan were vile, lying traitors, that LBJ was insufficiently forceful and that the Domino Theory was correct. It got some disgustingly good reviews.
CTuttle @ 90
It would never do to have them go without Cambone.
Steve - good eyes!
I’d like to honor and acknowledge the links, and the theme, of this post by Siun . . given my OT stuff about killer music . . . having read the thread and the comments . . .
Yep, what the hell are we BUILDING in there (Tom Waits) . . . it surely is NOT doing the Iraqi’s a bit of good, nor is it helping the kharma quotient we so severly destroyed for why we DID go in there.
Nice post.
greenwarrior @ 93
Or, Perle… ;-)
Corrected link to Historiae:
Historiae
What haunts me day and night is how the people of Iraq are suffering, and how effectively–in the main–their voices/experiences are being blocked in the U.S. In this era of global communication, affecting not to know about the torture of innocents, of the murders of teenagers, of the daily deprivation and harrow is unacceptable. I picture a day when not only Iraqis, but our children can justifiably ask each one of us “where were you?”–Laura @49–
Remember that horrible story from last summer? I don’t think it’s ever been proven, but still a nightmare of a thought.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/.....s-of-iraq/
LS @ 81
That’s what always got me about Bush’s line about timetables (they’ll jes wait us out). As if the Iraqis won’t notice 150,000 troops and a whole lot of hardware heading for the exit. Or has General Dynamics gotten that transporter working?
Siun @ 16
… nodding — watching the video now….
Thanks, Siun. Can I suggest that we find another metric for the mega-embassy? I have no idea how big the Vatican is, and it means nothing to me when I hear that the US embassy is bigger than the Vatican.
And so… As I leave you tonight, this for you, dear, sweet Laura and for that funny little weenie you call a husband… enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMjEQWDkWsA
The sources I talk to say the helicopters and embassy picture will not work in Iraq … it’s going to be a long slog out that road to Kuwait.
Siun @ 16
msauna @ 17
Yeah, we’ll be leaving when the oil runs out.
Till then, it’s full integration and done OUR way.
Genocide if they don’t wanna play by our rules.
Some we kill, some we let them kill each other off. Gaming the system . . .
TeddySanFran @ 100
The Vatican is 108.7 acres.
Thanks Larue - hope you’ll stop by often. We usually discuss Iraq or related subjects here on Sunday nights and I try to pull from non-MSM sources so we get a glimpse of the conditions on the ground.
GordonM @ 99
Beam them up, General Petreaus.
Thank you Loo Hoo, for responding. I was beginning to wonder if I was alone in this wilderness.
See McClatchy news for more information regarding torture. A friend of mine in Iraq has told me it’s horrific. People with nailed to the floor, their bones broken by heavy tanks of propane, tortured with electric drills and THEN killed. When we read that people have been bound and shot, with signs of torture, THAT’s what they’re talking about.
Last week, Sunni teenagers were abducted from their school while taking a final exam as were some of their Sunni teachers. (People with ID cards proving they were Shiite were left alone). No word since about what’s happened. I think we can guess.
Siun @ 102
They will have to “vanish”.
Oh, the status quo. Firepups, we need to unite! Lets impeach the Cheney/Bush tandem, install Pelosi during the interim and begin finding something to replace oil. I saw a piece on NBC, Channel 3 WKYC in Cleveland, about a guy looking for a cure for cancer that discovered how to produce hot flame using salt water. Remarkable! I have faith that we can achieve anything we set our minds to. The problem is that the status quo is so entrenched we’ve stopped believing in ourselves. Let’s take