US-Iraqi indecision follows blast-Bremer absent; no one seems to have plan

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.azstarnet.com/star/Sat/30830iiraqroundup.html

The car bombing that killed one of Iraq's most important spiritual leaders in Najaf on Friday was met by an apparent political vacuum in the nation's capital, where the Iraqi and U.S. officials charting the country's future seemed unsure who should respond and how.

Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, one of the four main clerics who hold sway over Iraq's Shiite Muslim community and long a leader of the opposition to Saddam Hussein, was killed. Religious leaders called for blood and vengeance, and in some places the ayatollah's mourners took to the streets.

No group claimed responsibility for the bombing, which killed 85 people and injured 140 outside the Imam Ali Mosque - named for the Muslim leader whose followers created the Shiite sect.

But in Baghdad, the Iraqi and U.S. officials charged with shepherding this country toward democratic rule went about their business as if little had changed. There were no speeches calling for calm, few public appearances by anyone in charge. L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator, was on vacation with his family in Vermont. Nobody seemed to know when exactly he would return. The U.S. military command in Baghdad said nothing.

more

[madrchsod]

1. meanwhile

300000 shiite`s are marching to najaf..and l`pauli is in vermont. but why should this be a surprise? the whole bush whitehouse is like this,screw something up,blame others ,and walk away..george has been doing this all his life.

[teryang]

2. The Occupation force can't keep the peace

...in Iraq. This is a complete delusion. Always was. Iraq is the new Lebanon. Israel can't keep the peace either. This is the model for occupation rule. Continuous violence. Good for bidness. Defense contractor bidness. Apparently the American taxpayer is an inexhaustible well to fund futile "security" operations forever.

Bremer is a self styled "terrorism expert" who used to work for an investment firm. His firm suffered major losses on 911 in the twin towers. Some expert. What qualifies a terrorism expert to "rebuild a country?" His real qualification? The tie to the BFEE which qualifies him for endless fraudulent ripoffs and leaving diasters in his wake.

[Old and In the Way]

3. I'm convinced that we are suffering a leadership vacuum.

Really, no different there than here. This administration is clueless about puttint Iraq back together...now you have the administration talking heads like George Will floating a fractured Iraq...proof that they have failed in the occupation.

Nothing will change until we get new leadership and throw these would-be NWOer's out of the office they never deserved in the 1st place.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. When will the rest of the world learn that the New World Leadership

is made up of good and proper American businessmen. 9-5, five days a week, three months vacation a year and the mantra "greed is next to Godliness."

New Rule: Politicians shall be equiped with Lojack devices and sat phones.

[sistersofmercy]

5. Bremer's out of town for his own safety, vacation my foot!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. Bu-But.... That would imply that the U.S. didn't have everything

under control!

[donsu]

7. agree

nt

[aquart]

13. You know? I think you're right.

[RainDog]

8. two Iraqis discuss this online

these blogs are great to get an idea of what at least some people in Iraq...the ones, like us, who are not religious extremists and who just want to live life in a decent country, think about the U.S. occupation and the guerilla fighting.

----

http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/

you ask

(here) http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Where is this guy living? Is he even in the same time zone??? I’m incredulous… maybe he's from some alternate universe where shooting, looting, tanks, rape, abductions, and assassinations aren’t considered chaos, but it’s chaos in *my* world.
I have an answer for you.

L. Paul Bremer III, the chief American administrator, was on vacation. Nobody seemed to know when exactly he would return
He is on a beach somewhere in the states; I swear I am not joking. When they called him 3 hours after the incident he had no idea what they were talking about.
And there is another article in the Times worth reading, G was with Neil in Najaf and he is the Shia expert, they love him down there, they think he is a Shia muslim from Iran, if they only knew the truth. Anyway take a look at the article the death toll is now 113.

[RainDog]

9. Bremer is a Bush man, all right!

On vacation while the world burns.

way to go, guys!

with leaders like you, who needs anarchy?

[wabeewoman]

16. Great links! Thanks.

The road trip experience gives you a feel for life in Iraq. I loved this quote from the other blog:
"An interesting development on the much-shaken puppet council- Bahr Ul Iloom has suspended his membership in the council. The elderly cleric claimed, in an interview, that America was doing such a bad job of keeping the Iraqi people secure, he didn’t want to be a part of the council anymore. I wonder if he’s going to return to London. That makes a council of only 8 members now… we need a new nominee otherwise we will have four months of the year without leadership. Maybe if Bush doesn't get re-elected, Bremer will give the position to him. Love to have him in Baghdad..."
Here's one showing our tax dollars at work: snip
"Listen to this little anecdote. One of my cousins works in a prominent engineering company in Baghdad- we’ll call the company H. This company is well-known for designing and building bridges all over Iraq. My cousin, a structural engineer, is a bridge freak. He spends hours talking about pillars and trusses and steel structures to anyone who’ll listen.

As May was drawing to a close, his manager told him that someone from the CPA wanted the company to estimate the building costs of replacing the New Diyala Bridge on the South East end of Baghdad. He got his team together, they went out and assessed the damage, decided it wasn’t too extensive, but it would be costly. They did the necessary tests and analyses (mumblings about soil composition and water depth, expansion joints and girders) and came up with a number they tentatively put forward- $300,000. This included new plans and designs, raw materials (quite cheap in Iraq), labor, contractors, travel expenses, etc.

Let’s pretend my cousin is a dolt. Let’s pretend he hasn’t been working with bridges for over 17 years. Let’s pretend he didn’t work on replacing at least 20 of the 133 bridges damaged during the first Gulf War. Let’s pretend he’s wrong and the cost of rebuilding this bridge is four times the number they estimated- let’s pretend it will actually cost $1,200,000. Let’s just use our imagination.

A week later, the New Diyala Bridge contract was given to an American company. This particular company estimated the cost of rebuilding the bridge would be around- brace yourselves- $50,000,000 !!
snip

[RainDog]

18. two other great links from riverbend's blog

I was checking out both Occupation Watch and Back in Iraq 2.0.

both sites seem to have quite a bit of knowledge about the situation and history.

At Occupation Watch, you can also click on links to "What the Iraqis are saying" and "What the Soldiers Are Saying" --both are full of links to articles.

[SOS]

10. During the British

colonial era in India, the Viceroys hated the summer. It was considered a rough assignment, having to spend the summer in the broiling Indian heat.
Viceroy Bremer has solved this problem for himself apparently.
Spend August by the lake in Vermont!

[cliss]

11. The fuse is burning

Whoever bombed the Shi'ite mosque knew what they were doing. The US administration knows that they might be able to pull off the Iraq coup, as long as the religious leaders do not get riled up. Once that happens, they will need to throw in the towel. That's exactly what's going to happen: the car bomb will only serve to infuriate the religious leaders.

According to http://www.stratfor.com, the one thing that cannot happen, under any circumstances, is a religious uprising with demonstrations. The situation would become too volatile to control.

Maybe they've been reading that web site?

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. You would think

with things going from bad to worse in the last two weeks, Bremer could at least take a cell phone and keep in touch?


BTW: Bremer left town the day after the bombing of the UN Headquarters too. It seems like he's out of country, more than he's in country. I guess he needs to get his suits dry cleaned or something?

[aquart]

14. Well, if you s*** in your pants from fear, cleaning requires expertise.

[UpInArms]

15. so when do the troops get their "vacation"?

Bremer takes a vacation during this???? :wtf:

The absolute detachment from reality of this crew is beyond the pale!

[gratuitous]

17. Isn't it strange?

That without knowing a damn thing about the country, the history, the ethnic makeup of the populace, these clowns have arrested a couple dozen persons, labeling them Al Qaeda sympathizers? And incredibly strange that after all the lies, all the stumbling around, all the missteps, all the miscalculations, all the lethal errors, the media reports these arrests without the slightest tinge of skepticism?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

19. That's why we have the FBI taking part in the investigation.

That way we can get the results Bushco desires.

Truth is irrelevant.