Growing insurgency could doom US plans for Iraq, analysts say

[enough]

The above is the headline as it appeared on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer today, along with a large headline story "Dozens die in a bloody day in Iraq." Maybe things are getting so bad the media won't be able to totally ignore it.


http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/9664800.htm

Doubts rise on strategy in Iraq

By Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel
Inquirer Washington Bureau


WASHINGTON - The U.S. strategy to create a stable, democratic Iraq is in danger of failing, some current and former American analysts say, and the anti-American insurgency is growing larger, more sophisticated and more violent.

A wave of attacks across Iraq included the deadliest single bombing in Baghdad in six months yesterday and at least seven bombings in the capital Sunday.

The violence increasingly appears to threaten nationwide elections planned for January, which are key to President Bush's hopes for reducing the number of U.S. troops, now 140,000, and making a graceful exit from Iraq. Some experts on Iraq say the best that can be hoped for now is continued chaos that falls short of a civil war.

snip>

White, the former intelligence analyst who is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said his conservative estimate was that there were 100,000 Iraqis involved in the Sunni insurgency, including fighters, messengers, and people who provide logistical, housing and other assistance. He discounted estimates by senior U.S. military commanders that the Sunni resistance numbered about 5,000 fighters.


more>

[jackofhearts]

1. A call for action...

I urge all DU'ers to email and/or call (I did both) the Kerry campaign headquarters (Johnkerry.com) and plead with them to get Kerry to demand the bush regime come clean with America on Iraq. Just yesterday bush claimed Iraq was heading the right direction. This is a critical moment for Kerry. I truly believe he could "take charge" and demand policy change. the bush regime is flat out lying to America when they say things are going the right direction.

We can be a force...we can have a bearing on Kerry's strategy if we all push the same button. Kerry has a unique opportunity here to expose the bush lie on Iraq by demanding answers to what the fuck they intend to do to STOP THE CARNAGE...SAVE OUR TROOPS and SAVE WHATEVER IS LEFT OF AMERICA'S RESPECT. Kerry should be calling a news conference to let America know the truth of the disaster that is unfolding in Iraq while the president is saying everything is fine. Either bush is truly delusional or he is hiding facts for political purposes. All hands on deck...lets get this message to the Kerry campaign...this IS the moment where we can expose bush as the delusional liar we all know he is.

It is time to bring the bush regime to its knees and the disaster in Iraq is the weapon to use.

[BadGimp]

2. 100,000 Suni fighters - Holy Shite!

..how many Shite fighters are there then?

anyone know?

[Dr Strangelove]

4. Its Predictable...

A insurgent war in Iraq is following a predictable path that will end in our defeat, just as it did in Viet Nam.

[Professor_Moriarty]

3. Why do these newspapermen keep repeating that the American

aim is to create a stable and viable Democracy in Iraq? It is nothing of the sort.Our aim is to create a puppet regime that will allow us to strip the country of its resources while we maintain bases from which we can threaten any enemy of Israel.Democracy has absolutely nothing to do with it.

[Disturbed]

5. "Democracy has absolutely nothing to do with it."

Here is the proof.

The Hand-Over That Wasn't: Illegal Orders give the US a Lock on Iraq's Economy
by Antonia Juhasz

Officially, the U.S. occupation of Iraq ended on June 28, 2004. But in reality, the United States is still in charge: Not only do 138,000 troops remain to control the streets, but the "100 Orders" of L. Paul Bremer III remain to control the economy.

These little noticed orders enacted by Bremer, the now-departed head of the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, go to the heart of Bush administration plans in Iraq. They lock in sweeping advantages to American firms, ensuring long-term U.S. economic advantage while guaranteeing few, if any, benefits to the Iraqi people.

The Bremer orders control every aspect of Iraqi life - from the use of car horns to the privatization of state-owned enterprises. Order No. 39 alone does no less than "transition from a … centrally planned economy to a market economy" virtually overnight and by U.S. fiat.

Although many thought that the "end" of the occupation would also mean the end of the orders, on his last day in Iraq Bremer simply transferred authority for the orders to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi - a 30-year exile with close ties to the CIA and British intelligence.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0805-07.htm

[Skittles]

6. ya THINK??????????????????????????????????

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[bemildred]

7. Yeah, todays "No Shit Sherlock" award.

Stiff competition from the "Sharon will not follow the roadmap"
story, but you gotta give it to this one.

[hansolsen]

8. Dumbest thing Bush is doing (and that says a lot) is training Iraqi armed

forces. The desertion rate approaches 80% and the net effect is we give young Iraqis military training, give them a rifle, send them home, and wake up the next day and find most of them firing back at out soldiers. It is mind boggling.

And the fact that John Kerry parrots this crap and claims he will arm Iraqis faster than Bush can, is so frustrating, it makes my head hurt. Am I alone in seeing this policy as pure folly and symbolic of why there is no real debate about how to proceed in Iraq.