Reading The Pictures: Bush Hype And The Loss Of Sheikh

My question is, did George Bush effectively "off" an ally -- and even undermine his Anbar strategy -- for the sake of the "surge sale" and a single photo-op?

To flesh out the question, skip back to the last days of August, and the Administration's effort to sprucing up the Iraq campaign. Of the three platforms for judging the picture -- one military, one economic, and one political -- it was this third category most amenable to last minute window dressing.

At that point in time, the Administration, and our Ambassador Crocker, were putting effort into forcing a show of solidarity among Iraq's ruling elite.  My August 30th post focused on one such effort.  The photo op in question cast the Iraqi leaders in a bite-your-tongue display of token consensus surrounding the relatively insignificant (and still unratified) restoration of civil employment privileges of Baath party members.

Now, fast forward to George Bush's media stunt in which he had himself air-shipped into Anbar on September 3rd to boost General Petraeus' Sunni miracle.  In a dog-and-pony reprise, the Administration whisked the same characters to Fortress Patreus for a further photo op, this time with time with 43 himself.

When it came time to secure the coveted images of this meet-and-greet, however, the President -- who went half-round-the-world for a few moments of mugging (in front of the camera) -- failed to secure even one shot in Anbar with that ferried collective of Vice Presidents Abdul-Mehdi and al-Hashemi, President Talabani, Prime Minister al-Maliki, Deputy Prime Minister Salih as well as the Kurd leader Barzani.

In fact, the most "intact" shot of the group on Yahoo's newswire was probably this one, featuring Bush in a "the script says shake my hand" gesture toward Talabani; a "what am I doing here" glance from Maliki, and the distant presence of that third suit, Sunni V.P. Tariq al-Hashemi, who back in Baghdad, could barely bring himself to play along.

The reason for this crappy shot, and the fact that nobody saw it, however, was not because of Iraqi resistance (although there seems plenty of that) but because the Administration had lined up a better date for this dance.

So what we got, instead, as this article and, especially, the inset photo from Voice of America illustrates, is the visual action shifting to the right side of the room. Taking in the whole scene, what you have are the local tribal leaders -- the current object of a U.S. love affair --flanking the President, backed up by the Condi, Crocker and Gates crew.

The money shot, however, (the one shouting loud from FOX to the NYT) is the one top-left above.  (Here's the whole spread.)  In the pic, we see Bush beaming and preening with Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, touted by the military as our #1 tribal ally among allies in the panacea of the moment, the alliance forged with Sunni mixed flavors in the region.

Given the extraordinarily high profile of the meeting, the intense rivalry of the neighborhood clans, as well as the media savvy of all types of bad boys, however, wasn't it odd Sattar wasn't a little more concerned to avoid the exposure?  (Probably not, if he was really the corrupt power player a more independent media has seen him to be, hugging the limelight as America's charismatic anti-al Qaeda poster boy of the hour.) 

As a strategic asset, however, didn't the Administration and the Sattar-fawning military have concerns about setting him up this way -- even before he had his 15 minutes at the White House?

When Sattar was murdered just nine days later, his brother and likely successor proclaimed:

"The martyrdom of Sattar will not affect this [pro-American, anti-insurgent] council because every member of this council has the same beliefs and the same motivations and this sad incident will not stop them from moving forward.... Although they killed Sattar, there are a million Sattars in Anbar."

Interesting comment.  In spite of the fact Sattar was touted by the military as the leader among leaders in this clannish world, and a key coalescing figure of our palm-greasing operation in the region, and a man of such significance that his loss would compel the tears of key American military brass at the man's funeral, somehow this guy wasn't worth more than a photo op.

(image 1 & 3: Charles Dharapak/AP. Sept. 3, 2007. Al-Asad Air base in Anbar province. Via YahooNews. image 2: A.P. September 13, 2007. Ramadi, Iraq. nytimes.com.)

Comments

[Stavo]

Where is it going to end with gw bush and company? He and his goons are leading this country in it's people into a foray, that has no path of return. Exactly what has been bushes purpose in office. Even his 1st few months in office were laclustre at best and riddled with mysteries. We all had best be on guard, because it is going to get very nasty one day soon.

[Levittown]

We have enough air power to cover any withdrawal and seek out and destroy Al Qeada nests as they spring up.
The Sheiks will get wasted of they cover for the Al Qeada,and rewarded if they help us. I think the money will win out.

[Vocalion]

Here's a tangential thought: Does anyone else think that the Iraqi govt (I use the term loosely) has now been so deeply infiltrated by the militias that the order to all Blackwater employees to leave the country amounts to perhaps the most devastating attack on the Green Zone in the history of the debacle?

The 5-meter thick walls have been scaled...Soon, helicopters on the roof of the Embassy?

[ahsregusted]

Frank Zappa is alive!?!?

[Kendo Nagasaki]

And another one bites the dust.

One million and counting.

If this is democracy, bring me dictatorship.

Come back Saddam, all is forgiven.

[deminmo]

Along with Iraq, Iran and Syria, has anyone been following what is happening in Europe with Islam? It has been forcast that Europe will be ruled by an Islamic Caliphate, a Shariah. That forbids criticism of Islam. And on Sept. 11 a small group of people in Brussels tried to protest peacefully. They were treated very unpleasantly by the police.

Should we be concerned here in America?

[rmirman]

It is really disturbing that all this is not understood by the American public. That is why we are in such trouble. This is a PR war in which Bush is winning and the rest of us are not even fighting in. For suggestions about how see

randomabsurdities.wordpress.com

[2bsure]

This sheik -- or, whatever -- obviously didn't know what all the 2006 Republican candidates knew.

[Bourgeois Liberal]

"He looked at the Anbar province as a saving grace for his surge and this guy was the face of the Anbar province supposed turn around. The problem is that Bush thinks thats it. He looks at his photo ops as work well done."

Not surprising that he would consider a photo-op a genuine achievement.

After all, Bush is the sort of rich shnook who has never actually done anything substantial in his whole overprivileged life. The heavy work was always being done by The Help, the gaggle of flunkeys, factotums and assorted gofers that always gravitates towards families like the Bushes.

So naturally he'll sincerely believe that getting his picture taken with some doomed Arab chieftain was, well, Mission Accomplished.

[BluGrrl]

Bush effectively sealed this man's casket by appearing in photo's with him.

Regardless of whether the Sunni Sheik man was a good man or a bad man I am sure his appearance with Bush led to his death.

Bush was so eager to tout any kind of "success" in Iraq that he put his own "success" in jeopardy by publicly appearing with the man.

Bush didn't have the foresight to realise that publicly appearing with the man would put the man at greater risk and therefore could be a blow to the anti-insurgency movement.

[ibb47]

First, thank you anybody for getting a strong note out on the blogs about the direct connection between this photo-op and the guy's quick subsequent death. The very first thought that came into my head the very day this photo came out was: this guy is a dead man. (And from the look on his face, I think maybe he thought so too.)

I'm still trying to access Palast's article but thanks again for drawing strong attention to this latest bit of Bush Inc's callous manipulation of events and, in this instance, one man's life. Small wonder he was grinning so broadly.

[richw23]

It's trivial I know, but when I see someone in a suit coat and a short sleeve shirt, my first thought is, now that guy is a hick.

Maybe I'm sensitive to it because I spent most of my childhood and most of my adolescence in Arkansas where that was common in the 50's and 60's. But this is the leader of the free world in the 21st century.

Like I said, it's trivial, but there are so many things about the man that just scream ignorance and misplaced machismo. What's with the arm dangle we see so often? Is he channeling John Wayne?

[LPK]

Why did Al Q. go quietly in Anbar? Because the Sunni Sheiks are Al Q. in Iraq. What better way to get money from the American taxpayer's than,eh?

[gardengoddess]

It's too bad the "American" (something highly debatable currently) press won't print Greg Palast's articles. What eye openers they are, and how true they all turn out to be!

We can now see - at least those of us who have our eyes open and not squinted shut with fear -why the American media SHOULD NEVER be owned by any corporations who make some of their money by having defense contracts with the government.

[jesusquintana]

An excellent article and thoughtful comments. Only one problem, Michael:

"To flesh out the question, skip back to the last days of August, and the Administration's effort..."

Don't you realize that was almost a full month ago? We're Americans, our memory doesn't extend past what we had for breakfast.