Why aren't more people outraged over revelations that we're supporting Sunni insurgents against an elected government? Where are the headlines from all those news outlets that paraded purple-fingered Iraqis before us as demonstration of the war's success? Wasn't promoting democracy Explanation Number Four for why we're in Iraq? Or was that Number Five?
The attitude toward democracy among Beltway politicos and media types reminds me of those Mrs. Paul's Fish Sticks ads from the seventies - the ones for people who "aren't comfortable with fish." Mrs. Paul's, one ad said, "doesn't have that fishy taste." We're exporting democracy - without that taste of, you know, democracy.
Most Americans want us out of Iraq, and so do most Iraqis. But we have a Washington elite of politicians, think-tankers, and journalists that finds the will of the people somehow ... distasteful.
Gen. Petraeus denied in his testimony this week that we were arming or funding Sunni insurgents, despite numerous reports to the contrary. But, as Spencer Ackerman points out, one of Petraeus' own generals said otherwise last June. And, while Gen. Petraeus presses the Administration's case against Iran, the stunning fact remains that there is clearer evidence that we're funding insurgents against the al-Maliki government.
CNN reporter Michael Ware says it plainly: "Fears in Baghdad and in America of U.S. troops supporting armed groups opposed to the government are not unfounded." And there's this exchange between Ware and Anderson Cooper:
COOPER: Are these -- these tribal groups willing to work with the central government in Baghdad ... and vice versa?WARE: The answer is no on both counts, Anderson ... they are opposed to the Maliki government and any government that they believe is beholden to Iranian influence, a belief shared by many within the U.S. mission. So, these are anti-government forces that America is supporting against the government it created. [emphases mine]
Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki said in July that the United States is reaching out to "gangs of killers." We're supporting part of the insurgency. So here's the real question for Gen Petraeus:
Is the Insurge working?
These actions speak to a deeper pattern within the Administration, its conservative allies, and their media enablers. All three groups appear to have a deep affection for the rhetoric of democracy, combined with a deep discomfort with the actual workings of the democratic process. Add to that a willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed in their chosen professions, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Remember Rumsfeld's "democracy is messy" quote? Actually, in that case it was his incompetence that was messy, but his choice of words reflected a widespread and deep-seated distrust of the democratic process. So do these words from Washington reporter Sheilagh Murray, quoted by Duncan Black:
Q: Why won't the politicians follow the polls when it comes to leaving Iraq?The beauty of democracy is exactly that, of course: that department store managers and orthodontists (and jewelry salespeople) have the final say - that, in a very real sense, they outrank the military and civilian leadership.Shailagh Murray: Would you want a department store manager or orthodontist running the Pentagon? I don't think so.
That's the part that seems to make the Washington tribal leaders uncomfortable with democracy, here and in Iraq. Our media and political elite seems to share a Hamiltonian disdain for the "mob," although the "mob" at home has made consistently wiser decisions in the last four years than they have (starting with their choice of President in 2000).
This was never really about democracy, was it? The only 'progress' we can point to in Iraq now is the result of a Faustian bargain with violent sectarian groups. The leadership in Washington is buying time by arming extremists, at least until the war becomes the next President's problem.
Sounds fishy to me.
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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5010.htm
"To be clear, Strauss was not as hostile to democracy as he was to liberalism. This is because he recognises that the vulgar masses have numbers on their side, and the sheer power of numbers cannot be completely ignored. Whatever can be done to bring the masses along is legitimate. If you can use democracy to turn the masses against their own liberty, this is a great triumph. It is the sort of tactic that neo-conservatives use consistently, and in some cases very successfully. "
The arming of Sunni tribes at this time demonstrates that this administration also harbors a monumental indifference regarding the lives of our citizens in uniform.
BushCo is gorging itself on blood, arming all factions in the region so that it can make profits from weapons sales, then profits from supplying the anti-insurgency. They are CREATING an enemy, then forcing the American people to pay for combatting the enemy of their own creation!
Our troops are being made to defend a puppet regime against hostile tribes which have been ARMED BY OUR OWN GOVERNMENT! Bush has revealed that his only true interest is to keep the war raging on so that his personal profits increase, no matter how many die.
They can guarantee that we will need to be in Iraq for years, because they are busy setting up the arms deals to make it happen! And they've got the next war lined up to start at a moment's notice, in case it looks like someone might interfere.
Bush and Cheney are utterly despicable and would readily sacrifice the entire country for their personal wealth and comfort. This is more serious than "High-Crimes and Misdemeanors", this is Treason!! We need impeachment for Bush and Cheney, criminal charges for those attempting to escape (Rumsfeld, Rove, Gonzales, et al.), and war crimes trials all around. There's no excuse for these scumbags; they need to spend the rest of their lives in jail.
Until everyone involved in this sad state of affairs acknowledges that a strong central government in Baghdad will not be able to stabilize Iraq, now or in the foreseeable future, and that the solution that keeps Iraq united lies in a decentralized federal state, there is no hope whatsoever for anything remotely resembling a successful outcome.
Absent a new strategy that places the highest priority on facilitating a sustainable political accommodation, based on principles of federalism, the complete withdrawal of US forces and civilians - including all Iraqi civilians who have assisted coalition forces and who are now spread across the region - might as well begin now.
Of course, there will have to be a plan for containment of the chaos that will ensue in an effort to avoid an unpredictable and dangerous enlargement of the conflict. Good luck with that.
This deal where so many politicians/office holders stand on their side and flip the bird at the general voting public, with the system presenting no real avenue of redress is just sick.
Now it’s not really about democracy, because in training and providing weaponry for Sunni insurgents, we are in cahoots with the minority party, something which must confuse the hell out of the Shia, over 60 % of Iraq’s population.
Or not confuse them, so much as confirm their suspicions, that we are in fact an elitist nation, and don’t give a flying fuck about providing the masses with power. Bush and Co. realized a bit too late they opened Pandora’s box in Iraq with their talk of democracy. They remembered what they really wanted to do was extend the status quo system of privilege they enjoy in this country overseas.
Now it’s too late. The lid is off, the cat’s out of the bag. And it’s currently sitting in the comforting arms of Iran.