I’ve been thinking about why anonymous administration officials would mention this obviously crazy plan at length. Is this some message to Iraq to somehow give the impression that the US is tougher than it really is? I mean, this plan is just arrogant to the extreme. It would drive the mideast into a roiling pit of craziness. The whole region would be destabilized by American occupation. Not to mention the domestic effect. I can’t believe that this is a serious plan. It has to have some propaganda purposes which are not expressed outright. Is it to diminish the effect of what the US might really do if they overthrow Hussein? Is it to scare Iraqi generals? Is it to give the impression of greater strength? Is it to galvanize players in the Mideast? Is it some sort of signal of the impending war? Is it an attempt to isolate the rest of the world especially Japan and Germany? Or, could it be something else…maybe an attempt by government officials opposed to the invasion to somehow plant this story to stir up opposition to the pro-invasion cabal? There is something else to this. It is too huge to be otherwise. I can’t believe they would naively admit to something like this without some other purpose.
11
Oct 02
The Age of American Empire
When I first read this my jaw dropped. I just could not believe it. The hubris and arrogance involved is staggering. It is ridiculous. These people must be stopped. I wonder how the Japanese will feel about this. It’s just sick.
NY Times: US Plan for Iraq Based on Occupation of Japan:
The White House is developing a detailed plan, modeled on the postwar occupation of Japan, to install an American-led military government in Iraq if the United States topples Saddam Hussein, senior administration officials said today.
The plan also calls for war-crime trials of Iraqi leaders and a transition to an elected civilian government that could take months or years.
Why am I not surprised? Months or years while we have a nice protected stream of oil right to the US. Bush’s pay masters must be slavering.
In the initial phase, Iraq would be governed by an American military commander — perhaps Gen. Tommy R. Franks, commander of United States forces in the Persian Gulf, or one of his subordinates — who would assume the role that Gen. Douglas MacArthur served in Japan after its surrender in 1945. …
Today marked the first time the administration has discussed what could be a lengthy occupation by coalition forces, led by the United States.
Officials say they want to avoid the chaos and in-fighting that have plagued Afghanistan since the defeat of the Taliban. Mr. Bush’s aides say they also want full control over Iraq while American-led forces carry out their principal mission: finding and destroying weapons of mass destruction.
There are weapons all over the world. This is a lie.
The description of the emerging American plan and the possibility of war-crime trials of Iraqi leaders could be part of an administration effort to warn Iraq’s generals of an unpleasant future if they continue to support Mr. Hussein.
They seem to be overly concerned with Iraq’s abilities. Fighting in Iraq will be very different then fighting in the desert near Kuwait.
Asked what would happen if American pressure prompted a coup against Mr. Hussein, a senior official said, “That would be nice.” But the official suggested that the American military might enter and secure the country anyway, not only to eliminate weapons of mass destruction but also to ensure against anarchy. …
Anarchy or just lack of US control?
The revelation of the occupation plan marks the first time the administration has described in detail how it would administer Iraq in the days and weeks after an invasion, and how it would keep the country unified while searching for weapons.
It would put an American officer in charge of Iraq for a year or more while the United States and its allies searched for weapons and maintained Iraq’s oil fields.
For as long as the coalition partners administered Iraq, they would essentially control the second largest proven reserves of oil in the world, nearly 11 percent of the total. A senior administration official said the United Nations oil-for-food program would be expanded to help finance stabilization and reconstruction.
Administration officials said they were moving away from the model used in Afghanistan: establishing a provisional government right away that would be run by Iraqis. Some top Pentagon officials support this approach, but the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and, ultimately, the White House, were cool to it.
“We’re just not sure what influence groups on the outside would have on the inside,” an administration official said. “There would also be differences among Iraqis, and we don’t want chaos and anarchy in the early process.” …
“Our intent is not conquest and occupation of Iraq,” Mr. Khalilzad said. “But we do what needs to be done to achieve the disarmament mission and to get Iraq ready for a democratic transition and then through democracy over time.”
Conquest and occupation is exactly what its about.
Iraqis, perhaps through a consultative council, would assist an American-led military and, later, a civilian administration, a senior official said today. Only after this transition would the American-led government hand power to Iraqis. …
Some experts warned during Senate hearings last month that a prolonged American military occupation of Iraq could inflame tensions in the Mideast and the Muslim world.
“I am viscerally opposed to a prolonged occupation of a Muslim country at the heart of the Muslim world by Western nations who proclaim the right to re-educate that country,” said the former secetary of state, Henry A. Kissinger, who as a young man served as a district administrator in the military government of occupied Germany.
This country is being controlled by lunatics. I have no doubt of it now.
10
Oct 02
Right on
A message from WhatReallyHappened.com:
10/10/02 House OKs Iraq resolution. That proves it. The US Government no longer represents the will of the people. We live in a dictatorship. What will you do about it? Will you stand silent as the Germans of 1933 while your nation is stolen from you and your children marched off to die in a World War? History will judge the American people by whether we allow this war of conquest for oil to proceed or not. This is the wake-up cal to America. The rule of law is dead. The President and the US Congress have gone rogue and threaten the peace and safety of the entire world. Despite 100 to 1 opposition to the war by their Constituents, the Congress has rubber-stamped Bush’s war, the worst of all kids of war, a war for profit and greed.
Please forward the roll call vote for publication for this coming November’s elections. UNLESS WE VOTE THESE SCUM OUT OF OFFICE, THEY WILL FEEL THEY CAN DO AS THEY WILL WITH YOUR MONEY AND YOUR CHILDREN. Those who voted for war will get a permanent place at this website for voters to study. until the election.
10
Oct 02
Down with Big Brother
From 1984 by George Orwell:
- His eyes re-focused on the page. He discovered that while he sat helplessly musing he had also been writing, as though by automatic action. And it was no longer the same cramped, awkward handwriting as before. His pen had slid voluptuously over the smooth paper, printing in large neat capitals –
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
over and over again, filling half a page.
He could not help feeling a twinge of panic. It was absurd, since the writing of those particular words was not more dangerous than the initial act of opening the diary, but for a moment he was tempted to tear out the spoiled pages and abandon the enterprise altogether.
He did not do so, however, because he knew that it was useless. Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference. Whether he went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The Thought Police would get him just the same. He had committed — would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper — the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.
10
Oct 02
The March to War: US declines Iraq’s offer for immediate inspections
This is crazy. No major American news organization featured this story on their site today. I had to go back to Antiwar.com to even find this article. It’s being buried under all the other garbage, but it is significant. From CNN: U.S. turns down Iraq’s invitation to inspect sites:
Earlier, Baghdad invited the United States to “immediately” inspect three sites Washington says it suspects are developing weapons of mass destruction.
Abdul Tawab Mullah Hawaish, Iraq’s deputy prime minister and the man responsible for the country’s weapons programs, told a news conference on Thursday that his country was not producing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
Instead, he claimed comments from the United States about the three sites showed the Bush administration was “desperate” and engaged in “lies and fabrications.”
“Any person who has got an ounce of intelligence will be able to figure out these lies. These fabrications have no truth whatsoever,” he said.
The minister said the disupted sites were in reality a metal factory, a cast-iron factory used for cement and industrial work and a factory producing molds for civilian use.
The sites had either been destroyed by U.S. bombing or were being redeveloped for research purposes, he added, saying: “We are prepared to open the doors for a visit immediately so we can clarify the situation and demonstrate the ridiculous lies perpetrated by the U.S., which have no basis on the grounds.”
He said allegations that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction “indicate an arrogance” on the part of some world leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.
“If the U.S. administration was trying to investigate the truth as they claim, let them allow the inspectors to come back and inspect the sites. I am sure they would find whether we have weapons of mass destruction or not,” Hawaish said.
Such is the poor state of our nation that we let a buffoon and criminal lead our people and the poor people of Iraq into a slaughter. If Bush wants to fight so bad he needs to get his blue-blooded ass on the next plane to Iraq. He and his ilk are nothing but duplicitous cowards and parasites. He should be cast off alongside Hussein. Bah humbug.
10
Oct 02
The Racist Hubris of American ‘Psy-ops’
Propaganda professionals at the employ of the military. It would be naive to assume they don’t practice similar propaganda here. I’m amazed at how open they are about lying and intentionally manipulating a populace to fulfill their war aims.
Village Voice: Forked-Tongue Warriors:
Headquartered at the 4th Psychological Operations Group in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the psy-op artists typically rely on cartoon animations to get their messages across. But it’s psy-op history itself that belongs in a comic strip: Its collection of harebrained schemes is sometimes almost too colorful to believe, though all of the following tales have been reported on from time to time. One such plan initially investigated by the air force before Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait entailed the projection of a holographic image of Allah floating over Baghdad and instructing Iraqi civilians to overthrow Saddam. The idea was promptly dropped after scientists informed the Pentagon that it would require a mirror that was a square mile in area, not to mention the added problem that no one knows what Allah looks like. Furthermore, since divine portrayals of any kind are strictly forbidden in Islam, the hologram would surely have gotten a reaction, but probably not exactly the one intended.
Psy-ops against civilian populations is unacceptable. The intentional use of propaganda is a slippery slope. It just it makes it easier to deceive in all circumstances.
09
Oct 02
British ‘intelligence’ dealings with al Quaeda and weapons sales to Iraq
British Press Gagged on Reporting MI6’s £100,000 bin Laden Payoff
Tony Blair has last night ordered a D-Notice on British media reporting government officials signing court gag orders. This regards the case of former MI5 officer David Shayler, who has evidence to prove MI6 gave £100,000 to bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, arms to Iraq and had prior knowledge of several terrorist attacks on London in the 1990’s. Newspapers like the Guardian, the London Evening Standard and the Scotsman have either completely removed or amended these articles. This evidence is damning – the British government is trying to bury the story before it buries them
Quite damaging to the war effort. This means that the Western powers were dealing with al Quaeda as late as 1996 and sold Iraq the very weapons it now cites as its justification for invasion. Know well that Britain has been doing the bidding of the US at least since WWII. They are two halves of the same coin.
09
Oct 02
Who’s the bad guy now?
I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.
09
Oct 02
Timely Clausewitz quotations
A soldier and scholar, Clausewitz has had an enormous effect on the minds of modern politicians. It is instructive to see how these people think so you will know the threat.
Carl (Karl) von Clausewitz: