RSSIraq to Bush: Nobody Likes You, Beavis…
Extract from a piece I did in the National this week on the floundering effort to negotiate a U.S.-Iraq security deal to replace the current UN Resolution that expires in December:
The problem, for the US and for those Iraqi political factions most dependent on its presence, is that the vast majority of Iraqis oppose a long-term US presence, which to them feels like an occupation. The demand for the US to agree to a departure date enjoys overwhelming support – and public opinion is clearly reflected in the response of Iraqi parliamentarians to the security deal with Washington.
What the Bush administration is encountering here is the unkind reality of just how few friends America really has in Iraq. Sure, it has an alliance with the government of Mr Maliki, the prime minister, and with its largest party, the Supreme Islamic Council. And it also has cordial relations with some of the Sunni nationalist parties and, of course, with the Kurds.
But none of these groups shares the US agenda for Iraq. Instead, each has responded to the US presence as an opportunity to pursue its own ends. Each has engaged in tactical alliances with Washington in the hope of using US power against its foes in the intra-Iraqi power game.
To read the whole thing, click here.
The Latest
Glancing Headers
World Cup 2010
For a variety of reasons, I ended up watching the World Cup Final on a TV tied to a tree at the soccer fields in the Red Hook section of BrooklynRebellion Into Money
How Slovenia Wins the World CupGuest Columns
How I Overcame My Jewish-Evangelical Upbringing and Learned to Love Christmas, Anyway
Guest Column: Gavin Evans Back in the day, when Gavin and I were young activists trying to change the world, the doorbell rang at our Observatory student house. I opened it to see a tall and handsome man in the silky purple shirt and dog collar of an Anglican Bishop. "You must be Tony," said Bis...Featured Analysis
Does Obama Have a Mideast Plan B?
It's hardly surprising that President Barack Obama chose to schedule a White House visit by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the dead of night on Monday, because right now Obama has little to show for his 10-month effort to revive a Middle East peace process. The Israeli leader's refu...Unholy War
Who Lost Fatah?
‘Who lost China?” was the battle cry of a witch-hunt conducted in the US State Department following the 1949 victory of Mao Zedong’s communists. The department’s “China hands”, critics charged, had been woefully ignorant of the dynamics at work on the ground in China after the Second W...A Skeptical Read
More Iran Hysteria from the NY Times
The surest sign that another neocon bill of goods is being hawked in respect of the Iran "nuclear peril" is the revival of Rumsfeld-esque "unknowable unknowns", a la Iraq WMD panic circa late 2002. In the real world, of course, solid progress is being made towards a plausible diplomatic deal to ...99c Blogging
The 'Metrics' of Obama's Vietnam
Why is the Administration conducting a "test run" for its metrics of success in Afghanistan? Because the metrics used will be those that provide the desired verdictHear! Hear!
Helena Cobban Explains FatahIf I Was a Blogger...
More Dennis Ross Dissembling
Obama's Iran point man can't seem to get his head around the reasons for Israeli emigrationA Wondering Jew
Obama, Foxman and Israel's Purpose
Having spent decades drumming home the idea that Israel is rooted squarely in the Holocaust experience, and should be viewed by the world as the state of the survivors, Israelis and some of their most fervent backers in the U.S. are suddenly insisting that this is a misleading, even hostile idea.Annals of Globalization
The Shebab, the Shahids and the Champion's League Final
The Shebab gunman on the left appears to be a Gunner, i.e. an Arsenal fan... In honor of today's Champion's League final, I republish my op ed that ran in the National a year ago. What was most fascinating about the photograph of the Somali gunman who was part of the crowd dragging the body...The Whole World's Africa
Congo's Not Africa's WWI, It's Worse Than That
If there is a European analogy to be applied in the Congo, it would be the brutal Thirty Year War in Germany that ended in 1648Shameless Cronyism
Embedded with the Jihadis
My crazy friend Nir Rosen goes on embed with the Taliban, and finds out just why the U.S. can't win in AfghanistanCould Die Laughing
Whatever Became of that Nice Mr. Blair...
The problem with a global conversation between Muslims and Christians refereed by Tony Blair? Two words: Tony Blair.The 51st State
A Teachable Moment in Basra
It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...Futures Market
Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the BalkansCuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventHousekeeping
'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving themNew York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for Bush
How a spontaneous alliance of jocks, do-gooders and lesser bullies against the biggest bully at the school changed the balance of power at Milnerton Primary
3 Responses to “Iraq to Bush: Nobody Likes You, Beavis…”
Obama could nip this thing in the bud by stating very clearly that, based on the Bush precedents of walking away from treaties and agreements, any agreement Bush signs is only good until 19 January 2009. After Obama is President, everything will be re-negotiated. If Obama did this the agreement negotiations would quickly die along with the idea of the US staying very long after 20 January 2009.
Sure, Bush and McCain would huff and puff, but all Obama would have to say is let the American people decide. If they want to honor the agreement and stay in Iraq indefinitely, then vote for McCain. If the American people don’t like the agreement and want to be out of Iraq then elect Obama. Given the current mood in the US, Obama would win in a landslide, and I think McCain is beginning to figure this out.
I think Obama should hit McCain squarely in the face with Iraq. McCain will be knocked senseless.
@Spyguy
Your comment makes one think democracy works. As if it is possible to rely on the democratic institutions. It’s going to be quite a recession for the next President and the people. The most peace seeking president is not going to be able to dismantle the likes of Halliburton. As neocons become a pariah worldwide, there are going to be increasing calls for their blood (figuratively speaking).
Re: the Iraq security agreement, it feels like Tehran said no.
Condi and other state department officials are stressing it will be no threat to Iran. Which is a rather bold statement in acknowledging Iran’s power.
A rescue team would be hard pressed to advise the White House what they should do. Backtracking the whole war effort is the only option.
Now we can all wait see what disasters the current US leadership can still do. Aren’t they an immediate threat to everyone?
And with the US having less credibility every day, it probably couldn’t cope with any unforeseen demands (Like Katrina or a military need).
The Bush policy is such a disaster, no country in the world would want US troops, although the Iraqis must really hate them.
Even Sistani said no to the agreement.
Tehran must really not like it.
A very interesting statement made by one of Sistani’s representatives is reported here:
http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=82368&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1
Basically he is telling the Iraqi gov’t and people to dismiss the election talk about leaving Iraq because the US doesn’t really want to leave. He says the gov’t can take its time to negotiate an agreement with the US on terms that it can live with. The election talk has to do with the current presidentially elections in the US.
So I would take away from this a few points. (1) Bush is probably using the prospect of Obama being next President to pressure the Iraqis to quickly sign a deal on his terms. (2) Sistani doesn’t really want the US to leave. (3) His reading of US intentions is that they see it as in their interest to stay, and that the US will want to stay regardless of who is elected.
Leave a Reply