NEOCONS GRIP SLIPPING AS IRAQI RESISTENCE MORPHS INTO LIBERATION WAR OR WORSE

Bush offers old wine in old bottles,

To uplift his sinking popularity and avoid becoming a lame duck President, six months after his second inauguration, on the first anniversary of the sham transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis, President George W. Bush offered nothing new to the Americans or the Iraqis - more of the same. Addressing the nation from Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina, Bush called for staying the course (and going overboard the Niagara Falls of Iraq as some critics said long ago). An emotive defense institution was chosen again to tap patriotic fervor and rally the military, which is becoming uneasy at the falling home support for the war in Iraq. Ironically, Bush himself avoided military duty in Vietnam.

Bush tried to rally Americans to the cause of the Iraq war and sought to again connect Iraq's violent insurgency to Osama bin Laden and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "Iraq is where they are making their stand. So we will fight them there, we will fight them across the world, and we will stay in the fight until the fight is won," Bush said. He set out two-track strategy for victory i.e., accelerating the training of Iraqi troops and supporting Iraqi politicians in constitution making, bringing in more Sunni Arabs into the process, and paving the way for referendum and elections. Bush apparently remains in a state of denial.

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Democrats immediately charged that Bush failed to offer a clear plan for success in Iraq. "It is not enough for the president to say 'stays the course' and make a few minor adjustments. The president needs to lay out a concrete plan," said New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer. California Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi told NBC "You know the president is on weak ground when he exploits the sacred ground of 9/11 so many times in his speech knowing that there was no connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq when he initiated his preemptive strike." "It is important for the president to tell the American people, to give them a strategy for success. We simply haven't had that."

After the Bush speech London’s Financial Times commented "Given the extraordinary mix of delusion and incompetence that has characterized US management of Iraq, the administration is at last engaging with reality ... US meetings with Sunni insurgents—(but ) no truck with 'people with blood on their hands'. This is, of course, an understandable position. But the reality is that the US and its Iraqi allies will end up having to talk to probably the same people, only with a lot more blood on their hands and from a weaker position."

London’s Independent commented in its editorial, "It is clear that Iraq's best hope for peace is for a withdrawal of the 140,000 US troops. After that has taken place, some respected third force - preferably the UN - will be required at least partly to plug the security gap. US withdrawal may be inevitable in the long run, but the chances of the Bush administration taking any such step in the near future are nonexistent. So, tragically, Iraq must now brace itself for yet another year of hell."

A flawed and irrational policy inspired and crafted by Neo-cons embedded within his administration has come home to roost. Most people now believe that the threat posed to the US by al-Al Qaida and Zarqawi is more a consequence of the 2003 invasion than a justification for it. A majority of Americans also believe that there was no solid link between the 2001 terrorist attacks and Iraq. They have expressed opposition to the war in Iraq and irritation with the White House's persistent denials that nothing was wrong. The speech is unlikely to change that view. Iraqis living in the occupation hell reacted negatively to the speech.

Recent opinion polls before the speech found that 59% of Americans opposed the war. The Pew Research Center also found that the number of Americans favoring an immediate withdrawal of US troops has risen from 36% last October to 42% in February, and 46% now. A recent Gallup poll revealed that 56% said the war "wasn't worth it". For the first time, a majority said they would be "upset" if Bush sent more troops, a new low of 36% say troop levels should be maintained or increased. A Washington Post poll showed that two-thirds believe the US military is bogged down in Iraq while almost three- quarters think the level of casualties is unacceptable. More than half believe the war has not made them safer while 40% believe it has striking similarities to the experience in Vietnam.

American policies and people have become hated in Muslim countries and elsewhere. It was found that even China was more popular than the US among peoples of US traditional allies, including Britain. Even in Australia, one of USA ‘s closest allies, American students faced with hate attacks by Australians angry at the war in Iraq are quitting Queens land universities , in spite of formal briefings before leaving home on how to cope with abusive Australians.  According to The Sunday Mail, the verbal attacks have become unbearable and threatening to escalate into physical violence.

Bush’s address on the first anniversary of the so called handing over of sovereignty in secretive and furtive manner inside a fortress like Green Zone in Baghdad, is the high point of the all round effort of Bush Administration to’ rally the troops ‘after negative polls and the Senate committee hearing brought out bipartisan dismay at the degenerating situation in Iraq. While Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Central Command Chief General John Abizaid has been some of the main interlocutors, Vice-President Dick Cheney has been kept away as his utterances at variance with the official line and truth have mostly embarrassed the administration.

Transfer of sovereignty;

On the eve of ‘SHAM TRANSFER OF IRAQI SOVEREIGNTY IN DISARRAY (my paper no 1015 dated 1-06-04 for www.saag.org ) I had quoted Kemal Ataturk "It was by force that the sons of Osman seized the sovereignty and Sultanate of the Turkish nation; they have maintained this usurpation for six centuries. Now, the Turkish nation has rebelled and has put a stop to these usurpers and has effectively taken sovereignty and Sultanate in its own hands." Thus admonished Ataturk the Grand National Assembly in Ankara in 1923, when some members, including Islamic clerics and scholars, opposed his proposal to abolish the Sultanate. A vote by applause after his intervention abolished the six-century-old institution.

“A nucleus of those who will take back Iraq's sovereignty by force and with blood has come into being at Falluja and Najaf. These are the first recognizable but critical developments in the Iraqi resistance for freedom and the war for independence. “The Shies must realize that sovereignty does not come in charity .With no apparent exit policy, US only intends making Shies and Sunnis fight each other as the imperialists did throughout the 20th century. By now, it is clear to everyone that US occupied Iraq for its oil wealth and from there to control the region and its energy resources.