Apocalypse now? Part 1: The War Front

[NNN0LHI]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=510450

Unable to end the insurgency, the US is rapidly losing its few friends

By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
11 April 2004


If Iraq comes to be seen as President George W Bush's Vietnam, this past week may be the equivalent of the 1968 Tet offensive - the moment when America discovered that, for all its overwhelming military superiority, it is not winning the war.

The US civil and military leaders in Iraq discovered that their authority was a house built on sand. It crumbled with extraordinary speed in the face of poorly armed and ill-organised opposition in Fallujah and southern Iraq. The message was that the opponents of the US in Iraq are not very strong, but that the coalition itself is very weak.

Not only are large parts of Iraq outside its control, the US is weaker in Iraq than it was a year ago, after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. By yesterday its allies within the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) were accusing it of "genocide". On the ground, the US troops recognise that they have no friends among the Iraqi forces supposedly on their side - and even America's closest allies in Iraq are beginning to run for cover.

Yet the disasters of the past week, the worst in political terms since President Bush decided to invade Iraq, are in large measure self-inflicted. The US suddenly found itself fighting a two-front war because it over-reacted to pressure, political and military, from important minority groups in the Sunni and Shia communities.

more

[saigon68]

1. I know someone going BACK soon.

His wife is furious he has 2 years left on this enlistment. he told me he is going to get out w/ 10 years in. He says there is no morale, and everyone is covering their ass.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. My cousin's son just got his discharge....

I have been coaching him to say he was gay for 2 years now. He finally did and is getting out without having to go.
He called me last night and thanked me.
I said, "See, does saying you are gay hurt?" No, he agreed.

You have to use the force they fear against them sometimes.

[Snoggera]

7. Good for you - persistence pays off

You just may have saved that young man's life.

[Chicago Democrat]

18. That is an amazing, wonderful story and I am so happy for you!

Please be careful and make sure he stays "gay" for awhile, OK. Make sure he stays safe.

[BeHereNow]

4. My Nephew Says the Same

He says Troops are beyond depressed and just want to get out.
He says suicides are many times beyond the numbers reported,
largely due to the despair and realization that the American people
are not aware of the reality and therefore will not do what is required
to get them out of there.
BHN

[Postman]

10. Not enough Americans are aware. They're kept ignorant....

by a corporate controlled rightwing press that perpetuates the myth that everything the United States does overseas is rightous.

No dead American soldiers, no wounded American soldiers, no American coffins arriving at Dover, no press conferences by the Asshole-in-Chief (and even if he did hold them, spineless corporate lackies asking softball questions)

Read the book - Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

This country is headed for fascism.

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. And this is why no foreign nations will come to our rescue

with anything more than a token force. We are alone.

[daleo]

5. This seemed rather telling:

"Mr Bremer and his colleagues are now in a state of denial. In the days before the fall of Saddam the Iraqi Information Minister, swiftly nicknamed "Comical Ali", was derided internationally as he insisted that US troops had not captured Baghdad International Airport. On Friday US commanders in Iraq were sending poorly defended convoys of vulnerable petrol tankers down the road past the airport, ignoring the fact that the surrounding countryside is under the control of guerrillas. Not surprisingly, the convoys were immediately ambushed - yesterday the US admitted that two of its men had been captured and another killed."

It makes you wonder if the re-supply situation is rather desperate for the marines at Fallujah.

A good article - lots about the political situation, fact that the Iraqi police can't be trusted by the coalition, etc.

[dbt]

6. Hello? Earth to CBS? HELLO! Anybody IN there?

Look at this shit, CBS. Do you see how the Brits are doing the job you should be doing? Y'see how they were watching for Viet Nam parallels while you were busy waving the flag with the rest of the bu$h whores?

Hey, CBS! Remember when you were a news operation? Remember how Uncle Walter came right out and told us that Viet Nam was unwinnable? Now, you let British newspapers run rings around your sagging ass because you can't be bothered to DO YOUR FUCKING JOB!

What ever happened to you?

:argh:
dbt

[Snoggera]

8. Dan Rather happened

He cares more about not sounding like a Texan than he does about being a journalist/anchor.

[dbt]

9. But he USED to be a Journalist!

He got right in Nixxon's face back in '74. Ask your grandparents about it; it was wonderful!

Welcome to DU, Snoggera!

:smoke:
dbt

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. Not really. He has tended to lie about certain events...

...like stating that he was an eyewitness to JFK's assassination when he was nowhere close to the scene. But he talked a good game back then, and found himself the White House correspondent for CBS when fellow Texan LBJ took over on November 22, 1963.

He is still lying about the Warren Commission cover-up, and has done at least one TV special explaining how the commission got it right.

[bobbieinok]

23. think he was in Dallas and was the one doing lots of the reporting

[Just Me]

16. Dan has apparently been consumed by that superiority-complex,...

,...which way too many successful fall into.

Where some people gain a strong sense of humanity, others lose theirs to cynicism, arrogance or laziness.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. CBS, like the rest of the mainstream media, was bought by...

...huge rightwing corporations that have been calling the shots for quite a while. If a journalist decides to buck the system, they get thrown out of the system, or reassigned to meaningless reporting jobs in a newsless backwater.

The same huge rightwing corporations thought they had bought control of the country, and by extension, global domination. They're starting to back away from Junior...that's why all of this anti-NeoCon information has been pouring into the mainstream media over the last few months.

[Domitan]

25. Spot on, very spot on!

I don't believe that the mainstream media suddenly came out of denial or found its integrity with their improvement in truth-telling the past while. I predicted more than last year that if Bush was seen as a liability or expendable, those that built him up will tear him down for their own purpose and extension of their agendas.

Yes, it's fun to see Bush and his cronies really sweat it out and see their defeat as a real possibility. However, we have to remain vigilant that the powerbrokers still have their fingers on the puppetstrings, and not give up our fight.

[54anickel]

12. Link isn't up anymore. Did this get pulled? n/t

[Barrett808]

13. Works for me n/t

[54anickel]

17. Got it now, looked like the whole site was down for a bit, none of the

links were accessible. Thanks :hi:

[Just Me]

15. This is quite a damning article,...

,...in so many different ways.

The Neocon administration has damned us.

I hate them for that.

[teryang]

19. "Iraqi nationalism is back in business."

"Even now there are only limited signs that Washington and the CPA understand the extent of the political defeat that they have suffered."

The adults are in charge!

[54anickel]

20. Great 3 part article. I found part 3 the most disturbing. There is still

so much support out there for this war. Thanks for posting the link.
Here's part 3, part 2 is also linked to the right of the article.


http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=510448
Apocalypse now? Part 3: The Home Front
In Middle-America, folks are beginning to worry

snip>
"Iraq will never be that many names," says Sarah's father, Jeff Wells, 47, looking back at the Vietnam Memorial, an angled scar of granite in the ground inscribed with the names of the 58,209 Americans who died in Vietnam.

Jeff was called up for duty in Vietnam but never served; the war ended before he had finished training. He is confident that Iraq will not be a repeat of Vietnam. "We're going in with our eyes open this time. We're there to eliminate terrorism." His wife Carrie, also 47, agrees, "I do think the objective is clearer."

Jeff did not vote for George Bush last time but is thinking of doing so now. He has no difficulty with the mission in Iraq. "I don't want another 9/11," he says. But a few minutes later, he is worrying about how America will extricate herself. "Vietnamisation - the idea of handing over control to the Vietnamese - never worked, and I can't see it working in Iraq either."

snip>

"Vietnam never had a purpose," adds Brad Glosser, 40, who has brought his family from Pittsburgh to look for his father-in-law's name on the wall. "It was aimless. This is an established mission. The backing of the country this time is much greater. I don't think a President will ever let another Vietnam happen."

snip>

On this Easter weekend, there is a relaxed mood among the families sitting on the grass under the cherry blossom soaking up the spring sunshine. A hut near the Vietnam Memorial sells military memorabilia, including a poster saying "terrorist hunting permits available". Most Americans here seem to have no difficulty accepting the idea that the invasion of Iraq was a justified response to 9/11.

Craig Erman, a construction manager from Columbus, Ohio, has just found his brother's name on the Vietnam War Memorial. Asked if he supports the war in Iraq, he replies, "Absolutely. You've got to look at 9/11 and remember what happened." He reveals that one of his employees is in the Marines fighting in Fallujah. "He says they've found so many weapons. I'm sure the weapons of mass destruction are there somewhere - they've just been moved."

[Bridget Burke]

21. "Vietnam never had a purpose" ?

That 40-year-old was a child at the time--guess he doesn't remember The Purpose. We were there to prevent the Commies from taking over, to avoid the Domino Effect that would surely follow. It was just a matter of winning over Hearts & Minds.

Sounds spurious now? Not as spurious as invading Iraq in response to 9/11.

[54anickel]

22. What's that saying about if you do not learn from history, it is bound

to repeat itself?

Very sad commentary on the knowledge of US policy and history among the public these days.

[DemoTex]

24. If the past week in Iraq was the sequel to "The 1968 Tet Offensive"..

Then Falluja played the part of Hue.