Inside Iraq - alternative views from some fine writers

[dutchdemocrat]

Letter from Baghdad: The Progress of Disaster

SNIP

"In the center of this sprawling war zone is a clean and air-conditioned oasis, the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters. Situated in one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces—a huge complex of high-modernist trophy architecture—the CPA is where L. Paul Bremer III and his army of freshly minted MBAs brainstorm on vital topics like competitive bidding and privatization. Somewhere else in this fortress sits the Coalition’s handpicked Interim Governing Council of Iraq.

Every afternoon at 3:00, the CPA’s spin-doctors address the press in a large auditorium. In Vietnam style, we call these confabs “the follies.” The ritual begins with a slew of statistics about the “good progress” being made. But the numbers are often mumbled like a Latin mass, and one begins to feel that the driving force here is faith, not reason or planning.

“In the last 24 hours, coalition forces have detained 149 individuals, conducted over 1,000 patrols and 20 raids.” The pale and pudgy Col. Shields is presiding today. “We have confiscated 110 diesel-smuggling tanker trucks, and destroyed more than 20 IEDs . Coalition forces completed four civic action projects in the Basra area and …” On and on it goes until the colonel gets stuck on the word adjudicated."

SNIP


http://www.countercurrents.org/iraq.htm

[papau]

1. Salem Pax - the Baghdad architect -says security is worse than a month ago

His blog continues - and the Guardian and BBC interview and publish his thoughts - but the American media ignore him as his facts on the ground do not fit the Bush/US Media story line that things are improving in Iraq and all we need is another $100 billion and a "few" years and this should not be a Dem 04 election issue unless the Dems are not patriotic and do not care abour terrorism and want Saddam back (you media types pick your strawman and have fun as you ignore that all Dems are happy Saddam is gone, and all see the need to get Iraq stable)