Opinion Editorials, November 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
Policies of invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan
Charles A Beers
Al-Jazeerah, 11/27/03*
The Editor of the Dayton Daily News, Dayton, Ohio Our ill conceived attacks and occupation policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are failing. According to your Dayton Daily News headline story on Sunday --October 19, 2003-- titled "Study foresaw troubles in Iraq", Pentagon officials ignored an important State Department report that predicted many of the problems that have plaqued the American-led occupation of Iraq. How many important reports like this and the ones warning of 9-11 can we afford to let go by unaccounted for by this administration? Bush is telling regional media that the situation in Iraq is "a lot better than you probably think."??? In Afghanistan (outside Kabul) the Taliban are back, women are still treated badly, drug trade is flourishing and Bin laden is still around. More troops are dying every day along with innocent Iraqi and Afghan civilians. Some reports from outside of the reach of censoring main-stream US media state that many Iraqis think life was better under Hussein. Higher than normal rates of suicide by US troops is a grim indicator. Reservists who signed up to guard airports have now been in Iraq for six months with no hopes of returning home soon and a major U.S. task force is predicted to be in Iraq till at least 2006 -- in part because even our close allies won't send troops to Iraq. The United Nations has pulled its staff out of Iraq due to the big security risks and lack of US security help... no wonder since our own troops can barely defend themselves. Unemployment in Iraq is over 70% and getting worse at home. (Associated Press, 10/15/2003)
The new U.N. resolution have little lasting effect. As Reuters reported: "In a joint statement, France, Russia and Germany said the resolution should have gone further in expanding the political role of the United Nations and accelerating the transfer of power to Iraq. 'In that context, the conditions are not created for us to envisage any military commitment and no further financial contributions beyond our present engagement.' they said... Pakistan, considered a top candidate for sending soldiers, declined to do so, saying the new multinational force created under the resolution was not distinct enough from occupation troops." (Reuters, 10/17/2003)
We desperately need a change of course and a change of teams. Bush is unwilling to make the drastic change necessary to salvage the deteriorating operations in Iraq. His intransigence is putting our international reputation, our national security, and the safety of our troops at stake. President Select Bush must admit the failure of the arrogant go-it-alone approach and hire a new foreign policy team that's willing to work with the international community... or have the courage to resign the Presidency to better leadership before the US becomes the "Lone Star" Nation led by an outlaw from the Lone Star State of Texas.
There is no emergency need for the $87 billion requested to dig a deeper hole in Iraq. The Congressional Research Service issued a report yesterday showing that the funding bills already passed provide enough funding to continue the occupation of Iraq and protect the troops until spring of next year. Congress could have taken the time to properly debate and analyze the request, but Congressional Republicans wanted to rush the request through in order to limit the political damage. (Congressional Research Service, 10/15/2003)
Iraq contracts are "imbedded" with waste and crony capitalism. Halliburton, the firm Vice President Dick Cheney led in the 1990s that continued business with Saddam Hussein up to 1998, is receiving billions of dollars in contracts. According to the two lawmakers, Halliburton has charged the government $1.62 to $1.70 a gallon for gasoline that could be bought wholesale in the Persian Gulf region for about 71 cents and transported to Iraq for no more than 25 cents. This stinks of corruption! Meanwhile, local Iraqi businesses are shunned, and other contractors whose bids are lower are being ignored. U.S. companies are charging taxpayers exorbitant rates for reconstruction -- $50,000 per bed, for example, for new Iraqi prisons, which is more than twice what we pay on average here. (Salon, 10/16/2003)
Troops are demoralized. According to the Washington Post: "A broad survey of U.S. troops in Iraq by a Pentagon-funded newspaper found that half of those questioned described their unit's morale as low and their training as insufficient, and said they do not plan to reenlist. The survey, conducted by the Stars and Stripes newspaper, also recorded about a third of the respondents complaining that their mission lacks clear definition and characterizing the war in Iraq as of little or no value. Fully 40 percent said the jobs they were doing had little or nothing to do with their training." (Washington Post, 10/15/2003)
The invasion and occupation of Iraq has increased the danger of terrorism. Reuters reports: "War in Iraq has swollen the ranks of al Qaeda and galvanized the Islamic militant group's will, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said on Wednesday in its annual report." (Reuters, 10/15/2003)
"If we keep trying to get an eye for an eye, we'll all go blind!"
* Editor's Note: This article was first sent to the Dayton Daily News, Dayton, Ohio on October 19, 2003. The author sent it to Al-Jazeerah on November 25, 2003. It is published despite the time lapse because it is as valid today as was valid more than a month ago.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03). |
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