""British forces evacuated the military headquarters without coordination with the Iraqi forces," Dhaffar Jabbar, spokesman for the Maysan governor, told Reuters on Thursday, as looters began moving into the camp in the wake of the British withdrawal. A unit of Iraqi government troops mutinied when told to keep order at the base - and instead attacked a military post of their own army"
And last month, US troops began withdrawing from the countryside to Saigon, er, Baghdad, no historical parallel to Vietnam intended, or perceived, of course. Another info dyke about to break is the notion that Iraq is still merely "almost" in a state of civil war. More than a hundred Iraqis have been dying every day for a very long time, but as long as the key word "almost" can be inferred from deleting that from our media in general, the US can still be trapped in a quagmire on the pretense that we are refereeing to prevent civil war and "descent into chaos". Today, Washington Post carried a front page article the title of which retreated to that redoubt as last bastion of barracks mentality. US propaganda has now officially retreated to the position that the ONLY REASON the US is still in Iraq is to apply our hard meddling noses to assert the drag of friction on the accelerating flywheel of civil war, to "resist", no longer to "prevent", civil war and "descent into chaos". No historical parallel to Vietnam intended or perceived, rest assured. "Don Rumsfeld is fond of historical analogies when pontificating about Iraq". How about The Error of McNamara's Body Count? How about Losing The Political Side Of The War? How about Global Policeman(Iraq wmd and Iraq 911 and Iran nuke concerns and Lebanese Hezbollah civilian reprisals to effect disarmament)? Still "killing the water" after four generations of Bush Hitlerism, you assinine blood dripping profiteering warmonger morons from hell? -Bob D --- In cia-drugs@yahoogroups.com, RoadsEnd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Begin forwarded message: > > > From: "Alamaine, IVe" [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Date: September 1, 2006 12:03:55 AM PDT > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: [ctrl] Goats and Hussars > > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/083106A.shtml > > Goats and Hussars: A British Harbinger of American Defeat > > By Chris Floyd, TO UK Correspondant > > t r u t h o u t | Perspective > > > > Thursday 31 August 2006 > > > > Don Rumsfeld is fond of historical analogies when pontificating about > > Iraq; he particularly favors comparisons to the Nazi era and the > > Allied > > occupation of Germany after World War II. Unfortunately, any historian > > will tell you that Rummy's parallels are invariably false, even > > ludicrous. So we thought we'd give the beleaguered Pentagon warlord a > > more accurate and telling analogy to chew on. > > > > Try this one, Don. Imagine that British occupation troops in, say, > > Hanover, had been forced to abandon a major base, under fire, and > > retreat > > into guerrilla operations in the Black Forest - in 1948, three years > > after the fall of the Nazi regime. And that as soon as the Brits made > > their undignified bug-out, the base had been devoured by looters while > > the local, Allies-backed authorities simply melted away and an > > extremist, > > virulently anti-Western militia moved into the power vacuum. > > > > What would they have called that, Don? "Measurable progress on the > > road to democracy?" "Another achieved metric of our highly successful > > post-war plan?" Or would they have said, back in those more plain- > > spoken, > > Harry Truman days, that it was "a major defeat, a humiliating > > strategic > > reversal, foreshadowing a far greater disaster?" > > > > You'd have to wait a long time - perhaps to the end of the "Long War" > > - to get a straight answer from Rumsfeld on that one, but this precise > > scenario, transposed from Lower Saxony to Maysan province, unfolded in > > Iraq last week, when British forces abandoned their base at Abu > > Naji and > > disappeared into the desert wastes and marshes along the Iranian > > border. > > The move was largely ignored by the American media, but the > > implications > > are enormous. The UK contingent of the invading coalition has > > always been > > the proverbial canary in the mine shaft: if they can't make a go of > > things in what we've long been told is the "secure south," where > > friendly > > Shiites hold absolute sway, then the entire misbegotten Bush-Blair > > enterprise is well and truly FUBAR. > > > > The Queen's Royal Hussars, 1,200-strong, abruptly decamped from the > > three-year-old base last Thursday after taking constant mortar and > > missile fire for months from those same friendly Shiites. The move was > > touted as part of a long-planned, eventual turnover of security in the > > region to the Coalition-backed Iraqi central government, but there was > > just one problem: the Brits forgot to tell the Iraqis they were > > checking > > out early - and in a hurry. > > > > "British forces evacuated the military headquarters without > > coordination with the Iraqi forces," Dhaffar Jabbar, spokesman for the > > Maysan governor, told Reuters on Thursday, as looters began moving > > into > > the camp in the wake of the British withdrawal. A unit of Iraqi > > government troops mutinied when told to keep order at the base - and > > instead attacked a military post of their own army. By Friday, the > > locals > > had torn the place to pieces, carting away more than $500,000 worth of > > equipment and fixtures that the British had left behind. After that > > initial, ineffectual show of force, the Iraqi "authorities" stepped > > aside > > and watched helplessly as the looters taunted them and cheered the > > "great > > victory" over the Western invaders. > > > > The largely notional - if not fictional - power of the Baghdad > > central government simply vanished while the forces of hardline cleric > > Moqtada al-Sadr, which already controls the local government, stepped > > forward to proclaim its triumph and guide the victory celebrations > > in the > > nearby provincial capital, Amarah. "This is the first city that has > > kicked out the occupier!" blared Sadr-supplied loudspeakers to streets > > filled with revelers, as the Washington Post noted in a solid - but > > deeply buried - story on the retreat. > > > > British officials were understandably a bit sniffy about the > > humiliation. First, they denied there was any problem with the > > handover > > at all: the Iraqis had been notified (a whole 24 hours in advance, > > apparently), the exchange of authority was brisk and efficient, and > > the > > Iraqis had "secured the base," military spokesman Major Charlie > > Burbridge > > insisted to AP. But when reports of the looting at Abu Naji began > > pouring > > in, British officers simply washed their hands of the nasty > > business. The > > camp was now "the property of the Maysan authorities and Iraqi Forces > > [are] in attendance," said Burbridge; therefore, Her Majesty's > > military > > would have no more comment on the matter. In this casual - not to > > mention > > callous - dismissal of the chaos spawned in wake of the Hussars' > > departure, we can see in miniature the philosophy now being writ large > > across the country in the Bush administration's "Iraqization" > > policy: "We > > broke it; you fix it." > > > > And where are Her Majesty's Hussars now? Six hundred of them have > > dispersed into guerrilla bands in the wilderness, where they will > > survive > > on helicopter drops of supplies while they patrol the Iranian > > border. The > > ostensible reason behind this extraordinary operation is two-fold, > > said > > the doughty Burbridge: first, to find out if the Bush > > administration is > > up to its usual mendacious hijinks in claiming that the evildoers > > in Iran > > are fuelling the insurgency among the happily liberated Iraqi > > people; and > > second, to do a little more of that Iraqization window dressing before > > finally getting the hell out of Dodge completely, beginning > > sometime next > > year, according to reports across the UK media spectrum. > > > > Of course, the good major didn't put it quite like that. "The > > Americans believe there is an inflow of IEDs and weapons across the > > border with Iran," he told the Post. "Our first objective is to go and > > find out if that is the case. If that is true, we'll be able to > > disrupt > > the flow." The second aim is training Iraqi border guards, he added. > > > > Yes, a few hundred men wandering through the wasteland, dependent on > > air-dropped rations, will certainly be able to seal off an almost 300- > > mile border riddled with centuries-old smuggling routes. And modern- > > day > > Desert Rats rolling up in bristling Land Rovers to isolated villages > > where Shiite clans span both borders will no doubt be gathering a > > lot of > > actionable intelligence from the locals. And of course it is much > > easier > > to "train Iraqi border guards" on the fly in the wild than at a long- > > established base with full amenities and, er, training facilities. > > > > In other words, the British move makes no sense - if you accept the > > official spin at face value, i.e., that it's an act of careful > > deliberation aimed at furthering the Coalition's stated goals of a > > free, > > secure, democratic Iraq. But those in the reality-based community will > > see it for what it is: a panicky, patchwork reaction to events and > > forces > > far beyond the Coalition's intentions or control. > > > > The other six hundred Hussars driven out of Abu Naji have retreated > > to the main British camp at Basra - another "safe" city that has now > > degenerated into a level of violence approaching the hellish chaos of > > Baghdad, the Independent reports. British troops who once walked the > > streets freely, lightly armed, wearing red berets instead of > > helmets, are > > now largely confined to the base, except for excursions to help Iraqi > > government forces in pitched battles against the Shiite militias that > > control the city. Harsh religious rule has long descended on the once > > freewheeling port city, again presaging the sectarian darkness now > > settling heavily across Baghdad. > > > > Just a few months ago, the UK's Ministry of Defence was churning out > > "good news" PR stories about life at Abu Naji - such as the whimsical > > tale of the troop's pet goat, Ben, a lovable rogue always getting into > > scrapes with the regiment's crusty sergeant major, even though the > > soldiers "knew he had a soft spot for Ben." The goat, we were told, > > had > > enjoyed visits from such distinguished guests as the Iraqi prime > > minister > > and the Duke of Kent. Now this supposed oasis of British power has > > been > > destroyed, with the Coalition-trained Iraqi troops meant to secure it > > either fading into the shadows or actively joining in with the > > rampaging > > crowds and extremist militias. Meanwhile, the Hussars are reducing to > > roaming the countryside on vague, pointless, impossible missions, > > killing > > time, killing people - and being killed - until the inevitable > > collapse > > of the whole shebang. > > > > The goat is gone. The canary is dying. The surrender and sack of Abu > > Naji is a preview of what's to come, on a much larger scale of > > death and > > chaos, as the bloodsoaked folly of Bush and Blair's war howls > > toward its > > miserable end. > > > > -------- > > > > Chris Floyd is an American journalist. His work has appeared in print > > and online in venues all over the world, including The Nation, > > CounterPunch, Columbia Journalism Review, the Christian Science > > Monitor, > > Il Manifesto, the Moscow Times and many others. He is the author of > > Empire Burlesque: High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Imperium, > > and is > > co-founder and editor of the "Empire Burlesque" political blog. He > > can be > > reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Alamaine, IVe > > Grand Forks, ND, US of A > > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > > "All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a > > philosopher." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) > > > > Don't ask about caste or riches but instead ask about conduct. Look > > at the flames of a fire. Where do they come from? From a piece of > > wood"and it doesn't matter what wood. In the same way, a wise > > person can come from wood of any sort. It is through firmness and > > restraint and a sense of truth that one becomes noble, not through > > caste. -Sutta Nipata > > ~~~~~~~ > > In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this > > site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior > > interest in receiving the included information for research and > > educational purposes. > > > > > > > Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! 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