http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/083106A.shtml
Goats and Hussars: A British Harbinger of American Defeat
By Chris Floyd, TO UK Correspondant
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]
***
Contact: Marianna Gatto
(213) 485-8432
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
L.A. 225: Los Angeles through the Eyes of Artists
EXHIBIT EXPLORES ARTISTS' VISIONS OF LOS ANGELES
FOR THE CITY'S 225TH BIRTHDAY
LOS ANGELES - From September 1 to October 16, 2006, in commemoration of the
City of Los Angeles' 225th birthday, El Pueblo Historical Monument will
present
L.A. 225: LOS ANGELES THROUGH THE EYES OF ARTISTS. L.A. 225 is a free
exhibit that explores artists' perceptions of the cultural, political,
social, historical and geographical character of Los Angeles.
The exhibition features the work of such artists as Barbara Carrasco, Robbie
Conal, Ricardo Duffy, George Evans, Victor Gastelum, Clement Hanami, Leo
Limon, Sandra Low, Dominique Moody, Jose Montoya, Frank Romero, Lola
Scarpitta, Richard Wyatt and is curated by Marianna Gatto and Shervin
Shahbazi. A complete list of participating artists is available upon
request. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 9, 2006
from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at the Pico House Gallery at El Pueblo Historical
Monument, 424 North Main Street, Los Angeles, 90012.
About El Pueblo Historical Monument
El Pueblo Historical Monument is the oldest section of Los Angeles and is
the site where the City was first established in 1781. The forty-four acre
park consists of numerous historic buildings, museums, a beautiful outdoor
plaza and the world famous Mexican marketplace on Olvera Street. The
Monument represents the rich history, culture and ethnic diversity that is
the foundation of the City of Los Angeles.
Calendar Editors Please Note:
What: "L.A. 225" is an exhibition of artwork that explores artists' visions
of Los Angeles. It is presented by El Pueblo Historical Monument.
Where: Pico House Gallery at El Pueblo Historical Monument.
When: September 1 to October 16, 2006.
Free Public Programs:
Walk to Los Angeles
Retrace Los Angeles founders' footsteps! Join the Walk to LA from San
Gabriel Mission to the Plaza at El Pueblo Historical Monument. (The event is
free and everyone is welcome!) 7:00 a.m., Monday, September 4, 2006 San
Gabriel Mission 428 S. Mission Avenue, San Gabriel CA 91776-1299 To register
visit: http://www.lacity.org/225/225_walk.htm
L.A. 225 Opening Reception:
Pico House Gallery, Saturday, September 9, 2006; 6:00-9:00 p.m. Live music.
Free.
Film Screening:
Phillip Rodriguez's evocative documentary, "Los Angeles Now." Pico House
Gallery Courtyard, Friday, October 6, 7:30 PM. Pico House Gallery will be
open extended hours on the evening of the screening from 4-7:30 PM. Free.
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