Peacenik thought this report by Patrick Cockburn was kind of benign. It documents the travails and travesties of the Iraq war but there doesn't seem to be a sense of outrage. Sort of, "oh well, that's done, on to the next adventure." Peacenik doesn't have the same sense that things are 'winding down".
What about all the war crimes, past present and future. And whose responsibility is it to help Iraq achieve some sort of functionality? Peacenik thinks any U.S. person in Iraq, or British, won't be feeling comfortable for a very long time. Peacenik doubts that the Sunnis won't be settling scores for a very long time. And Peacenik says again: Prosecute the war criminals.
Next week, US troops will begin to pull out of Iraq. Where does that leave the country's people, who are still reeling from decades of war? In Baghdad, Patrick Cockburn finds a nation facing drought, sectarian conflict and the scramble for oil riches.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
On 30 June the last US troops will pull out of the Iraqi cities. America's great adventure in Iraq is ending. Already there are few US military patrols in Baghdad. The American-held area of the Green Zone, for long a forbidden city in the middle of the capital, has been squeezed in size. The hotel that Baghdad taxi drivers fondly believed was the headquarters of the CIA has removed the concrete wall protecting it and reopened for public business. The knowledge that all US military forces will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011 immediately reduces American influence in Iraq. No Iraqi wants to nail his flag to the mast of a departing ship, which is one reason why Washington for so long resisted setting a timetable for a US troop withdrawal.
Read on...
What about all the war crimes, past present and future. And whose responsibility is it to help Iraq achieve some sort of functionality? Peacenik thinks any U.S. person in Iraq, or British, won't be feeling comfortable for a very long time. Peacenik doubts that the Sunnis won't be settling scores for a very long time. And Peacenik says again: Prosecute the war criminals.
Next week, US troops will begin to pull out of Iraq. Where does that leave the country's people, who are still reeling from decades of war? In Baghdad, Patrick Cockburn finds a nation facing drought, sectarian conflict and the scramble for oil riches.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
On 30 June the last US troops will pull out of the Iraqi cities. America's great adventure in Iraq is ending. Already there are few US military patrols in Baghdad. The American-held area of the Green Zone, for long a forbidden city in the middle of the capital, has been squeezed in size. The hotel that Baghdad taxi drivers fondly believed was the headquarters of the CIA has removed the concrete wall protecting it and reopened for public business. The knowledge that all US military forces will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011 immediately reduces American influence in Iraq. No Iraqi wants to nail his flag to the mast of a departing ship, which is one reason why Washington for so long resisted setting a timetable for a US troop withdrawal.
Read on...
