Gyroscope

The new book by Josh Rushing

I admit that I admire Rushing. From his first appearance in the movie Control Room through the last page of this book he is unfailingly calm, reasonable and even handed; not something we have a surplus of these days. His personal journey is compelling, but his mission: to break down barriers of misunderstanding between Americans and the world confident that most people everywhere want to live in peace is one I strongly believe in.

The book mirrors this. He recounts his personal story, his upbringing, his career in the Marines, his frustration with the political appointees who shaped relations with the media during the early days of the Iraq war and his transition out of the Marines due to their distaste with his appearance in Control Room. By the way, he explains that almost all of the film of him in that movie comes from one interview, and doesn’t really reflect an arc of growth over a period of time.

My only frustration with the book is that because he so calm, that he doesn’t provide many of the juicy details I was hoping for. Some are there, and my favorites are the stories of the arch-conservative spokespeople who orate against the evil of Al Jazera and then accept money from it for interviews. But even then he can’t bring himself to indulge in inflated rhetoric and violent denunciations. Probably a good thing.

Most of the book is given to him arguing his case for increased and open interaction with the Arab world and the key role that interacting with Al Jazera could play in that. He points out that, by one survey, Al Jazera is the number one media brand in the world. He defends the network against some common distortions (it has never, not once, shown a beheading, for example) and reminds readers that Al Jazera has been thrown out of most of the Arab world for its honest reporting.

One of the interesting ironies is that Israel is more open about interacting with Al Jazera than is American media. Israeli government spokespeople appear on the network regularly; American’s refuse.

Rushing’s vision of the world is hopeful and compelling. His tag line on the book is reflected on every page: “Build a bridge, seek the truth, change the world.”

Posted by John Nordin at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shouldn’t this be news?

The parliament today passed a binding resolution that will guarantee lawmakers an opportunity to block the extension of the UN mandate under which coalition troops now remain in Iraq when it comes up for renewal in December.

As quoted in Crooks and Liars.

A few sites are mentioning this, but it’s not getting much play. The resolution may be vetoed.

Posted by John Nordin at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As some are finally beginning to see, George Bush does indeed have a plan to end his involvement in the Iraq war: he’s going to let his successor deal with it.

You can see that in the constantly vague pronouncements about an ever shifting objective for ending the war: “victory” (over what? who will surrender?) “staying the course” (what is the course?) and so on. Objectives that have no measurable component other than the useful quality of always being in the future.

But the clearest evidence for the stalling tactic is that now the “surge” is being spun out to last longer and longer. It was supposed to be over by summer, remember? Well, it turns out it hasn’t even really begun yet. Oh no, it will be months until we can begin to fairly assess how it works. Months that take us closer to the time bell running out the current administration.

The administration and its water-carriers have been effective in coming up with reasons for why criticism of the war is out of bounds. The cry of “treason” and of “defeat-o-crats” have been used, but now, with the surge, they have a whole new set of excuses. To criticize them now is “premature” – no, the four years of disaster are but prelude, this time its really going to work and you have to be quiet until it does. And of course, the surge has ‘changed everything’ so all the reasons and arguments you had about Iraq last year have to be discarded else you be accused of being out of date.

But lets call this strategy what it is: spineless, gutless, self-obsessed morally degenerate opportunism that thinks it better that a few hundred young American men and women and a few thousand Iraqi’s die than to have to face up to ending the war. In order to cling to temporary political survival, the Republicans think it just fine to go on blowing up a nation. There are few words equal to describing this immorality.

Bush and his minions have it figured out: a Democrat takes over in 2008, ends the war. In the short run, more chaos. Fellow travelers in the press suddenly take an interest in Iraq civilian casualties, a topic they have not much noted in the last four years. Many sad stories of abandoned Iraqi army units that were, amazingly, just on the verge of becoming effective. Republicans jump up and down yelling “cut and run.” Pundit hacks write gravely of the Democratic inability to possess the needed tough-mindedness to handle the adult decisions of national security.

And of course, all that aided and abetted by the ongoing inability of Democrats to formulate a coherent argument and an effective media campaign.

In other words, as bankrupt as the Bush strategy is for Iraq, it just might work for the Republicans.

Posted by John Nordin at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following is from a conservative, a neo-conservative even (Fred Kagen, the AEI report that justifies the surge.

The United States currently has approximately 140,000 troops in Iraq, including about 70,000 in thirteen Army Brigade Combat Teams and two Marine Regimental Combat Teams (RCTs—the Marines’ slightly smaller equivalent of brigades). Of the remaining 70,000 soldiers, many are engaged in the enormous task of providing supplies to coalition soldiers and to the 134,000 soldiers in the Iraqi Army, who are almost entirely dependent on American logistics to survive and operate. A large number of American troops are engaged in securing the long lines of communication from Kuwait to Baghdad (600 miles) and from there to U.S. forward operating bases (FOBs) around the country. Around 6,000 soldiers are now involved in training Iraqi Army and police units as well.

In other words, according to the optimists, the chose-victory crowd, the Iraqi Army depends on us for supplies. Amazing. They can't even feed themselves, let alown secure anything.

Thanks to the Belgravia Dispatch for this link.

Posted by John Nordin at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

... provide means to deal with real grievances; commit sufficient troops; isolate the conflict area; display rectitude toward civilians and prisoners; emphasize intelligence; disrupt the insurgents’ food supplied; and divide the leaders from the followers

Those words, from a review of Anthony James Joes’ Resisting Rebellion: The History and Politics of Counterinsurgency go some way to explaining why the troop surge, now contemplated for Iraq, will not work, and provide further confirmation of the cluelessness of the Democrats.

So we apparently are planning to send 20-30 thousand more troops to Iraq to “get things under control”, “stabilize the situation”, “suppress the insurgency in Baghdad” or similar noble sounding words. Of course, we don’t know where that number came from, we have an idea that even the generals on the ground don’t want it, and, I’m not even sure we’ve heard a plan for what these troops are going to do, have we?

I fear that what they will do is what we have expected them to do in the past: “show the flag”, “send a message”, “convey resolve” and the like. All things which only work if those opposed to our toops agree to let them work. And we already know that the Iraq insurgency has long since gotten over any intimidation factor our soldiers conveyed.

So what we are left with is power: our solders can be ordered to blow things up, to kill people, to use force. And what continues to escape almost everyone is that force is not what you need to defeat an insurgency. See the quote at the top. We need those things, and no one is talking about them.

So the troop surge will replicate in miniature the failure of the war in general: military success followed by strategic failure. We will see more heroic video of our young men and women on patrol, covered in protective gear and armed with an amazing amount of firepower. And we will still not grasp that none of this is the point.

Apparently there is some seasonal lull in violence about this time of year. So the surge will coincide with that lull, the administration will claim success, the media will fall in line, the Democrats will suck their thumbs and cry.

And it will have solved nothing in Iraq.

Posted by John Nordin at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, yes, things are so much different in Iraq than the picture of slow deterioration portrayed in our media. Why it’s …. worse.

Listen to Baghdad Burning, a prize-winning blog by a woman in Iraq

The electricity came at 6 pm for only twenty minutes- as if to taunt us. The moment the lights flickered on, we were gathered in the kitchen and we could hear the neighborhood children began to hoot and holler with joy.

Before that, we heard the news about the dozens abducted from the Salhiya area in Baghdad. Salhiya is a busy area where many travel agencies have offices. It has been particularly busy since the war because people who want to leave to Jordan and Syria all make their reservations from one office or another in that area.

According to people working and living in the area, around 15 police cars pulled up to the area and uniformed men began pulling civilians off the streets and from cars, throwing bags over their heads and herding them into the cars. Anyone who tried to object was either beaten or pulled into a car. The total number of people taken away is estimated to be around 50.

This has been happening all over Iraq- mysterious men from the Ministry of Interior rounding up civilians and taking them away.

There is more, and worse.

Continue reading "The news from Iraq the media doesn’t print" »

Posted by John Nordin at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anthony Cordesman
Center for Strategic and International Studies
“The Iraq War and Lessons for Counterinsurgency”, March 16, 2006

Cordesman has been publishing papers on the Iraq war as it has progressed. He sometimes appears on the PBS News hour as a guest speaking on military affairs.

He observes that insurgent attacks are concentrated in four Iraq’s 18 provinces. These four, however, contain 43% of the population. The most rural provinces are comparatively quiet. So insurgency is concentrated in certain areas, but these are the key areas (including Baghdad). The Republican claim that “most of the country is calm” is true geographically, but not really the point.

Cordesman observes that economic reconstruction is not going well. Oil production is still below pre-war levels - and prewar Iraq was under sanctions. There has been about $20 billion spent on reconstruction and we have almost nothing to show for it. It’s true that lots of new schools have been built, but he points out that counts of new schools, etc. are irrelevant if they aren’t equipped and aren’t used, which is often the case. So much for another talking point about how the “good news is never reported.”

Continue reading "Cordesman on Iraq" »

Posted by John Nordin at 09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has blown off the president of the United States. Bush sent Sistani a letter asking him to intervene to help end the gridlock in the formation of a new Iraqi government. Asked about his response, an aide said that Sistani had not opened the letter and had put it aside in his office.

So reports Informed Comment

Posted by John Nordin at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)