Antony Loewenstein

The fragility of the surge is coming to light.

While the surge has been sold as a new strategy, the failings are identical to previous efforts. In the past, the efforts of US forces to establish security have been compared to stepping on a water balloon, which highlights the futility of focusing on hot spots at the expense of others. Well, the pattern appears to be continuing.

Security is deteriorating in southern Iraq as rival Shiite militias vying for power have stepped up their attacks after moving out of Baghdad to avoid U.S.-led military operations, according to the latest quarterly Pentagon report on Iraq released yesterday.

As for the much touted successes of winning over the Sunni tribal chiefs and the heroic efforts of the occupation troops to pursue Al Qaeda, it was revealed today that much of the so-called success comes down to bribes. Not only are US forces arming the Sunni insurgents, but they are dangling dollar bills in front of them to stop them shooting.

Three days later, the assassination of Abu Risha in Ramadi dramatically undercut Bush and Petraeus’ claims of Anbar victory and peacekeeping. But what else is the administration keeping from us about Anbar?

snip…..

Rowley’s report, which includes interviews with candid U.S. soldiers and footage of a military commander handing a Sunni leader a wad of cash, suggests the role of bribery and coercion in building alliances that serve short-term goals in Anbar province, but in the long run deepen a multisided civil war. I talked to Rick Rowley about his report and what he thinks it indicates about Iraq’s future.

As for the dog and pony photo-ops we have been seeing of late, it appears that even those shows may be coming to an end.

The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, amid mounting public outrage over the alleged killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy’s security provider Blackwater USA.

It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.

What is it about the Bush administration that causes it to lie in the face of all evidence that contradicts its fabrications?

The UN nuclear watchdog has protested to the US government over a report on Iran’s nuclear programme, calling it “erroneous” and “misleading”.

In a leaked letter, the IAEA said a congressional report contained serious distortions of the agency’s own findings on Iran’s nuclear activity.

The IAEA also took “strong exception” to claims made over the removal of a senior safeguards inspector.

There was no immediate comment from Washington over the letter.

But Rep Rush Holt, a Democratic member of the House intelligence committee, which released the report, said it had never been meant for release to the public.

“This report was not ready for prime time and it was not prepared in a way that we can rely on. It relied heavily on unclassified testimony,” he told the BBC’s PM programme.

And predictably, the Bush gang appears to committed to pursuing its insane policies in spite of all the warnings as to the consequences of military action.

It’s hard to imagine that if this had been the 25th anniversary of a massacre involving the deaths of 3500 Israelis or Americans, that not a single mention would appear in any Western newspaper.

At this point, General Amir Drori telephoned Ariel Sharon and announced, “Our friends are advancing into the camps. We have co-ordinated their entry.” To which Sharon replied, “Congratulations! Our friends’ operation is approved.”[11]

For the next 40 hours the Phalangist militia raped, killed, and injured a large number of unarmed civilians, mostly children, women and elderly people inside the “encircled and sealed” camps. These actions, accompanied or followed by systematic roundups, backed or reinforced by the Israeli army, resulted in dozens of disappearances.

The Israeli army had full knowledge of what was going on in the camps right up until the morning of Saturday 18 September 1982, and its leaders were in continuous contact with the militia leaders who perpetrated the massacre. Yet they never intervened. Instead, they prevented civilians from escaping the camps and arranged for the camps to be illuminated throughout the night by flares launched into the sky from helicopters and mortars.

The count of victims varies between 700 (the official Israeli figure) and 3,500 (in the inquiry launched by the Israeli journalist Amnon Kapeliouk). The exact figure can never be determined because, in addition to the approximately 1,000 people who were buried in communal graves by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) or in the cemeteries of Beirut by members of their families, a large number of corpses were buried beneath bulldozed buildings by the militia members themselves. Also, particularly on 17 and 18 September, hundreds of people were carried away alive in trucks towards unknown destinations, never to return.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Israel’s current account surplus in its balance of payments widened to $1.96 billion in the second quarter of 2007 from $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2007, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.

(in millions of dollars)

Q2 07 Q1 07* Q2 06*
Exports of goods/svcs 17,205 16,645 16,217
Imports of goods/svcs 17,620 16,768 15,541
Net Current Transfers 1,952 1,688 1,666
Balance + 1,957 + 1,335 + 1,980
Note – Data are seasonally adjusted.

– The bureau said Israel’s current account surplus narrowed to $3.3 billion in the first half of 2007 from $4.2 billion in the second half of 2006.

Meanwhile as far back as 2005, the US trade deficit reached a a record-breaking $805 billion. Of course, by now it’s much larger.

So, this raises the question: why – if Israel’s economy is in such good shape and ours is in such bad shape – does our government keep giving them billions upon billions of our tax dollars???

Do you really want to KNOW?

Or is it too hot for you to handle?

Even eight mentions of the name of David Petraeus during Bush’s last speech weren’t enough to convince the American public. Only 35% of Americans believe St. David.

And who can blame them?

From CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer: Republican Senator Cornyn was asked to respond to a comment from fellow Republican Senator Chuck Hagel. Senator Hagel strongly criticized President Bush’s Iraq policy, going so far as to call it a “dirty trick.”

It’s time Bush realised the public is sick and tired of being insulted.

From the Washington Monthly

AQI AGAIN?….U.S. military officials say they’ve captured the man who murdered sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha last Thursday:

During a raid of three buildings west of Balad on Saturday, U.S. soldiers captured Fallah Khalifa Hiyas Fayyas al-Jumayli, also known as Abu Khamis, a man described in a military statement as “closely allied with senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders in the region.”

Look, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if AQI was responsible for Risha’s murder. But am I the only one who finds this statement to be disturbingly weasel-worded? “Closely allied” with AQI “leaders in the region”? I imagine that’s something you could say about most of the Sunni extremists in Anbar province.

Was AQI really involved with the murder, or is this just another strained attempt to somehow mention “al-Qaeda” in a high-profile case? Straight answers, please.

Once again, Israel demonstrate their contempt for diplomacy, even when it involves those that gave them unconditional support and devotion.

Israel has refused to authorise a meeting between Tony Blair and a senior human rights activist from Gaza, effectively snubbing the former prime minister in his new role as international envoy to the Palestinians.

Israel’s prime minister Ehud Olmert had promised publicly that his government would provide “all necessary assistance” to the Blair mission.

But the refusal indicates a lower level of co-operation from Israel as Mr Blair spearheads international efforts to develop Palestinian statehood.

Bear in mind that Blair’s new position was created by Bush, thus this snub is aimed at both leaders.

Life is definitely better for Iraqis now than under Saddam.

Every month in Iraq hundreds of victims are struck down by sectarian violence or massive bombing campaigns, and a small band of volunteers has taken it upon themselves to give the unclaimed dead a proper burial.

“We’ve been doing this for 20 years, under Saddam, but the numbers have increased, as have the difficulties,” Sheik Jamal al-Sudani, who leads the volunteers, tells CNN correspondent Michael Ware. “Because now it is as if the streets are flowing with blood.”

One only wonders how the Iraqi people will ever be able to thank the American people to Bush’s satisfaction?

Alan Greenspan tells us what we already knew.

AMERICA’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.

“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.”

Interesting how it was something everyone knew, but no one dared to acknowledge.

It seems MoveOn.org are not the only ones who question the integrity of Petraeus. Centcom Chief Adm. William Fallon has a less than flattering opinion of the man.

Fallon told Petraeus [in March] that he considered him to be “an ass-kissing little chickensh*t” and added, “I hate people like that”, the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior.

Based on Fallon’s description, Petraeus has all the makings of a US president.

Sabah Khadim, then a senior adviser at Iraq’s Interior Ministry, says General Petraeus discussed with him his ambition when the general was head of training and recruitment of the Iraqi army in 2004-05.

“I asked him if he was planning to run in 2008 and he said, ‘No, that would be too soon’,” Mr Khadim, who now lives in London, said.

If George Bush is anything to go by, Petraeus is a shoe-in.

Listening to the pundits on Fox News, you have to wonder what bubbles they reside in when they are not lying through their teeth. Because Germany is not agreeing to participate in economic sanctions against Iran, Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney argues that the only course of action left is to bomb Iran.

“Since Germany has backed out of helping economically, we do not have any other choice. … They’ve forced us into the military option.”

He goes on.

I think the option should initially be tit-for-tat,” McInerney went on. “For every explosively formed projectile from Iran that goes off in Iraq, two go off in Iran, no questions asked.”

So is the attack on Iran about Iran’s so called nuclear weapons program, or is it about attacks on US forces inside Iraq? A subtlety that McInerney apparently fails to comprehend.

McInerney is also convinced that air strikes alone would be another “cake walk”, oblivious to the fact that US forces have been bombing Iraq and Afghanistan for 5 years and still haven’t finished whatever it is they are trying to achieve.

“The one I favor the most, of course, is an air campaign,” he continued. “Forty-eight hours duration, hitting 2500 aimed points to take out their nuclear facilities, their air defense facilities, their air force, their navy, their Shahab-3 retaliatory missiles, and finally their command and control. And then let the Iranian people take their country back.”

McInerney described such a bombing campaign as “easy” and spoke enthusiastically of the weaponry involved, including “a new massive ordnance penetrator that’s 30,000 pounds, that really penetrates … Ahmadinejad has nothing in Iran that we can’t penetrate.”

I wonder if the 48 hours prediction will be as accurate as Rumsfeld’s “It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months” prediction?