Secretary of State Rice and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
In Baghdad, Jan. 15. Could her
newfound optimism is misplaced?
Azzaman, Iraq
Rice's
Misplaced
Enthusiasm
Over
Progress
in Iraq …
"Rice's
visit in itself is not important, but what she said this time was. Rather than her
previous expressions of dissatisfaction over the rate of Iraqi political
reform, this time she expressed 'cautious optimism,' accompanied by declarations
of 'joy,' over what has been accomplished. … This is a new catastrophe in terms
of American comprehension of Iraq's new
laws."
By Fatih Abdulsalam
Translated
By James
Jacobson and Nicolas Dagher
January 16, 2008
Iraq
- Azzaman - Original Article (Arabic)
One journalist asked me: “Why didn’t President Bush include Iraq
in his tour of the Middle East?”
I said: “Maybe it’s because Iraq has become American in spirit and
only its body is in the Middle East ... He said: “You know that what you're saying
is no joke, but was the goal of the Iraq War in the first place.”
I said: “I don’t know, but I doubt the Americans have much of a chance
of weaving their dreams of dominance over Iraq any longer ... even with their
allies running it."
The journalist said: “You didn’t answer ... why didn’t Bush come
to visit Iraq?” I told him: “he might return to Iraq soon or send one of his
top officials."
I had barely completed my sentence when a nearby TV announced that
Condoleezza Rice had arrived in Baghdad WATCH 
. Such visits need
not be announced beforehand. Visits to Iraq by White House officials are part
of a normal routine and may not even be on a special tour's itinerary.
So Rice's visit in itself is not important, but what she said this
time was. Rather than her previous expressions of dissatisfaction over the rate
of Iraqi political reform, this time she expressed “cautious optimism,”
accompanied by declarations of "joy," over what has been
accomplished.
This is a new catastrophe in terms of American comprehension of
Iraq's new laws, among which is the Justice
and Accountability Law. This is no great leap forward in terms of the quality of
life in Iraq, especially since it comes five years after so many other failed
experiments, accords, contracts, and legal prosthetics.
[Editor's Note: The Justice and Accountability Law, championed ny the Bush Adminsitration,
allows former officials of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party
to return to public life and to apply for their pensions, among other things.
President Bush hailed the law's passage as "an important step toward
reconciliation.]"
To have laws passed in the Parliament only to have them rejected later
by those seeking reconciliation should not be the source of optimism, nor is it
an extraordinary achievement, since passage was achieved by quasi-government
fiat [they were passed with massive government pressure as if they were
edicts].
Why does American enthusiasm appear so much greater than is warranted
by Iraqi reticence over the Oil and the Gas law, and before that, the previous
rejection of the Justice and Accountability Law?
[Editor's Note: Passage of the Oil and Gas Law, another piece of
legislation that the White House has pushed very hard on, is bogged down by a
dispute between Kurdish and Arab leaders over who has the final say in managing
oil and gas fields].
Iraqi political leaders are addicted to prefabricated recipes prepared
in the American kitchen, and when they think of an “Iraqi” solution, it's
usually a mangled imitation of an unworkable plan that came before. And thus,
the wheel spins on ...
Click Here for Arabic
Version
[Posted Jan. 21, 11:57pm]
