Wife to Husband: 'The poor child. He'll never know dictatorship'
[Le Temps,
Switzerland]
O Globo, Brazil
American Crimes or No, Iraqis Must Take Their Future in Hand
"There's
no magic solution, such as deploying a classic model of Western of democracy and
hoping that it works. These models have to be adapted to local politics and the
attempt must be made, at all costs, to ensure that the country's own dynamic
forces determine its future."
EDITORIAL
Translated By Brandi Miller
August 4, 2010
Brazil - O Globo - Original Article (Portuguese)
In one sentence, "today
we close a chapter," President Barack Obama summed up the August 31st end
of combat operations for U.S. troops in Iraq, highlighting the fulfillment of
one of his campaign promises. Significantly, he stayed far clear of triumphant
declarations like the infamous "mission accomplished," of George W.
Bush, uttered a month and a half after the start of the campaign, seven years
and five months ago.
More significant was another
of Obama's phrases. After recalling the need to keeping another combat front open
- in Afghanistan - in what is already the longest conflict in U.S. history, he
stated. "Let us never forget it was Afghanistan where al-Qaeda plotted and
trained to murder 3,000 innocent people on 9/11. It is Afghanistan and the
tribal regions of Pakistan where terrorists have launched other attacks against
us and our allies,” the president stated.
Implicitly, Obama pointed to
the tremendous miscalculation of the George W. Bush administration, which downplayed
the al-Qaeda/Taliban alliance in Afghanistan and Pakistan's tribal areas to go
after Saddam Hussein based on the argument, confirmed later to be without
foundation, that the dictator had weapons of mass destruction and was an ally
of al-Qaeda.
The results of the long
occupation of Iraq are controversial. Obama's claim that violence in the
country is at a historic low was challenged by the Iraqi government itself.
According to Baghdad, July was the most terrible month in the last two years,
with 535 killed, 396 of which were civilians (the number of American casualties
has dropped with the "Iraqization" of the war). The independent organization,
Iraq Body Count, puts the number of
civilian victims of the seven-year conflict at between 97,000 and 106,000.
The order to definitively end
American participation in military operations comes at a time when Iraq is experiencing
tremendous political and institutional uncertainty. As a result of hard-fought legislative
elections in March, there is still no agreement on the formation of a new
government.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
SEE ALSO ON THIS:
Jyllands-Posten, Denmark:
Critics Must Ponder
'Positive Results' of Iraq War
Guardian, U.K.:
Tariq Aziz Accusses Obama of 'Leaving Iraq to Wolves'
Sotal Iraq, Iraq:
Bush the 'Chosen One' Deserves 'Statue of Gold'
Azzaman, Iraq:
Iraq Isn't Rebuilding; It's Disintegrating
Sotal Iraq, Iraq:
U.S. Treats Iraqis Like 'Well-Trained Lab Mice'!
Kitabat, Iraq:
Iraqi Politicians Praise
America Without Cause!
Debka File, Israel:
Combat Between U.S. and Iran Looms in Iraq
Kitabat, Iraq:
America's 'Promise': To Leave Iraq in a State of Civil War
Kitabat, Iraq:
Wake Up Iraqis!: The Americans Never Intend to Withdraw!
Kitabat, Iraq:
America's War: From One Dictatorship to Another
Iraq News Agency, Iraq:
Details on Scientist's Death Expose 'Zionist Jail' in Iraq
Kitaabat, Iraq
America and Iran Prepare Ground for Iraq Civil War
Iraq News Agency:
U.S. 'Pullout' Resembles Israeli Retreats from Gaza
The withdrawal of the United
States means that now, Iraqis will have to run their country, yet they still
lack a national political agreement among their myriad ethnic and religious
communities that would enable them to come to an understanding. Moreover, they
lack a lot more than that, such as 24-hour electricity. The reconstruction of
Iraq was one of the greatest failures of the American occupation. The billions
of dollars spent on projects of all kinds has not been reflected by improvements
in the everyday lives of the people, which has led to a radicalization of views,
such as a man named Farhan, who told
The New York Times while being interviewed in his darkened Baghdad
shop: "Democracy didn’t bring us anything … Democracy brought us a can of
Coke and a beer."
There's no magic solution,
such as deploying a classic model of Western of democracy and hoping that it
works. These models have to be adapted to local politics and the attempt must
be made, at all costs, to ensure that the country's own dynamic forces determine
its future.
CLICK HERE FOR PORTUGUESE VERSION
[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US, August 5, 12:29am]
