14-03-2009, 07:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 14-03-2009, 07:11 PM by Jan Klimkowski.)
The timing of Gates' comments is very interesting.
However, I associate Gates more with George Bush Sr than with Dubya, and George Bush Sr didn't want a permanent US presence in Iraq. He could have marched on Baghdad, and instead backed off, betraying the Kurds and Marsh Arabs, and allowing Saddam to slaughter them.
Bush Sr's MO seemed rather to install client dictators to do the dirty business, and remove (Noriega) or humble (Saddam) them if they showed signs of creaming off too much of the pie.
If that perspective is correct, the invasion of Iraq resulting in a permanent, or near-permanent, US military presence, can be seen more as a neocon move, with Cheney, Abrams, Wolfie & co as the "philosophical" authors.
It's clear to anyone with eyes that countries like Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be "conquered and subdued" by a foreign military presence. The Brits know this. The Russians know this.
I suspect that Rumsfeldian "Shock and Awe", terrorizing the enemy with a huge missile bombardment, and following up with a small, hi-tech, mobile but downsized military commitment, was some sort of neocon wet dream. It promised all the benefits of military invasion with none of the downside of actually having to pay for a huge standing army in a faraway country. Of course, like all neocon wet dreams, it totally failed to deliver as promised.
On the specifics of Gates' comments, he is of course talking bullshit. I'm not at liberty to disclose my source, but I've been told that WMD were discovered by US military intelligence. However, the markings clearly revealed that they were WMD that western companies had sold to Saddam - when he was our buddy. These WMD, our WMD sold to Saddam, will doubtless never be put before MSM cameras.
And so this faux narrative as espoused by Gates continues....
However, I associate Gates more with George Bush Sr than with Dubya, and George Bush Sr didn't want a permanent US presence in Iraq. He could have marched on Baghdad, and instead backed off, betraying the Kurds and Marsh Arabs, and allowing Saddam to slaughter them.
Bush Sr's MO seemed rather to install client dictators to do the dirty business, and remove (Noriega) or humble (Saddam) them if they showed signs of creaming off too much of the pie.
If that perspective is correct, the invasion of Iraq resulting in a permanent, or near-permanent, US military presence, can be seen more as a neocon move, with Cheney, Abrams, Wolfie & co as the "philosophical" authors.
It's clear to anyone with eyes that countries like Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be "conquered and subdued" by a foreign military presence. The Brits know this. The Russians know this.
I suspect that Rumsfeldian "Shock and Awe", terrorizing the enemy with a huge missile bombardment, and following up with a small, hi-tech, mobile but downsized military commitment, was some sort of neocon wet dream. It promised all the benefits of military invasion with none of the downside of actually having to pay for a huge standing army in a faraway country. Of course, like all neocon wet dreams, it totally failed to deliver as promised.
On the specifics of Gates' comments, he is of course talking bullshit. I'm not at liberty to disclose my source, but I've been told that WMD were discovered by US military intelligence. However, the markings clearly revealed that they were WMD that western companies had sold to Saddam - when he was our buddy. These WMD, our WMD sold to Saddam, will doubtless never be put before MSM cameras.
And so this faux narrative as espoused by Gates continues....
"It means this War was never political at all, the politics was all theatre, all just to keep the people distracted...."
"Proverbs for Paranoids 4: You hide, They seek."
"They are in Love. Fuck the War."
Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon
"Ccollanan Pachacamac ricuy auccacunac yahuarniy hichascancuta."
The last words of the last Inka, Tupac Amaru, led to the gallows by men of god & dogs of war
"Proverbs for Paranoids 4: You hide, They seek."
"They are in Love. Fuck the War."
Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon
"Ccollanan Pachacamac ricuy auccacunac yahuarniy hichascancuta."
The last words of the last Inka, Tupac Amaru, led to the gallows by men of god & dogs of war