US tanks rampaging in Najaf

Tragic folly. Tragic folly.
Why do the US tanks prowling round Najaf look so like the Israeli tanks prowling round Ramallah? Why do US tanks in Sadr City look like Israeli tanks in Gaza?
(Maybe because they are all embodiments of the same, extremely bullying mindset?)
But why, oh why, does anyone in the US chain of command think that such a naked use of crushing military force could even possibly be a way to build a lasting peace in Iraq?
Indeed, is any actual strategic “thinking” going on, on the American side, at all? Or is it simply that people up and down the chain of command are all just driven by the same childish desire to “put a major hurt” on Sadr’s supporters that was expressed by Marine Maj. Holahan on Tuesday?
That is a distinct possibility. It is also a very scary thought.

37 thoughts on “US tanks rampaging in Najaf”

  1. Thank you. I was referred here by Juan Cole’s blog.
    I have read and loved your inspired writing in the CSM for years now, and must say that I appreciate your advocacy of a just and lasting world peace based on justice and international laws, fairly applied.

  2. I have also been directed here by Juan Cole. You are now on my favourites list.
    I came across an article recently: Inventing the Enemy which argues that the hidden agenda is not for world peace and democracy but for the Orwellian concept of eternal war.
    There is nothing more profitable as war (for some) and no one more powerful than a war leader.
    The US tanks in Iraq look like the Israeli tanks because they are on the same mission. That is to stir up problems and ensure escalating instability. This is then the excuse to militarise the western societies.
    With the loss of the USSR and the peril of confronting China in any form of real warfare, the middle east, and Iraq in particular, have been set up for years (at least two decades) as the next enemy bloc.
    An analysis that starts with the (sane) tenet that western (US) leaders have the goal of peace and stability in the world is bound to confront the facts that are obvious. The strange actions of local US marine commanders in Najaf, detailed in yesterday’s article, are not a break down in military authority. They are part of the plan. Form the view point that the US desires peace and stability they are strange, stupid even. From the view point that the desired outcome is a continuing conflict, they are perfectly straight forward. Iraq is the new Palestine and Vietnam, rolled into one. Peace is not on the agenda in Israel or Iraq.

  5. The parallels don’t end with the tanks.
    Why do the fighters holed up in a religious shrine in Najjaf resemble the Palestinians holed up in the Church of the Nativity? At least in Iraq they desecrate a shrine of their own faith.
    Why do the suicide bombings in Baghdad resemble the ones invented and perfected by the Palestinians? Iraqi insurgents haven’t killed any Olympic athlethes in Athens yet, so they have some homework to do to play in the Palestinians’ league.
    In the West we struggle over separation between church and state. In the Arab world it seems the challenge is separation between mosque and militia. Why the hell does a religious leader need, want, and recruit a militia? Just imagine your parish’s pastor surrounded by 100 masked men firing AK47s in the air at communion. Freaking surreal if you ask me.
    David

  6. Why, I do believe pastors were surrounded by Christian militia men in Rwandan churches. And there’s always that Golden Temple in Amritsar. I wonder why we’re constantly holding up Arabs and Muslims as paragons of evil?

  7. The bullying reminds me of how people will sometimes speak louder and louder to a person who does not understand their language, as if shouting will accomplish something that a civil tone of voice will not.
    bush = BULL SH#% = bully
    Check out “The Politics of Bullying” by Paul Loeb at TomPaine.com:
    http://www.tompaine.com/articles/the_politics_of_bullying.php
    Not sure if you read this article before your post, Helena. But it sure fits! And keep it up!

  9. The situation in Najaf reminds me of Waco.
    The walls in the west bank remind me of the Warsaw ghetto.

  10. Curious, the West Bank fence reminds me of the walls in Cordoba, Granada, and other beautiful European old cities standing testimony of civilization protecting itself from the barbarians on the outside.
    If you know anything about topology, it is the Israelis that are locked in unable to get out by land. The Palestinians are connected via Jordan to the outside.
    BTW Susan, were you in the Warsaw ghetto, or is this a speculative memory you are insinuating.
    David

  11. David,
    Apparently you are unaware of the fact that all of the real objections to the wall are based on the fact that it is being built outside the green line in occupied Palestinian territory. There would be no legitimate objection to the wall were it being built inside the green line.
    You also appear to be unaware that for Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank and Occupied East Jerusalem, all access to the outside, including via Jordan, is totally controlled by Israel. In fact, access to everything, including medical care, education, work and the next town, is totally controlled by Israel.

  12. Yes, the walls in Granada, Cordoba, etc were very beautiful, very impressive. They were built by the great Muslim-ruled states in that area, to keep out the ‘barbarian’ hordes coming from further north in Europe; later, to keep out the marauding so-called “Christian” forces who brought the glories of the Spanish Inquisition to them and crushed any signs of the religious diversity that had flourished there under the Muslims…
    Which proves, what? Well, nothing conclusive except that there are ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ on every side, if that’s how one likes to look at the world.
    Btw, the barrier in the West Bank looks absolutely NOTHING like the walls of any medieval walled city (some of which, viewed from today’s perspective, can look very ‘charming’.) It is stark, bare concrete or razor-topped wire and its course doesn’t follow any rationale of decent civic planning. If the Israelis had chosen to build it inside their own country, that would be quite up to them. Instead of which they’ve thrust it right through somebody else’s land in an attempt to grab parts of that land for themselves and to maintain a totally anti-democratic control system over the land’s indigenous people. Some achievement.

  13. I guess the Israelis don’t quite have the European taste nor the time to built architectural marvels like the Andalucian walls. Maybe given a few decades they can pretty them up (they are doing a pretty decent job with the Jerusalem architectural atmosphere over the years). The purpose of the wall remains the same. All Europe is sprinkled with these walls around their old cities, so the rationale, the logic and the morality of walls is not so exotic as the “Palestinians-can-do-no-wrong” folks present it.
    C4 and explosive belts kill people, East German soldiers along the Berlin wall kill people, pretty or not walls don’t kill.
    And no Shirin, how can the objection be its constuction on Palestinian occupied territory when Palestinians view the Israel in its entirety as Palestininan occupied territory.
    Palestinians do move over land to visit Jordan, to Hajj in Mecca, and all over the region. Israelis don’t have that option. Can an Israeli drive his family to Turkey, to Greece, or Europe? Nope Shirin. Who is inside and who is outside Shirin.
    David

  14. I am not a supporter of “The Shrub, the war or any of his other mistakes”, which are numerable. However, I see no other viable options suggested by you or any of your posters. Everybody easily complains but offers no concrete solutions to violence and force. I agree that we should not be there in the first place but we are. The arrogent little idiot and his warhawk advisors got us into it and it’s too late to get out. An immediate pullout from the country would cause complete chaos, the death of many Iraqi citizens and give terrorists the haven they seek. I guess that is how it is with people like you, full of complaints but not a solution to be had for 100 miles. I have no solution but then again, I have no complaint either except for you people. The solution to that is for you to stfu unless you have an alternative.

  15. “An immediate pullout from the country would cause complete chaos, the death of many Iraqi citizens and give terrorists the haven they seek.”
    And what do you suppose is going on right now as a result of the American presence if not complete chaos, the death of many Iraqi citizens – the overwhelming majority of them at the hands of American forces – and the presence of terrorists?
    It is very difficult to imagine how an American pullout can possibly result in things getting worse than they are now. On the other hand, it is abundantly clear that the longer the Americans stay the worse things will get.

  16. David,
    If you would like to have a discussion, please present a real argument. If you insist upon presenting bogus ones, I will not waste my time.

  17. Palestinians do move over land to visit Jordan, to Hajj in Mecca, and all over the region. Israelis don’t have that option.
    Maybe if the Israelis were not such jerks they’d find the neighborhood more friendly. They might stop losing those votes in the UN and the World Court by margins of 150-6 and 14-1.
    I heartily agree with Shirin. Please present something other than tired Israeli hasbara.

  18. Gadfrey,
    I think it was in april that a majority of respondants to a poll in Iraq answered both that the violence would increase if the US pulled out and that they US troops should pull immediately. I think it was in june that a majority answered that the troops were more of a part to the violence in Iraq than a solution. Search this site, http://www.juancole.com and http://www.dailywarnews.com if you are interested in reading those surveys. As I don

  19. I think a solution is possible, only that the warhawks will not agree to it. Let the UN organize a peacekeeping force headed by those countries against the Iraqi war, like the French, the Germans, Nato or the EU, to take over from the Americans. Pull out all the American troops and get rid of all the American puppets like Allawi, Chalabi and so on. Then the Iraqi factions may be willing to sit down and talk. Such a solution produces great results in Kosovo.
    I pity the American people who are still ignorant of the intentions of Bush and co and may vote them to power again. They are going to pay the price with their blood and money.
    I suspect that this war will be the beginning of the end of American superpower.
    Israelis too. If the Palestinians have memory, they may also pay the price of their colonial expansion and ill treatment of the Palestinians with much bloodshed and tragedy. Maybe not this generation, but many generations after. Next time, there will not be any crusade to help them.

  20. I think a solution is possible, only that the warhawks will not agree to it. Let the UN organize a peacekeeping force headed by those countries against the Iraqi war, like the French, the Germans, Nato or the EU, to take over from the Americans. Pull out all the American troops and get rid of all the American puppets like Allawi, Chalabi and so on. Then the Iraqi factions may be willing to sit down and talk. Such a solution produces great results in Kosovo.
    I pity the American people who are still ignorant of the intentions of Bush and co and may vote them to power again. They are going to pay the price with their blood and money.
    I suspect that this war will be the beginning of the end of American superpower.
    Israelis too. If the Palestinians have memory, they may also pay the price of their colonial expansion and ill treatment of the Palestinians with much bloodshed and tragedy. Maybe not this generation, but many generations after. Next time, there will not be any crusade to help them.

  21. On the following blog: http://lefti.blogspot.com/2004_08_01_lefti_archive.html#109304483164986347
    sen. bob makes the following comment on what happened after the US left Vietnam:
    I returned to South Viet Nam in March 1999 – to find out what happened after we left in 1975. I went to Rach Gia, Kien Giang, well off the travelled path. I lived with my wife’s family (she’s Viet Q). I talked to all kinds of people about how it was after we left.
    The results – except for the Viet army drafting of young men to stop the fighting in Cambodia (both of my brothers-in law were drafted into the Viet army), not much happened. At a local temple, I met a monk who was sent to a re-education camp for 18 months.
    There were lots of economic problems from failed gov’t policies. BUT – The real serious state violence and killing stopped as soon as we left. Iraq will be the same.

  22. Shirin,
    I didn’t particularly seek a discussion with you, I was commenting on Helena’s posting. Feel free to walk away from the discussion. Silence is indeed golden Shirin.
    No Preference,
    I didn’t realize that the essence of the conflict was that one side are such jerks. Very illuminating… I look forward to additional insight from you.
    The votes are BOUGHT by squeezing the testicles of poor thirld world nations that can ill afford to challenge 52 moslem countries with 80% of the world oil, with no upside by supporting Israel, but why am I stating the obvios, you know that.
    David

  24. David wrote:
    “C4 and explosive belts kill people, East German soldiers along the Berlin wall kill people, pretty or not walls don’t kill.”
    Wrong. People kill people. Didn’t you know? All in all, the Israeli’s with their airplanes, tanks, soldiers, settlers and contempt for Palestinian life are much better in it then the Palestinians with their explosive belts.

  25. The votes are BOUGHT by squeezing the testicles of poor thirld world nations that can ill afford to challenge 52 moslem countries with 80% of the world oil, with no upside by supporting Israel, but why am I stating the obvios, you know that.
    This is a perfect example of the reason why you have not been an asset to this board.
    The votes aren’t “BOUGHT”, any more than the lopsided votes against South Africa were “BOUGHT”. Nations vote against Israel on matters like the “security wall” because it’s a straightforward matter of right and wrong.
    Israeli propagandists such as yourself have been reciting this absurd charge for decades. Yet I have never seen the slightest piece of concrete evidence in the form of a leaked policy document, anonymous quote from an official from one of the countries allegedly involved, a supposed change in oil policy based on a vote, etc. I’m not even aware of any serious articles in pro-Israeli publications supporting this theory. All there has ever been is that one-sentence, completely bogus accusation.

  26. Sorry about the personal attack, David. I should confine myself to criticism of the content of your posts.

  27. As to the facts that occupying Iraq causes more death and destruction than leaving right now, I feel strongly that whether we leave today or in one, ten or twenty years, the country will find its way back to what it feels is normal, as it has for thousands of years. Just as the Earth itself, will find its way back, after we are gone, although I’d love to see us learn how to stick around for the long run.
    This comparison is not arbitrary; our future as a species depends upon how we comport ourselves each day. We must stop Bush, stop the war, and stop raping this planet, good ol’ Mother Earth, before She decides She’s had enough of our arrogance.
    Mother Earth has always been pictured as a kindly Peter Max sorta Herbal Essence gal, with birds on her shoulder and little furry critters dancing at her feet. I see her a bit differently.
    In my dreams, Ma Nature is a twelve foot tall 500 pound Pacific Island kinda gal, knockin’ buildings over and shooting lightning bolts out of her %$&#$@ when She’s finally pissed off enough to turn her lovelight our way!!

  28. No Preference,
    No problem, I understand emotions, no harm done.
    I am surprised by your question about the leverage of oil for political purposes, applied to nations and corporations alike. Have you heard about the oil embargo of 1973? Go to your nearest library (if you live in the US) and read the evidence to your heart’s content. If you live in Arab country maybe this shameful chapter was sanitized from the written record already.
    If you want more just ask, I can expand on the ugly boycotts and strong arm tactics until the cows come home.

  29. Peter,
    You are right, people kill people.
    Now how does that contradict my statement that
    walls don’t kill people?
    Do you care to provide an example of a wall killing people?
    David

  30. Have you heard about the oil embargo of 1973?
    Yes, of course I have heard of it. I lived through it, in fact. It was applied to the US, not third world countries. It had zero effect on UN voting patterns, including the voting of third world countries. The world was overwhelmingly opposed to Jewish settlements before the embargo, and overwhelmingly opposed to them after.
    Again, there is NO evidence for this claim. If you disagree, produce some. Argument by assertion doesn’t prove anything.

  31. When the Arab countries collude through OPEC to punish somebody for some perceived deviation it hurts everybody. There is one global oil market and by targeting the US they punish lots of smaller countries where the impact is greatly amplified.
    I can hardly produce a written document showing the explicit threat, but I doubt that Arab diplomats make their threats in writing any more than Al Capone made his extortions in writing. But it suffices to look at the voting record of South America, for example. Most South American countries voted enthusiastically in 1948 in favor of the creation of the State of Israel, when oil was not a big weapon and oil production was not concentrated yet in the Gulf. They maintained excellent relations with Israel through the years. After 1973 the cost of public support for Israel went up and their voting patterns reflected just that. The climax of the UN corruption occured when there was enough rubber stamping at the General Assembly to welcome Arafat in terrorist fatigues, elect ex SS Nazi Kurt Waldheim as chair, and pass the ludicrous resolution (later rescinded in shame) that Zionism is a form of racism.
    If you want more contemporary distortions check the surreal resolutions of the summit on racism held in South Africa, or explore how every broken dictatorial banana republic and corrupt sheikdom is rotated through the UN security council but Israel is not. The deck is stacked at the UN. You might derive some pleasure from that, but you can’t derive moral authority.
    Hope this hepled clarify my views.
    Thanks for staying with this thread,
    David

  32. I can hardly produce a written document showing the explicit threat,
    Can you produce anything? No.
    Again, Israel and its supporters have been making this hackneyed charge for decades, and have never produced any evidence to support it.
    As for the “broken dictatorial banana republics and corrupt sheikdoms” being the reason why Israel is opposed at the UN, that hardly explains the recent 150-6 vote condemning the apartheid wall. In that case the US, Australia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau supported Israel. What was that you said about banana republics?
    The nations of the world vote against Israel because they detest its policies in the occupied territories.
    You talk without evidence about the influence of oil at the UN. What about the influence of the most powerful country in the world, which gives the unlimited support to Israel, including frequent use of its veto? Our stonewalling and arm-twisting protects Israel from what would in any other case be sanctions, at great cost to our own standing and safety in the world.

  33. Dear,
    I am mrs.grace william the wife of late mr lobi william from kuwait. So I will like to get your good contact so that we can discuss more.
    Grace

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