[Peace-discuss] thoughts on the news

[Ricky Baldwin]

I’m trying not to become obsessed with the news these
days, but a few interesting items caught my attention,
and I thought I’d share them in case others might want
to add their thoughts.

First off, it’s going very badly, from anyone’s point
of view, in some fairly spectacular ways.  When
British troops are already reduced to digging through
rubble for Iraqi Army boots to wear (AFP, 3/27/03) not
even a week into the conflict, it brings to mind the
knights in the Crusades boiling to death in their
armor.  

Something like this does seem to be dawning on those
leading the charge.  US Lt Gen William Wallace, army
cmdr of the invasion, has remarked, "The enemy we're
fighting is a bit different than the one we war-gamed
against…”  Wallace says they didn’t really plan to
fight “paramilitaries” and “three days of sandstorms”.
 (Hello?)  Food supplies are already short, by some
reports, and several US soldiers have been killed or
captured – and others are now missing (AP, 3/28/03). 
Also, invasion troops are not being greeted as
“liberators,” as predicted.  Even some of the pro-US
resistance militias have apparently now changed their
minds.  The White House is reportedly very upset that
commanders in the Gulf are saying they underestimated
the resistance they would encounter.

Moreover, the invasion has failed miserably to “be in
Baghdad in four days” as predicted, and after a week
was only half way.  That is, they made it half way by
racing down the roads through the desert and avoiding
the big cities.  Oh- they did bomb the hell out of
some Kurdish areas like Kirkuk, and attack some
(anti-Saddam) Kurdish forces like the PUK along the
way (AFP, 3/21/03).  Less work for the Turks, I guess
(Kurdish forces had been preparing to repel a
threatened Turkish invasion rather than joining the
push to Baghdad, even before the US started bombing
them).  And, of course, the invaders have been
flattening Baghdad and its unfortunate inhabitants
with their “shock and awe” barrages.  (Nobody in the
media seems to notice that “shock and awe” is another
way to say “terrorize”.)

Nevertheless, they seem to be having an awkward time. 
Umm Qasr has been reportedly under Anglo-American
control since the beginning, but the border city was
the scene of heavy fighting March 23.  Notably, this
city was inside the UN demilitarized zone near Kuwait
and thus had no preparations for war.  After this, Gen
Clark was apparently moved to report at this point
that all the high-tech satellite links, etc., were of
no use.  The southern city of Basra was first reported
“captured”, then “surrounded,” now none of the above. 
An Iraqi armored caravan has also left Basra, which
was supposedly “cordoned off” (NPR, 3/27/03) – and
military spokesmen have now explained that “cordoned
off” doesn’t mean “physically” surrounded, but simply
surrounded by a “wall of control” (a leaky one,
apparently).  Now invasion forces are “nowhere near”
taking Basra, according to the commander on site (AP,
3/28/03).  And Iraqi militias may have “pinned down”
invading armies in the South (Reuters, 3/27/03).

And then there’s the deaths.  Of invading troops, so
far, I’ve heard of three fatal US helicopter crashes –
none related to Iraqi fire.  Three grenades have gone
off with deadly results at US headquarters in Kuwait,
allegedly thrown by a US sergeant, who may stand trial
for murder (News-Gazette, 3/26/03).  This seems to be
what they used to call “fragging.”  A US patriot
missile battery reportedly shot down a British
warplane returning from a sortie over Iraq.  I guess
the Canadians are glad to be sitting this one out. 
Hopefully the Chinese have abandoned their embassy.

Among other civilian deaths, impoverished
neighborhoods of (anti-Saddam) Shi’ite civilians have
been destroyed, leaving dozens killed (London
Independent, 3/21/03).  And in addition to the
hundreds of Iraqi civilians that the US has had to
admit blowing up, a busload of Syrian civilians was
destroyed by US rocket fire (NPR, 3/27/03).  Who
knows?  The last couple of weeks of propaganda may be
true that Iraqi agents have been sneakily stockpiling
US uniforms to try to frame them for war crimes.  But
if so, it appears they need not have bothered.

Anyway, War Secy Rumsfeld’s response was that Syrians
may have been secretly helping Iraq, and if so they
had better watch out – and so had Iran (AFP, 3/28/03).
 What a coincidence that these are the two countries
the Administration has been naming as next on the
chopping block!  And when debate in the UN turned to
accusations of US war crimes, the US rep (Negroponte)
just up and walked out.

Two terrorist plots against the US have already been
reportedly broken up (AFP, 3/28/03), as the CIA
predicted.

It seems to me that we can only hope that this
disaster will make it harder for Bush & Co. to keep
going down their list.  That’s where we come in.

Keep it up, folks.


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