[Peace-discuss] an Irish letter-to-the-editor on Iraq

[Stuart Levy]

Karen Medina and I were recently in Ireland (and the UK),
and three days' worth of reading what seems to be
the main Irish national paper -- the Irish Times --
turned up *two* LTEs about Iraq.


Here's the more substantial letter, from a Dubliner,
published Tuesday, Sep 25th:

	    Shallow US optimism on Iraq

   Charles Krauthammer displays boundless -- and groundless --
optimism when he suggests that Gen. David Petraeus can defeat al-Qaeda
in Iraq (Opinion, September 17).

   The fact that al-Qaeda is operating in Iraq at all is a by-product
of the US-led invasion and occupation.  The secularist Ba'ath Party
absolutely excluded extremists pursuing Islamist ideologies, so the
only group pursuing an ultra-orthodox interpretation of Islam in Iraq
up to March 2003 was Ansar al-Islam, based in Kurdistan, well beyond
the reach of Baghdad's forces.

   The invasion itself created conditions under which al-Qaeda could
establish a foothold close to Baghdad, and recent events in Anbar show
that the entire might of the occupation forces cannot prevent al-Qaeda
from staging spectacular strikes against its enemies.

   During this year, a tribal leader named Sheikh Abdul Sittar Bezea
al-Rishawi has led a campaign to drive al-Qaeda out of Anbar.  During
a brief stop at a US air force base in Iraq on September 3rd,
President Bush acknowledge Sittar's achievements: "When you stand on
the ground here in Anbar and hear from the people who live here, you
can see what the future of Iraq can look like."  Afterwards he shook
hands with Sittar.

   Gen. Petraeus repeated this upbeat message during testimony to the
US Congress on the recent anniversary of 9/11, describing Sittar's
achievement as a "model of what happens when local leaders and
citizens start to defy al-Qaeda".  Two days later, Sittar was killed
by a roadside bomb -- apparently assassinated by al-Qaeda.

   So this is the US model for the future of Iraq?  Far from defeating
al-Qaeda, the US occupation provides Islamists with ideal conditions
for recruiting and training fighters to overthrow Mr. Bush's friends
in the house of Al-Saud, and does nothing to prevent al-Qaeda cells
elsewhere from planning new bombings in other parts of the world.

   Gen. Petraeus knows this.  When he appeared before the Senate armed
services committee this month, Republican Senator John Warner asked
him about his strategy: "Does that make America safer?"  Petraeus
replied: "Sir, I don't know, actually..."  So: Krauthammer's comments
bear no resemblance to the realities of defeating al-Qaeda in Iraq or
anywhere else in the world, and every resemblance to a propagandum
formulated by staff at the White House to justify a military strategy
whose chances of success are next to nil.

   As usual, Krauthammer tells us nothing about Iraq, and everything
about Washington.

  COILÍN Ó hAISEADHA
  Bóther Inse Chór,
  Cill Mhaigneann,
  Baile Átha Cliath 8