Bush: Iraqâs Resurging Violence âA Very Positive Momentâ»
Violence continues across southern Iraq today, as radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is threatening to end his crucial cease-fire by calling for the âdownfall of the U.S.-backed government.â
In response, the administration has gone on a desperate PR blitz to label renewed violence in Iraq as âbyproduct of the success of the surge.â âItâs âwhat critics have wanted to see,â said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, calling it a struggle led by Iraqi security forces.
Today â as rockets rain down on the Green Zone and two American soldiers died â Bush cast the activity as a âvery positive momentâ in an interview with the Times of U.K.:
[Bush] backed the Iraqi Governmentâs decision to ârespond forcefullyâ to the spiralling violence by âcriminal elementsâ and Shia extremists in Basra. âIt was a very positive moment in the development of a sovereign nation that is willing to take on elements that believe they are beyond the law,â the President said.
Itâs hard to see what Bush sees as positive. The explosion that burst an oil pipeline in Basra today? Tens of thousands of Shiite protesters in Baghad? A kidnapped âcivilian spokesman for the Baghdad security operation?â
In reality, the violence is undoing the very goals of Bushâs surge. Iraqi forces arenât trying to restore âthe law,â as Bush thinks, but are trying to do the opposite â suppress its political enemies before the October elections, historian Reidar Vissar noted. Most ironically, if U.S.-backed efforts âsucceed,â Iranâs hand in Iraq will be strengthened. IPSâ Gareth Porter explains:
The Badr Organisation and the ISCI had always been and remained the most pro-Iranian political-military forces in Iraq, having been established, trained and funded by the [Iranian Revolutionary Guard] from Shiite exiles in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war.
Bushâs comments are reminiscent of former White House Press Secretary Tony Snowâs remarks last June, casting skyrocketing violence across Iraq as âthings moving towards successâ¦signs of success.â
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/27/bush-iraq-positive/
Violence continues across southern Iraq today, as radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is threatening to end his crucial cease-fire by calling for the âdownfall of the U.S.-backed government.â
In response, the administration has gone on a desperate PR blitz to label renewed violence in Iraq as âbyproduct of the success of the surge.â âItâs âwhat critics have wanted to see,â said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, calling it a struggle led by Iraqi security forces.
Today â as rockets rain down on the Green Zone and two American soldiers died â Bush cast the activity as a âvery positive momentâ in an interview with the Times of U.K.:
[Bush] backed the Iraqi Governmentâs decision to ârespond forcefullyâ to the spiralling violence by âcriminal elementsâ and Shia extremists in Basra. âIt was a very positive moment in the development of a sovereign nation that is willing to take on elements that believe they are beyond the law,â the President said.
Itâs hard to see what Bush sees as positive. The explosion that burst an oil pipeline in Basra today? Tens of thousands of Shiite protesters in Baghad? A kidnapped âcivilian spokesman for the Baghdad security operation?â
In reality, the violence is undoing the very goals of Bushâs surge. Iraqi forces arenât trying to restore âthe law,â as Bush thinks, but are trying to do the opposite â suppress its political enemies before the October elections, historian Reidar Vissar noted. Most ironically, if U.S.-backed efforts âsucceed,â Iranâs hand in Iraq will be strengthened. IPSâ Gareth Porter explains:
The Badr Organisation and the ISCI had always been and remained the most pro-Iranian political-military forces in Iraq, having been established, trained and funded by the [Iranian Revolutionary Guard] from Shiite exiles in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war.
Bushâs comments are reminiscent of former White House Press Secretary Tony Snowâs remarks last June, casting skyrocketing violence across Iraq as âthings moving towards successâ¦signs of success.â
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/27/bush-iraq-positive/