Has the Bush administration learned anything at all from their disastrous adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq?
Current opinion polls in America – especially those conducted by media houses – reflect a growing anxiety about the future effectiveness of US military power, in addition to fundamental questions related to what many view as a misguided foreign policy.
Yet and despite suffering an embarassing bruising which resulted in the Republican’s loss of the senate and congress, the US president marches on his not-so-merry way!
In sharp disagreement with his father’s mentors and collaborators, Bush has stuck out his middle finger to them by committing more US troops in his war and occupation of Iraq. Careless and heedless of the Iraq Study Group, the Democrats’ majority and some very senior members of his own party, Bush has decided that a ‘surge’ in US forces is required to attain ‘mission accomplished’.
While this remains a disturbing trend in a number of American policy positions, Bush makes no apology for remaining ensconsed in the arms of a powerful elite commonly known as neo-cons. That they are directing his actions is a well known fact. As architects of the Iraq war and manufacturers of deliberate lies, they duped the American people, the UN and many more in seeking justification to depose Saddam Hussein.
Of course their most important interest group, the Zionist lobby, was overjoyed then. They saw in Saddam’s final moments an event to rejoice, for since the fall of Baghdad they have been celebrating the fact that Tel Aviv would be spared Saddam’s scud missiles.
But before they could extend their celebrations into the night, a new reality, Hizbullah’s long range missiles abruptly interrupted them. Bush, in keeping with his biased policy towards Israel, armed, funded and provided space to the Olmert regime to bring Syed Hussein Nasrullah to his knees.
But failures are at times too complicated for the intelligence machinery of the Bush administration to comprehend. Hence, after 34 days of intense carpet bombing of Beirut and South Lebanon, including the illegal deployment of outlawed weapons of mass destruction such as gas warfare and cluster bombs, the once haughty Israeli army grudgingly conceded defeat and sheepishly, with their tails between their legs, retreated from occupied territories.
‘Mission accomplished’ a-la Bush style?
Drawing on colonial experience of divide and rule, the Americans are yet again repeating the mistakes of the former British empire.
Instead of acknowledging the popularity of Hamas which was legitimised at the polls a full year ago, Bush is recasting Mahmoud Abbas in the mould of Saddam Hussein of the 80s. Its striking that mainstream media has not picked up yet on the parallels which exist today in the methods used to script Abbas’ political sell-out with those used to boost Saddam’s ego.
And remaining heedless of common-sense, Bush has opened a new front in Africa with the regime change imposed in Somalia through force. Once again, illegal conquests under the false cover of combatting ‘terrorism’ has become the order of the day while multilateral institutions such as the African Union are treated with contempt.
Iraq is devastated. Palestine bleeds. Somalia is facing a huge humanitarian disaster. All this while new Saddams are being groomed to remain faithful and obedient slaves. Mahmoud Abbas being the most visible and possibly ranking as the most spineless of them all.