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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (41550)	4/6/2004 3:32:26 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Depends on who was doing the looking. Did we not see this coming? Fallujah horror is more than 'uptick' in conflict -- it's a predictable consequence of failed diplomacy Byron Williams While wishing not to be guilty of 20/20 hindsight, I can't resist asking: did we not see this coming? Did we really believe that it would be as simple as Gary Cooper riding off with Grace Kelly into the sunset? The Bush Administration's public relations team, which controlled everything from a Tom Cruise impersonation on the USS Abraham Lincoln to forbidding journalists to take photos as bodies return home by way of Dover AFB, could not stop the cameras in Fallujah. The horrific photos that made practically every major newspaper's front page and lead story caused print and media journalist to wrestle with how much or how little to show of the gruesome display of hatred and mob mentality run amuck. The nature of the ghastly scenes does not require that we go back 30 years to Vietnam; instead Mogadishu 11 years hence will suffice. The images from Fallujah are painfully reminiscent of the 1993 street scenes in Somalia, when a mob dragged the body of an American solider through the streets. New York Times reporter John Burns stated after last week's massacre, "the United States might be facing a war in which the common bonds of Iraqi nationalism and Arab sensibility have transcended other differences, fostering a war of national resistance that could pose still greater challenges to the Americans in the months, and perhaps years, ahead." Given America's short attention span for war, influenced in part by the experiences of Somalia and Vietnam, how many Fallujahs could we stand? There is no doubting Iraq is our orphaned child. The participation by the so-called "coalition of the willing" countries can be defined, at best, as token support. Anyone writing the antithesis to Dale Carnegie's bestseller "How to Win Friends and Influence People" has no better case study than the Bush Administration's unilateral approach to international diplomacy. Through Fallujah we are witnessing uneasiness with a policy somewhere on the continuum between a premature cut-and-run and being bogged down indefinitely. Army Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt promised to "hunt down" those responsible for the killings and "pacify that city." But the military's attempts to "pacify" Fallujah will only lead to additional violence and fuel an already flammable hatred for America. Were it not so tragic, it would have been laughable when the military described the massacre and the overall rising violence as "an uptick in local engagements." My stock portfolio gaining 25 cents a share in value is an uptick, not viewing Americans on CNN offered up as human sacrifices. The recent episodes of violence certainly cast doubt on the administration's ability to meet its June 30 end of occupation timetable. Should the administration meet its stated goal, can it possibly be anything more than ceremonial? At present, a post June 30 Iraq appears closer to civil war than a reasonable facsimile of democracy. Iraq is desperately in need of an international effort, but cooperation appears missing from the skill set of this particular president. What has been portrayed by the president's spin-doctors and surrogates as resolve and confidence has served to effectively mask his arrogance and uncertainty. Even the administration's thinly veiled attempt to discredit Richard Clarke cannot dismiss the former head of counterintelligence's assertions that the war in Iraq has undermined the war against terror. It is difficult to imagine the administration saw this coming, because I doubt it was within their field of vision. Were they warned that a Fallujah like event could occur? Probably. But this president had been big game hunting for Saddam since he took office, even if it meant starting an unnecessary war. This leaves the presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry as the only hope to get this country out of the quagmire of unilateralism. But Kerry must first explain to the American people why his initial support of the president having unprecedented unilateral power is consistent with his current message. Meanwhile, the world has decided to sit this one out, preferring to watch Bush's high wire act from the sidelines. Unfortunately, his daredevil routine is needlessly costing lives. workingforchange.com lurqer