Part Five
I heard the US was building fourteen "enduring bases," capable of housing 110,000 soldiers, and I heard Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt call them "a blueprint for how we could operate in the Middle East." I heard that the US was building its largest embassy in the world.
I heard that it would be a matter of months until Starbuck's and McDonald's opened branches in Baghdad. I heard that the HSBC bank would have cash machines all over the country.
I heard about the trade fairs run by New Bridges Strategies, a consulting firm that promised access to the Iraqi market. I heard one of its partners say: "Getting the rights to distribute Proctor & Gamble can be a goldmine. One well-stocked 7-Eleven could knock out thirty Iraqi stores. A Wal-Mart could take over the country."
On May 1, 2003, I heard the President, dressed up as a pilot, under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished," declaring that combat operations were over: "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the eleventh, 2001." I heard him say: "The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror. We've removed an ally of al-Qaeda, and cut off a source of terrorist funding. And this much is certain: No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime, because the regime is no more. In these nineteen months that changed the world, our actions have been focused and deliberate and proportionate to the offense. We have not forgotten the victims of September the eleventh-the last phone calls, the cold murder of children, the searches in the rubble. With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got."
On May 1, 2003, I heard that 140 American soldiers had died in combat in Iraq.
I heard Richard Perle tell Americans to "relax and celebrate victory." I heard him say: "The predictions of those who opposed this war can be discarded like spent cartridges."
I heard Lieutenant General Jay Garner say: "We ought to look in a mirror and get proud and stick out our chests and suck in our bellies and say: 'Damn, we're Americans.'"
And later I heard that I could buy a twelve-inch "Elite Force Aviator: George W. Bush" action figure: "Exacting in detail and fully equipped with authentic gear, this limited-edition action figure is a meticulous 1:6 scale recreation of the Commander-in-Chief's appearance during his historic Aircraft Carrier landing. This fully poseable figure features a realistic head sculpt, fully detailed cloth flight suit, helmet with oxygen mask, survival vest, g-pants, parachute harness and much more."
In February 2003, a month before the invasion, I heard General Eric Shinseki tell Congress that "several hundred thousand troops" would be needed to occupy Iraq. I heard him ridiculed by Paul Wolfowitz as "wildly off the mark." I heard that the Secretary of the Army, Thomas White, a former general, was fired for agreeing with Shinseki. In May 2003, I heard that Pentagon planners had predicted that US troop levels would fall to 30,000 by the end of the summer.
I heard that Paul Bremer's first act as director of the Coalition Provisional Authority was to fire all members of the Baath Party, including 100,000 civil servants, policemen, teachers, and doctors, and to dismiss all 400,000 soldiers of the Iraqi Army without pay or pensions. Two million people were dependent on that income. Since America supports private gun ownership, the soldiers were allowed to keep their weapons. I heard that hundreds were being kidnapped and raped in Baghdad alone; that schools, hospitals, shops, and factories were being looted; that it was impossible to restore the electricity because all the copper wire had been stolen from the power plants.
I heard Paul Bremer say: "Most of the country is, in fact, orderly," and that all the problems were coming from "several hundred hard-core terrorists" from al- Qaeda and affiliated groups.
As attacks on American troops increased, I heard the generals disagree about who was fighting: Islamic fundamentalists or remnants of the Baath Party or Iraqi mercenaries or foreign mercenaries or ordinary citizens taking revenge for the loss of loved ones. I heard the President and the Vice President and the politicians and the television reporters simply call them "terrorists." I heard the President say: "There are some who feel like that conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is: Bring them on! We have the force necessary to deal with the situation."
I heard that 25,000 Iraqi civilians were dead.
I heard Arnold Schwarzenegger, then campaigning for governor, in Baghdad for a special showing to the troops of Terminator 3 say: "It is really wild driving round here, I mean the poverty, and you see there is no money, it is disastrous financially and there is the leadership vacuum, pretty much like California." I heard that the Army was wrapping entire villages in barbed wire, with signs that read: "This fence is here for your protection. Do not approach or try to cross, or you will be shot." In one of those villages, I heard a man named Tariq say: "I see no difference between us and the Palestinians."
I heard Captain Todd Brown say: "You have to understand the Arab mind. The only thing they understand is force-force, pride, and saving face."
I heard that the US, in "a gift from the American people to the Iraqi people," had committed $18.4 billion to the reconstruction of basic infrastructure, but that future Iraqi governments would have no say in how the money was spent. I heard that the economy was opened to foreign ownership, and that this could not be changed. I heard that the Iraqi army would be under the command of the US, and that this could not be changed. I heard, however, that "full authority" for health and hospitals had been turned over to the Iraqis, and that senior American health advisers had been withdrawn. I heard Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, say that Iraq's hospitals would be fine if the Iraqis "just washed their hands and cleaned the crap off the walls."
I heard Colonel Nathan Sassaman say: "With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help them."
I heard Richard Perle say: "Next year at about this time, I expect there will be a really thriving trade in the region, and we will see rapid economic development. And a year from now, I'll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad named after President Bush." |
