Issues Surrounding Iraq

Issues Surrounding Iraq

As the year nears the end, the issues surrounding Iraq continue to heat up. On top of the list is what advice, if any, will George Bush accept from the Iraq study group? Right now most of those on the panel agree that U.S. forces should start to pull back and hand over control to the Iraqi government. As late as last week Bush has continued to state that he would not change policy in Iraq. This predetermined decision already gives us at least some insight into how seriously Bush will take any recommendations given by the panel. Let us not forget how Bush had ignored the majority of the recommendations by the 9/11 commission. In fact, the outcome of those hearings on 9/11 were laughable at best shameful and criminal at worst.  Then there is the issue concerning the Robert Gates hearings which begin today. Gates is Bush's replacement for Donald Rumsfield as secretary of defense. Gates is no light weight when it comes to war crimes of human rights violations.

As mentioned above, George W. Bush has a history of ignoring recommendations made by panels. Again, no suggestions made by the 9/11 commission were accepted by the Bush administration outside of those that were clearly the most hawkish. However there are a few differences concerning the Iraq Study Group. First, unlike 2004, George Bush doesn't have an approval rating 50% or better. Second, the backlash over the Iraq war has already left the Republican party scrabbling to pick up the pieces of their once great machine. And many of George W Bush's comrades have been thrown overboard to the sharks, not the least of which is Tom Delay who was once referred to as the hammer but who is now getting nailed. So now George has far less room or "political capital" to cast aside any advise that could help save his political party or put him back in the good graces of those who still maintain their seats in Congress until January. There is allot of bad blood between the Congressional GOP members and those in the executive branch according to various sources. Much of this stems from the late exit of Donald Rumsfeld. But, with all this said, Bush still speaks as if we are still in December 2004 after the elections of that were finalized. This is worth keeping an eye on in the coming months. 

The great political mystery of this new century is, why in the hell are so many people open to Robert Gates? This is what some call national amnesia. In the 1980s he was linked to the Contra dealings that brought in enough cocaine into every US city to get every man woman and child high for weeks. He was also an overseer of the sales of the arms to Iran. Also, Mr. Gates advocated for the invasion of Nicaragua  in June 1987 which lead to the death of thousands in what turned out to be an absolute bloodbath. So if there is any chance that he gets accepted to his position look for a de-politicazion campaign to take attention off Iraq and at the same time increase the US violence in Iraq.

For more on this story checkout the link below. Until next time.

http://www.groundhog.tv/apps/editor/staticplayer.jsp?clip=1165347608011.wmv