The Common Ills: The ongoing stalemate that is Iraq

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The ongoing stalemate that is Iraq

I took about $30 for this tour. I thought going at midday would make things easier because people would be at home since they fast but I found out that so many people think the same way. The first fuel station I reached was so crowded. Waiting for my turn means waiting for more than an hour in hell. I decided to try somewhere else. I went to another fuel station. There were less people. I saw some young kids buying the fuel near the fuel station. When I looked at the fuel in the plastic tanks they sell, I knew it was a bad quality fuel and that is why few people came to this fuel station but who cares. All I need is fuel to turn on the house generator to have electricity to turn on the air coolers. I waited of my turn and when I filled my car tank, I asked the worker to give me some in a plastic tank I have with me but he refused. he told me that my tank's capacity is 20 liters and he can give me only 5 liters. I told him its ok if he gives me only five litters but again he refused. I went directly to the manager and explained everything so clearly. He told me that the ministry of oil sends some people to check their work. I did not make any comment but I told him "all I can say is I need fuel for my house generator because the private generator in my street was about to explode last night and that is all I can tell you." He looked at me and them told someone to join me. The young man took me to one of the fuel filling machines and said "take the hose and fill your tank." I thanked him and quickly started filling my 20 liters plastic tank and came back home. I filled the tank of the generator. My kids are sleeping now while I am writing this blog enjoying the nice air of the air cooler (not really cold but better than nothing).

The above is from a McClatchy Newspapers Iraqi correspondent's "Bringing us back the old fever" for Inside Iraq. That's the improved Iraq people keep telling you (lying to you) about: Joe Biden, Chris Hill, Barack Obama, etc. There is no improvement, only continued stalemates. It's August, October awaits and, with it, yet another cholera outbreak because what says "developed nation" more than annual cholera outbreaks? Electricity? No, Iraqis can't count on that at present any more than they can count on potable water. Violence? It continues. There is no security.

And that's what the US invasion has created. And, no, the US cannot fix it, the US presence only encourages the cycles to continue. Ralph Lopez' "Wikileaks Soldier Who Found Rocket Launcher at Scene Says No Attack Was Imminent" (Peace of the Action):

The soldier in a now-famous Wikileaks video who found a rocket launcher at the scene of a controversial 2007 Apache helicopter attack, in Baghdad, said in a radio interview this week that he did not believe an ambush was imminent. The video shows 12 men, including two Reuters newsmen, standing on a street corner before being fired upon with the Apache’s 30mm cannon, resulting in what appears to be an unprovoked massacre. The video caused an international outcry after it was leaked to the media by the government watchdog Wikileaks. The presence of the rocket launcher was seized upon by defenders of the attack as proof that the attack was justified, and that this was evidence of an impending ambush.

The soldier, Ethan McCord, can be seen in the video as he runs with a wounded child in his arms to a Bradley armored vehicle, seeking to get the child to help.

“One thing I do need to make clear is that when I came onto the scene I did see an RPG and an AK-47, however, my experience in Iraq is when the locals see someone with a camera, maybe a photographer, someone with a news agency, is they always come out with their weapons, kind of like showing off…look what I have, make me famous, put me in the magazine type of thing…my personal belief is that I do not believe these guys had anything to do with the attacks we were facing earlier, from a few blocks away, these guys were walking around nonchalantly, they weren’t gathering in any kind of formation to do anything to us…”
McCord’s remarks solve the riddle in the minds of many as to why would-be attackers would be standing so casually out in the open and with so little concern for the small but visible pair of Apaches so dreaded by insurgents, and undermines the Pentagon’s conclusion that it was justified.

At one point McCord criticized media war analysts, whom he called “these supposed war analysts [who] were going over this video , who knew nothing of what happened that day…”

Tomorrow on her radio show, Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox, Cindy speaks with Tommy Chong.
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