By Madibeng Kgwete, posted on: 11 January 2007
United States President George W. Bush has just recently outlined his new “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq”, admitting, for the first time, that: “Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me”.
The consequences of failure in Iraq, according to Bush, are that “radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons”.
It is very interesting how Bush, of all elements, hastened to implicate Iran and Syria in his failures. The US president may very well be signaling his next target after Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and now Somalia. The war-mongering Bush just won’t stop fighting, it seems.
Also very interesting is how Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, jumped to Bush’s defence, as reported in the Australian newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald.
According to the newspaper, Howard said after Bush announced his new strategy that: “An American or Western defeat in Iraq would give an unbelievable boost to terrorism."
Since launching its mission in 2003 -- initially searching for “weapons of mass destruction” -- till today, now in search of Al-Qaeda terrorists, the US has largely been at the receiving end of Iraqi extremists, with the US having just buried its 3000th soldier killed in the war. Now we are in 2007 and there is still hope for victory!
Effective as the White House propaganda machine may be, we should not be fooled into believing that there can be any victor out of Bush’s “war on terror”. The war has already done so much damage to America’s reputation that any hope of victory should be described as pipe-dreaming.
The only solution to the Iraqi stalemate would be an American admission that its exportation of democracy through the barrel of the gun would not work. The US has had smarter presidents from which Bush should have gotten a few valuable tips.
While outlining his Iraq strategy, Bush also spoke of mobilizing “talented American civilians to deploy overseas, where they can help build democratic institutions in communities and nations recovering from war and tyranny”. Yet the biggest tyranny is the US itself.
What Bush has just outlined as the new Strategy for Victory in Iraq has already failed before implementation. That is because the initial invasion of Iraq was based on lies, that there are “weapons of mass destruction” in that country. We should have been told the truth in the first place.
Bush and his allies should have heard freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi saying: “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil is permanent”.
United States President George W. Bush has just recently outlined his new “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq”, admitting, for the first time, that: “Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me”.
The consequences of failure in Iraq, according to Bush, are that “radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons”.
It is very interesting how Bush, of all elements, hastened to implicate Iran and Syria in his failures. The US president may very well be signaling his next target after Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and now Somalia. The war-mongering Bush just won’t stop fighting, it seems.
Also very interesting is how Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, jumped to Bush’s defence, as reported in the Australian newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald.
According to the newspaper, Howard said after Bush announced his new strategy that: “An American or Western defeat in Iraq would give an unbelievable boost to terrorism."
Since launching its mission in 2003 -- initially searching for “weapons of mass destruction” -- till today, now in search of Al-Qaeda terrorists, the US has largely been at the receiving end of Iraqi extremists, with the US having just buried its 3000th soldier killed in the war. Now we are in 2007 and there is still hope for victory!
Effective as the White House propaganda machine may be, we should not be fooled into believing that there can be any victor out of Bush’s “war on terror”. The war has already done so much damage to America’s reputation that any hope of victory should be described as pipe-dreaming.
The only solution to the Iraqi stalemate would be an American admission that its exportation of democracy through the barrel of the gun would not work. The US has had smarter presidents from which Bush should have gotten a few valuable tips.
While outlining his Iraq strategy, Bush also spoke of mobilizing “talented American civilians to deploy overseas, where they can help build democratic institutions in communities and nations recovering from war and tyranny”. Yet the biggest tyranny is the US itself.
What Bush has just outlined as the new Strategy for Victory in Iraq has already failed before implementation. That is because the initial invasion of Iraq was based on lies, that there are “weapons of mass destruction” in that country. We should have been told the truth in the first place.
Bush and his allies should have heard freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi saying: “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil is permanent”.
1 comment:
I highly comment you for this scholarly work. Infact words cannot so enough express my deep and sincere appriciation and support for this schlarly work. You don't have to be a visiting professor in one of the so called advanced university to do a good scholarly work. Unlike these predicdable self proclaimed analysists [Xolela Mangcu et al], you give a true reflection of the political objective reality in Africa and the world [Globalisation]. I wish these so called institutues [Idasa, HRCSA ect]will notice your reaidings and analysis and begin to promote it. keep up the fire burning young man. Kgale Funky Maila.
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