Dear Condi

[welshTerrier2]

this "sensitive" memo which was leaked to the press appeared in the British press today and was quite obviously never meant to go public ... the letter, written by the widely respected US Ambassador to Iraq, Kahlilzad, to Secretary of State Condi Rice, paints a very, very dark picture indeed ...

the Ambassador's letter shows the utter futility to accepting even one more day in Iraq ... proposals for another year of this madness are nothing more than political nonsense ...

source: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1090905.ece

A leaked cable from the US embassy in Baghdad signed by the ambassador paints a grim picture of Iraq as a country disintegrating in which the real rulers are the militias, and the central government counts for nothing. <skip>

The US and Britain have said they would withdraw their troops as the security situation improved, though the embassy memo suggests that it was, in fact, deteriorating. <skip>

The vulnerability of the US position in Baghdad is so great that the Iraqi military units guarding the perimeter of the Green Zone, the heart of US power in Iraq, are now considered untrustworthy. <skip>

Based on the experiences of the nine-member Iraq staff of the public affairs press office in the US embassy, the cable portrays a society in a state of collapse. The cable admits that the unpopularity of the American presence in Iraq is the reason why Iraqis working for the US dare not reveal the identity of their employer even to family. <skip>

The government of Nouri al-Maliki, greeted with such acclaim by the US and Britain, has little impact on ordinary Iraqis because real power lies with militias and local power brokers. (so much for Kerry's "effective unity government") ...

[AuntiBush]

1. Kicked

Heading to bed, but gave her a kick-boost for others. Thanks, welshTerrier2.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. That is some memo. Everyone should read that

probably the closest thing to truth that anyone in the **administration has ever written.

[Erika]

3. Great article. Unfortunately, gloom and doom is realism

W has screwed this country in every direction imaginable.

[lyonn]

4. Sensitive memo is right

It is becoming terribly obvious that the Iraqi military and police are infiltrated with people that have their own plan for Iraq and it appears to be different from those, or at least some, running the country. They are gathering around our troops, embassy, bases and all strategic sites where Americans and British are located. The 2 year old story of 2 U.S. soldiers being killed by Iraqi troops plus the 2 that were captured at a road block last week, tells a story. They seem to be taking over our troops, slowly. How in the hell do we deal with that with 130 thousand worn out troops? We are being "gamed" over there I'm afraid and Rummy doesn't know how in the hell to fix it. He finally must realise doing the same thing over an over again and getting the same results is insanity and in his case senile.

[welshTerrier2]

6. there are two schools of thought here ...

one is, that bush, rumsfeld et al are totally incompetent and don't know how to "fix Iraq" ... we see all kinds of articles calling for rumsfeld's resignation and talking about how he's out of touch with our military experts ... that's school number one ...

but school number two is much darker ... this school teaches that bush has been highly successful in Iraq ... how can this be, you may ask? this school teaches that bush's mission in Iraq is very, very different from the "advertised mission" ... he doesn't want stability in Iraq ... he needs an excuse to keep the US military there while Big Oil establishes itself ... this is exactly what happened in Afghanistan ... if you look at a map of US military bases, i.e. permanent military bases, they run right along the new oil pipeline which is exactly why bush went into Afghanistan in the first place ...

school number two in Iraq? bush is achieving exactly what he wanted to achieve ... big oil has had record profits ... PSA's have been forced on the Iraqi government that basically give away almost 85% of Iraq's future oil revenues to external oil companies ... some may think bush is incompetent; they need to take a deeper look ...

those who pull his puppet strings are more than content to have him take a political hit (he's a lame duck anyway) ... he's making them billions upon billions upon billions for generations to come ...

sign me up for school number two ...

[lyonn]

8. School No. 2 is probably a good guess

We went into Iraq for oil. Someone told me at the beginning of our attack on Afghanistan that the pipe line deal was a biggie for the bushies. From what you describe this makes your No. 2 real. But, I think with all their clever dealings they didn't bother to think about the possible consequences if they failed to at least keep a semblance of peace there so they could get that oil out. Hey, maybe they are getting the oil out. But if they lose this election and 08 how will that keep them stealing, raping and pillaging? How long can we keep troops there before the Iraqis begin to massacre them. Guess we could keep bombing.

I do take into account the PNAC bible. It makes sense the bushies want bases all over the ME and more oil at their command. Whatever the bushies have in mind it doesn't appear to be working that well. I think they are nuts. Have they trapped themselves into a corner?

[Stinky The Clown]

11. I'll subscribe to School Number 2 ... and in fact have always felt

that to be the true reason. Indeed, School 2 should be obvious to anyone who is paying attention.

There are legitimate grounds to debate what to do about this, today, but there can be no doubt as to the underlying reality. What happened in our names in Iraq is a War Crime, pure and simple.

[welshTerrier2]

12. the question i keep raising is ...

is knowledge of and resistance to School 2 represented in our government? do we have a meaningful voice in the media? do the American people have access to our reasons for believing in School 2? is it "left wing" to believe that School 2 is running our government?

and perhaps the most dangerous question, is the Democratic Party "in on it"????? if they are, how do we effect change in the country???

[Stinky The Clown]

13. I'm going to call the Dem position on this 'hopeless complicity'

I'll bet you can guess what I mean, but let me explain.

I honestly believe that most everyone *knows* what's going on. But they may not have irrefutible proof of it. In fact, I suspect neither you nor I, nor anyone else in opposition to this bunch of criminals have any proof. Lots of circumstantial stuff. Lots of patterns of action. Lots of bits and pieces, but nothing hard to give to a Patrick Fitzgerald type.

And until such evidence surfaces, our side's elected leadership will not 'go there'. None of them will stand up and say clearly when they know in their hearts but can't prove in a court.

And imagine if one or two of them did say such a thing. No one would back them up and every pipe in the massive collection of pipes that make up The Great Wurlitzer would be operating on a full head of steam.

And so they don't even hint at it.

That's not right and that's not brave, but I honestly think that's what it is.

And so, instead of saying what they know to be true, they go along quietly. Hopeless complicity.

[welshTerrier2]

14. on "knowing"

much is known ... the great conspiracy, which btw extends well beyond just the bush administration, has a well documented and very ugly resume ...

check out this link: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/36463

it raises some very tangible points about Big Oil's grab of Iraqi oil ... and there's plenty more where that came from ...

fear of the Great Wurlitzer may indeed have cowards a-cowering ... their silence, or complicity, is destroying the country ... we need leaders who are called to a higher purpose than narrow election concerns ...

those who are respected for putting it on the line for America will reap a rich harvest ... in the end, the best policies will make the best politics ... cowards, though, are afraid to take that leap of faith ... too many of them have given away the store to their soulless, rudderless political consultants ...

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

5. OH MY WHAT A SURPRISE

WHAT DID THE ASSHOLES EXPECT! THAT AFTER WE BLOW THEM UP THEY WOULD LOVE US? SUCH SMALL LEADERS WE HAVE.

[welshTerrier2]

9. bush doesn't want the violence to end yet ...

welcome to DU, When Crabs Roar !!

the problem is not just that the US occupation is unpopular with the Iraqi people but also that our presence can't possibly quell the sectarian violence ... and frankly, i don't believe bush wants the violence to end ... it's given him a perfectly plausible justification for keeping troops in Iraq while the new oil fields, controlled by Big Oil, are developed ...

[IndyOp]

10. WCR - Welcome to DU!

:hi:

Can you turn the caps lock off? If you need it on to see then okay, but if you could live without it that would be nice. Typing in all caps is considered YELLING.

[jarnocan]

15. does kind of make you feel like

screaming. But so much of this BU**SH** does. Guess we can't yell all the time.

[welshTerrier2]

7. here's a link to more of the memo

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0620-01.htm

[Supersedeas]

16. thanks for the link...wonder when the astute Dr. Rice will make a public

response to this memo....my guess, never...it's not in the PR manual.