WP: As Violence Deepens, So Does Pessimism

[kskiska]

Tuesday, May 18, 2004; Page A01

BAGHDAD, May 17 -- With stunning brazenness, pinpoint timing and devastating force, the suicide car bomber who killed the head of Iraq's Governing Council on Monday gave shape to a feeling among Iraqi and U.S. officials and common citizens that the country is almost unmanageable.

With the transfer of limited powers to a new Iraqi government scheduled to take place in six weeks, U.S. and allied forces have been unable to eradicate threats to Iraq's stability, and no one has predicted a reduction in violence before the June 30 handover.

U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is trying to create the caretaker government that will assume authority, but on Monday debate over the details of his plan took a back seat to a more basic question: If Iraq's titular president, Izzedin Salim, can be blown up at the gates of occupation headquarters, what kind of country is being handed over to Iraqis?

"We could not imagine the deterioration leading to such a point. It's getting worse day after day, and no one has been able to put an end to it. Who is going to protect the next government, no matter what kind it is?" said Abdul Jalil Mohsen, a former Iraqi general and member of the Iraqi National Accord, a prominent party represented on the U.S.-appointed Governing Council, which Salim headed this month under a rotating system.

(snip)

"Just look around," said Bakran Ohan, who sells baby clothes. "Do you see any police? Any soldiers? There is a complete lack of security. It won't change from day to night on June 30."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34643-2004May17.html

[whistle]

1. Bush is toast!

...But, we have to protect our troops and get them out of Iraq as soon as possible.

[CharlesGroce]

3. yep

Dennis Kucinich for President!

[bahrbearian]

5. Yes he is still in there.

[Beetwasher]

2. One Of The Most Monumental Fuck-Ups In All Of Human History

I'm not kidding and not being hyperbolic. I'm dead fucking serious.

When you consider the amount of lives in the balance and the amount of destructive power that each side is capable of weilding, it's obvious that this is the biggest fuck-up ever.

[shanti]

4. funny thing is

that if people had looked at the chimp's record instead of his image, they would have been appalled and never voted for him...he's running this country exactly how he ran his business ventures.

[Lou_C]

12. He didn't win the election

I think that they stole alot more votes then we will ever know.

[struggle4progress]

9. I hope we can fix some of this ...

without everything blowing up in our face. I don't see how we can continue the present sort of occupation without major blowback. But if we try to cut and run, if Iraq disintegrates into provinces, if Turkey gets nervous about Kurdish ambitions, if the Iranians decide they need to join the mix, if folks start squabbling over the oil ... there could still be a major source of regional instability :nuke:

[Trajan]

6. "You break it ... You own it .. "

Colin Powell to George Bush ....

[City Lights]

7. FUBAR n/t

[demgrrrll]

8. Chalabi owns or has some interest in Erinsys which is a security

organization which employs 14,000. I didn't know that
his nephew Salem had some sort of law partnership connection
with Feith. I just read an article which likened what is
going on with rebuilding contracts to a "gold rush" mentality.
All these people dead and maimed so a handful could profit
monetarily. What a tragedy.

[daleo]

10. I wonder how safe Bremer is?

It seems to me that whoever did today's car bomb must have had some pretty good inside information and/or access.

"When the Iraqi National Accord issued a letter of condolence after Salim's slaying, it noted that six of its members have been killed over the past six months. Salim is the second Governing Council member to be killed since the group's formation last summer."

[dArKeR]

11. So Bush is bringing back Saddam as President of Iraq. Or let who's

guilty of less war crimes can be President of Iraq!!!

Even with economic sanctions Iraq wasn't in this turmoil. I wonder if common Arab people feel the same way about aWol as I do just when I look at him and hear a few words. 'This is what United States of America TOP universities produce as MBA graduates? This man looks psychotic at the very least. You can throw all the Media Whores you want at us. Maybe your American sheeple believe it but we believe you personally ordered perverted sadistic sexual torture of Arab people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.'

[ConcernedCanuk]

13. The US "appointing" someone is "the Kiss of Death"

.
.
.

don't they get it yet?

ANYONE appointed, or supported by the US will be a target.

Let the Iraqis CHOOSE their leader for chrissakes . . .

The Iraqis don't want the US there, and they sure aren't going to support anyone that the US does.

Maybe if the US "supports" al-Sadr the Iraqis will "do" him for the US? :shrug:

Something to think about.

:freak:

[enough]

14. Where are the Superpower's super powers?

snip>

Inside the Green Zone, the heavily fortified U.S. administration compound that Salim was about to enter when the suicide bomber struck, expectations are grim. "It will take a lot of doing for this not to end in a debacle," a senior occupation official said. "There is no confidence in the coalition. Why should there be?"

snip>