Reactions to the election and the "REPORTS"

Bush' cool reception of the Baker Comm. report was to be expected. Apparently there is a fixation on Bush' concept of "victory" and his rejection of Bakers urging of "stability". The"war on terrorism" label has taken on a numbing effect. It has become meaningless. "Terror". is a tactic. It can't be isolated and bombed to smitherines. It is something employed by persons as a means to an end. In the case of Iraq the objective is to cause enough pain to force the "occupiers" out of the country.

The attempt to establish "democracy" in the ME is, at best, a noble idea, but at this juncture, a fantasy. In "The End of Iraq", Peter Galbraith revues the history of the region back to the Ottoman Empire. After WW I the allies carved up the region and created the present geographical/political entities. Ethnicity, religion, or tribal affiliation was not understood and certainly not considered. Ever after various foreign goverments have meddled in the various local governments of the area to suit their own interests. The U.S. has had its hand in many of the factional disputes, sometimes be the fomentor of them, over many years.

Today Bush labels Iran one of those in the "Axis of Evil". At one time we aided Hussein of Iraq in fighting Iran. Then we aided Iran in countering Iraq. It is difficult to follow the twists and turns of our foreign policy over the several years. Another out come of WW I was the creation of Israel by carving up Palestine. The resentment of the Arabs and their desire to eliminate Israel is a root cause of the ME conflagration. In addition to that the alQueda movement started by binLaden stemmed largely from the Arab outrage caused by the stationing of American troops and armament in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. To add insult to injury the U.S. had previosly ousted the government of Iran and restored the Monarchy by reinstalling the Shah. His regime was amost as brutal as Saddam's.

Those historical events have been reinforced recently by Bush Sr. urging the Shiites and Kurds to overthrow Saddam after he was defeated in the Gulf War. When they acted on this they expected U.S. help. Instead, because of a screw-up in the cease fire agreements, Saddam had been allowed to keep his helicopters and Republican Guard units. Dick Cheney, the then Sec'y of Defense ruled that "we didn't want to get into that mess" so no help came. Relatively defenseless the Shiites and Kurds were horribly massacred by the thousands. During Reagan's watch Saddam had used gas to kill thousands of Kurds in his extermination campaign in northern Iraq. During that time Rumsfeld was sent over to arrange U.S. intelligence help to Iraq in its war with Iran. He failed to make any protest to Saddam about the use of gas on the Kurds.

With the above as a backdrop to the current morass the U. S. is in in Iraq I'm sure that the initiation and prosecution of the war is not viewed as Bush would like. He even demanded that Bremer, the Coalition's Czar in Iraq, produce an Iraqi who would profess "thanks to Bush" for the liberation of the nation. Galbraith recounts from first hand experience that two months before the invasion Bush was unaware that there were Sunni and Shiite Iraqis. The present attitude appears to be that Iraqis are a homogeneous populous.

Galbraith's bool has the last chapter titled: How to Get Out of Iraq. I'm hoping to read that shortly.

What a drag. Switching to the "blogger Beta"!!!! Haven't yet had a chance to see what that will do. Anyway here we are in the suburbs of St. Loius called Ballwin. Left home last Thursday, Stayed over night with Nan and Cindy then headed south and west.
Of course Thursday a Canadian Clipper came south and inundated the mid continent with sleet, rain and snow as far down as Texas.
As we drove south the overcast intensified and we eventually ran into heavy rain after Harrisburgh, Pa. There was a warm front coming north and a cold front coming east. the temperture was in the sixtys most of the day. At the height of the rain we could see the blue sky on our right. Eventually we broke through into the clear. To our left there was a north-south bank of cumulus clouds that shone in the slantig sunlight and looked like huge piles of fluffy whipped cream. At the intersection we headed south west until we finally got on I-64 which we followed the rest of the way. This took us over the undulating Apallachin mountain range. There were steep ups and downs and twisting turns for hundreds of miles. The next day we got on to more level ground and the road straightened pretty much. About 40 miles east of SL, the temperture has been droppmg, we began to see ice on the tree branches. With the sun behind them they glinted like crystal. By the time we arrived in Ballwin the snow and ice were in great profusion. Many branches were broken off of trees and roadways were narrow. It was good to stop and be with family. According to the "trip-tick" we travelled 1200 miles in the two days. Probably next time we will fly inspite of the hassle that entails.

In my previous blog I exulted in the election results. The bums are out in good measure but , true to form, the Dems are in some disarray. Many talk sweetness and light but it rmains to be practiced. The Baker Comm. has made its well publisized report. The Pres. has made his standard retort to questions of change. "We will stay till victory is won". In actuality no so called "change" at this time will solve anything as long as Bush is calling the shots. Up to now he hasn't gotten anything right so the liklihood of that record changing is not good.

In pursuit of more definitive information about the war I bought Peter Galbraith's book, "The End Of Iraq". He has been an inside government player for many years and very intimately acquainted with the ME. Through his many contacts and ability to travel extensively he has had first hand experience with the war's venue and the depradations of Saddam Hussein over many years. He is also intimately knowledgeable about the machinations of our own government and its foible during both Rep. and Dem administrations. It is not a pretty picture from any angle. I'm hopeful that the second half of the book contains some practical suggestions for future courses of action. From all reports so far there are very few viable options left to us.