Here we go again. Another turning point ... or so they say. While nobody can deny that the getting rid of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a good thing, aren't we all getting a little bored with the tired rhetoric of the president and his lackeys? This war has more turning points than Liz Taylor has husbands. Here are just a few:
From Iraq: Bush Twists and Turns - by Eric Hananok:
"... March 19, 2004, on the anniversary of when military forces entered Iraq to enforce United Nations demands: "Today, as Iraqis join the free peoples of the world, we mark a turning point for the Middle East, and a crucial advance for human liberty."
June 16, 2004, on the transfer of the Iraq governing authority to a sovereign interim government: "A turning point will come two weeks from today."
January 29, 2005, on Iraqis heading to the polls: "Tomorrow the world will witness a turning point in the history of Iraq."
December 12, 2005, in a speech looking back at the year in Iraq: "Thanks to the courage of the Iraqi people, the year 2005 will be recorded as a turning point in the history of Iraq, the history of the Middle East, and the history of freedom."
May 1, 2006, on the prospects of a new government in Iraq: "This is a -- we believe this is a turning point for the Iraqi citizens.""
May 22, 2006 - At the swearing-in of Iraq's new cabinet, "Yet, we have now reached a turning point in the struggle between freedom and terror." -- Bush: Insurgents now fighting democracy in Iraq
And those don't even include the many "milestones" or turning points cited by others in his administration: Iraq:Turning Point or Tipping Point?
The thing is, al-Zarqawi wouldn't have risen to such a height without our creating a situation ripe for him to capitalize on: the destabilization of Iraq. We don't just create our heroes. We create our enemies. We created Bin Laden.
His capture and killing may cause another problem. The Bush administration have extensively used his presence there as a way of justifying the Al Qaeda/Iraq connection. With him gone, how can we continue to stay there?
Bush and the Republicans get the best of both worlds. They get the short-term political capital of a perceived success ... which they will promptly try to use to shove through something completed unrelated (repeal of estate tax, marriage amendment, anti-flag burning, etc.). Yet they realize that the temporary positive in the "war on terror" doesn't fundamentally change anything. There still we be fighting in a foreign land. We will be no closer to end to the war. And the great military-industrial complex rolls on. After all, you can't have the people afraid all of the time. You have to give them a bone occasionally to allow them to catch their breath. But, don't worry, they'll be back next week drumming up support for a new war.
The most disgusting aspect is the palpable joy of some (especially on FOX), not unlike when Saddam was captured. Was his capture and was al-Zarqawi's death worth the almost 2500 U.S. military deaths and the 40,000 Iraqi civilian deaths? Have we accomplished anything? Is the world safer or are we just breeding new Bin Ladens and al-Zarqawi's?
See also:
Bush Stays the Course on "Turning Point" Rhetoric
"Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful" -- Friedrich Nietzsche
6 comments:
Perhaps the best understanding of the Middle East and the religion, culture and politics that drive it comes from Juan Cole at Informed Comment. I've heard him interviewed numerous times on Al Franken's show. He's very scholarly and doesn't grind any particular political axe.
Like the killing of one man (actually 5 men, a woman & a child) is going to make any difference. Didn't he have deputies and 2nd, 3rd and 4th in Commands?
Targetted assassination by your enemies is how these people get promoted!
Now we wait for the reprisals.
"Now we wait for the reprisals." -- Exactly, to think that someone else will not step up to fill the same shoes is naive.
Um, and also - isn't he part of a movement that valorizes martyrdom? If anything, his death will be used to strenghten his movement. Someone else will take his place, and nothing will change.
It would be nice to believe that this is a "tipping point"! But considering that 95% of the violence in Iraq is commited by Iraqis against Iraqis..... don't anyone hold there breath!
Some people say that when you lie you should come clean while others would argue that when you start with a lie, you should stick with it no matter what. I'm pretty sure I know where on this simple moral scale this administration falls. Let's just say, they screw up the bell curve on the negative end.
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