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August 29, 2006
The passage below is a paragraph from an excerpt of the Epilogue to Perilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy, by Noam Chomsky & Gilbert Achcar.The excerpt was posted on Juan Cole's Informed Comment Gilbert Achcar says:
Now, if U.S. forces in Iraq are to be compared to a firefighting force, the truth of the matter is that they are led by highly dangerous arsonists! Ever since the occupation started, the situation in Iraq has steadily and relentlessly deteriorated: This is the undeniable truth, which only blatant liars like those in Washington can deny, insisting that the situation is improving in the face of glaring evidence to the contrary. Iraq is caught in a vicious circle: The occupation fuels the insurgency, which stirs up the sectarian tension that Washington's proconsul strives to fan by political means, which in turn is used to justify the continuing occupation.
Achcar says that the only way this burning circle of sectarian violence is the immediate total and unconditional withdrawal of U.S. troops.
I cannot see this withdrawal happening, given that the imperial divide and rule tactics of the US are designed to foster the neocon's geopolitical strategy of achieving hegemony in the Middle East. So a low grade civil war and the disintegration of the Iraqi state will continue. The danger is that Iranian influence will increase as American influence wanes. Though we have the beating of the neo-con war drums against Iran the U.S. will have to accept the reality of Iran's geopolitical power even if Lebanon still remains under Israeli blockade by air and sea and Gaza remains under an intensified Israeli lockdown.
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The WaPo's Outlook section had another round of Iraq op-eds on what to do. I just glanced over them, it is obvious Washington isn't listening. White House policy appears to simply be "There will be US forces in Iraq."
There doesn't appear to be any depth beyond that.