[Rhodes22-list] Politics: A View From The Ground

[Wally Buck]

Steve,

I am not sure how much you know about our military. Speaking out against 
your orders is strongly discouraged.

I have heard of a poll that indicated 60% of the people in Iraq would elect 
Saddam if he were on the ballot. Heck that is higher level of support than 
both of the clowns running here in the US. I don't know anything about the 
poll you mention so I can't comment. I also read that 65% of all people 
surveyed believe polls are correct at least 50% of the time with a degree of 
certainty plus or minus 5%. :-)

It seems to me if things were improving the death toll numbers would be 
decreasing not increasing. It was interesting to hear Bush admit there were 
no WMD!!

Wally


>From: Steve <rhodes2282 at yahoo.com>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: RE: [Rhodes22-list] Politics: A View From The Ground
>Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2004 10:45:30 -0700 (PDT)
>
>The lastest polls I saw confirmed that the vast
>miltary (all branches) supports Bush and that the war
>is going quite well despite how the media is reporting
>it.
>Steve
>
>
>
>--- Wally Buck <tnrhodey at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Bill,
> >
> > I mentioned in an earlier post my nephew is in Iraq
> > training their police
> > force. His describes pretty much the same thing. The
> > situation is much worse
> > than Bush wants us to believe.
> >
> > Wally
> >
> > >From: "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com>
> > >Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
> > <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >To: "R-22" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Politics: A View From The
> > Ground
> > >Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2004 13:09:55 -0400
> > >
> > > >From Baghdad
> > >A Wall Street Journal Reporter's E-Mail to Friends
> > >
> > >by Farnaz Fassihi
> > >
> > >Being a foreign correspondent in Baghdad these days
> > is like being under
> > >virtual house arrest. Forget about the reasons that
> > lured me to this job: a
> > >chance to see the world, explore the exotic, meet
> > new people in far away
> > >lands, discover their ways and tell stories that
> > could make a difference.
> > >
> > >Little by little, day-by-day, being based in Iraq
> > has defied all those
> > >reasons. I am house bound. I leave when I have a
> > very good reason to and a
> > >scheduled interview. I avoid going to people's
> > homes and never walk in the
> > >streets. I can't go grocery shopping any more,
> > can't eat in restaurants,
> > >can't strike a conversation with strangers, can't
> > look for stories, can't
> > >drive in any thing but a full armored car, can't go
> > to scenes of breaking
> > >news stories, can't be stuck in traffic, can't
> > speak English outside, can't
> > >take a road trip, can't say I'm an American, can't
> > linger at checkpoints,
> > >can't be curious about what people are saying,
> > doing, feeling. And can't
> > >and can't. There has been one too many close calls,
> > including a car bomb so
> > >near our house that it blew out all the windows. So
> > now my most pressing
> > >concern every day is not to write a kick-ass story
> > but to stay alive and
> > >make sure our Iraqi employees stay alive. In
> > Baghdad I am a security
> > >personnel first, a reporter second.
> > >
> > >It's hard to pinpoint when the 'turning point'
> > exactly began. Was it April
> > >when the Fallujah fell out of the grasp of the
> > Americans? Was it when
> > >Moqtada and Jish Mahdi declared war on the U.S.
> > military? Was it when Sadr
> > >City, home to ten percent of Iraq's population,
> > became a nightly
> > >battlefield for the Americans? Or was it when the
> > insurgency began
> > >spreading from isolated pockets in the Sunni
> > triangle to include most of
> > >Iraq? Despite President Bush's rosy assessments,
> > Iraq remains a disaster.
> > >If under Saddam it was a 'potential' threat, under
> > the Americans it has
> > >been transformed to 'imminent and active threat,' a
> > foreign policy failure
> > >bound to haunt the United States for decades to
> > come.
> > >
> > >Iraqis like to call this mess 'the situation.' When
> > asked 'how are thing?'
> > >they reply: 'the situation is very bad."
> > >
> > >What they mean by situation is this: the Iraqi
> > government doesn't control
> > >most Iraqi cities, there are several car bombs
> > going off each day around
> > >the country killing and injuring scores of innocent
> > people, the country's
> > >roads are becoming impassable and littered by
> > hundreds of landmines and
> > >explosive devices aimed to kill American soldiers,
> > there are
> > >assassinations, kidnappings and beheadings. The
> > situation, basically, means
> > >a raging barbaric guerilla war. In four days, 110
> > people died and over 300
> > >got injured in Baghdad alone. The numbers are so
> > shocking that the ministry
> > >of health -- which was attempting an exercise of
> > public transparency by
> > >releasing the numbers -- has now stopped disclosing
> > them.
> > >
> > >Insurgents now attack Americans 87 times a day.
> > >
> > >A friend drove thru the Shiite slum of Sadr City
> > yesterday. He said young
> > >men were openly placing improvised explosive
> > devices into the ground. They
> > >melt a shallow hole into the asphalt, dig the
> > explosive, cover it with dirt
> > >and put an old tire or plastic can over it to
> > signal to the locals this is
> > >booby-trapped. He said on the main roads of Sadr
> > City, there were a dozen
> > >landmines per every ten yards. His car snaked and
> > swirled to avoid driving
> > >over them. Behind the walls sits an angry Iraqi
> > ready to detonate them as
> > >soon as an American convoy gets near. This is in
> > Shiite land, the
> > >population that was supposed to love America for
> > liberating Iraq.
> > >
> > >For journalists the significant turning point came
> > with the wave of
> > >abduction and kidnappings. Only two weeks ago we
> > felt safe around Baghdad
> > >because foreigners were being abducted on the roads
> > and highways between
> > >towns. Then came a frantic phone call from a
> > journalist female friend at 11
> > >p.m. telling me two Italian women had been abducted
> > from their homes in
> > >broad daylight. Then the two Americans, who got
> > beheaded this week and the
> > >Brit, were abducted from their homes in a
> > residential neighborhood. They
> > >were supplying the entire block with round the
> > clock electricity from their
> > >generator to win friends. The abductors grabbed one
> > of them at 6 a.m. when
> > >he came out to switch on the generator; his
> > beheaded body was thrown back
> > >near the neighborhoods.
> > >
> > >The insurgency, we are told, is rampant with no
> > signs of calming down. If
> > >any thing, it is growing stronger, organized and
> > more sophisticated every
> > >day. The various elements within it-baathists,
> > criminals, nationalists and
> > >Al Qaeda-are cooperating and coordinating.
> > >
> > >I went to an emergency meeting for foreign
> > correspondents with the military
> > >and embassy to discuss the kidnappings. We were
> > somberly told our fate
> > >would largely depend on where we were in the
> > kidnapping chain once it was
> > >determined we were missing. Here is how it goes:
> > criminal gangs grab you
> > >and sell you up to Baathists in Fallujah, who will
> > in turn sell you to Al
> > >Qaeda. In turn, cash and weapons flow the other way
> > from Al Qaeda to the
> > >Baathisst to the criminals. My friend Georges, the
> > French journalist
> > >snatched on the road to Najaf, has been missing for
> > a month with no word on
> > >release or whether he is still alive.
> > >
> > >America's last hope for a quick exit? The Iraqi
> > police and National Guard
> > >units we are spending billions of dollars to train.
> > The cops are being
> > >murdered by the dozens every day-over 700 to date
> > -- and the insurgents are
> > >infiltrating their ranks. The problem is so serious
> > that the U.S. military
> > >has allocated $6 million dollars to buy out 30,000
> > cops they just trained
> > >to get rid of them quietly.
> > >
> > >As for reconstruction: firstly it's so unsafe for
> > foreigners to operate
> > >that almost all projects have come to a halt. After
> > two years, of the $18
> > >billion Congress appropriated for Iraq
> > reconstruction only about $1 billion
> > >or so has been spent and a chuck has now been
> > reallocated for improving
> > >security, a sign of just how bad things are going
> > here.
> > >
> > >Oil dreams? Insurgents disrupt oil flow routinely
> > as a result of sabotage
> > >and oil prices have hit record high of $49 a
> > barrel. Who did this war
> > >exactly benefit? Was it worth it? Are we safer
> > because Saddam is holed up
> > >and Al Qaeda is running around in Iraq?
> > >
> > >Iraqis say that thanks to America they got freedom
> > in exchange for
> > >insecurity. Guess what? They say they'd take
> > security over freedom any day,
> > >even if it means having a dictator ruler.
> > >
> > >I heard an educated Iraqi say today that if Saddam
> > Hussein were allowed to
> > >run for elections he would get the majority of the
> > vote. This is truly sad.
> > >
> > >Then I went to see an Iraqi scholar this week to
> > talk to him about
> > >elections here. He has been trying to educate the
> > public on the importance
> > >of voting. He said, "President Bush wanted to turn
> > Iraq into a democracy
> > >that would be an example for the Middle East.
> > Forget about democracy,
> > >forget about being a model for the region, we have
> > to salvage Iraq before
> > >all is lost."
> > >
> > >One could argue that Iraq is already lost beyond
> > salvation. For those of us
> > >on the ground it's hard to imagine what if any
> > thing could salvage it from
> > >its violent downward spiral. The genie of
> > terrorism, chaos and mayhem has
> > >been unleashed onto this country as a result of
> > American mistakes and it
> > >can't be put back into a bottle.
> > >
> > >The Iraqi government is talking about having
> > elections in three months
> > >while half of the country remains a 'no go
> > zone'-out of the hands of the
> > >government and the Americans and out of reach of
> > journalists. In the other
> > >half, the disenchanted population is too terrified
> > to show up at polling
> > >stations. The Sunnis have already said they'd
> > boycott elections, leaving
> > >the stage open for polarized government of Kurds
> > and Shiites that will not
> > >be deemed as legitimate and will most certainly
> > lead to civil war.
> > >
> > >I asked a 28-year-old engineer if he and his family
> > would participate in
> > >the Iraqi elections since it was the first time
> > Iraqis could to some degree
> > >elect a leadership. His response summed it all: "Go
> > and vote and risk being
> > >blown into pieces or followed by the insurgents and
> > murdered for
> > >cooperating with the Americans? For what? To
> > practice democracy? Are you
> > >joking?"
> > >
> > >Farnaz Fassihi, a Wall Street Journal reporter sent
> > this report as an
> > >e-mail to friends.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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> > >
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> > web browser:
> >
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> > >
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> > >http://www.QuoteWithoutComment.com
> > >
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