Self-Masochism II Posted by Michael Cohen

As if watching Dick Cheney on Larry King was not challenging enough to the soul I went to see Charles Ferguson's new documentary No End in Sight the other night about the occupation of Iraq. For those of you who have read Fiasco or Assassin's Gate much of the material will seem old hat, but there is something about seeing the breathtaking incompetence of our occupation of Iraq laid out in an hour and forty minute documentary that will . . . well take your breath away. It's almost as if we said "how can we screw up every single element of this occupation and get nothing right." Bingo - you have Iraq, circa the Summer of 2007.

It's hard to figure out what areas to specifically highlight about the film since there are so many stirring and disturbing images. Certainly, after seeing it and then watching Rummy on the Hill yesterday provided me with a further reminder that there actually was someone in the Bush Administration more despicable and deranged than Dick Cheney. 

However, one element really jumped out at me - the Iraqi people really were and remain a sideshow to this Administration. Now I'm not going to sit here and argue that the Iraqis had it made under Saddam's sociopathic rule. But, considering that we invaded and occupied their country, a certain responsibility falls on the United States for the terrible fate that has befallen the Iraqis since March 2003. When you watch what we did in the first few months of the occupation it seems obvious that we could have cared less what happened to them after the invasion. "Liberation" was always just a catch phrase for this Administration. The Iraqis were simply pawns in our foreign policy game.

Sure we prepared for a humanitarian crisis (although the cynical could argue this driven by public relations), but the political, economic and social needs of the Iraqis seemed to be pretty low on our list of concerns. Obviously we made no effort to provide security, we allowed the looting to go on unabated (the great underreported story of the Iraq war), and we put little to no thought into what type of political regime would replace Saddam. Certainly, by even countenancing a post-Saddam, Chalabi regime we were more than happy to replace one strongman with another (although one far less benign).  When the Administration threw the Ba'aths out of power, disbanded the military or even instituted ridiculous economic reforms like a flat tax, lack of capital controls and 100% foreign ownership of Iraqi companies outside the oil industry, I'm hard pressed to find any evidence that the best interests of the Iraqi people were their chief concern. Since the beginning of this war the Administration has treated the Iraqis more like guinea pigs for their political and economic ideology rather than a people worthy of our respect and assistance. And most disturbing, as the Onion brilliantly satirizes, their suffering seems to have little impact on our national psyche.

Now some would argue, "we liberated them" - what more do you want? It's true we did liberate them from a terrible dictator, but I'm amazed to say this, we've actually made their lives worse. Consider that for a second: we replaced one of the worst sociopathic dictators of the 20th century and we've created a worse situation with more suffering, more death and more fear and uncertainty. The chance of random kidnapping, rape or murder for an ordinary Iraqi has actually increased. That's not easy to do.

Even now, we seem reluctant to admit Iraqi refugees, even those who worked for the occupation, into our country. And as my colleague Heather Hurlburt notes it's not just the Administration that deserves a black mark for that one. Besides the obvious importance of bringing the troops home, providing a safe haven for displaced Iraqis should be a top priority for this Congress.

I'm quite sure that when the history books are written, we will be bombarded by further tales of incompetence, arrogance and venality by this Administration (I suppose we already are). Tragically, the terrible hardships and suffering we've imposed on the Iraqi people will likely continue to be a mere footnote. It shouldn't, because in some respects, it is our greatest moral failing in this terrible and unnecessary war.

Comments

[Don Bacon]

And it goes on, with Americans of every stripe weighing in on how much force for how long should be applied in Iraq, a "sovereign" country. They think that we have the right to do this because we're special, don't you know. So the presidential candidates are now experts on this subject. Should we bomb Iraq more, or less? How about Afghanistan and Pakistan, we don't want to leave them out. The Paks have nukes so that should be interesting. Syria sounds good. Somalia--we did that recently. I guess Iran's at the top of the list, though. Iranians need to be either liberated or punished, depending on the phase of the moon or something.

China, Russia, Germany, France, Brazil, and a hundred other countries don't act this way, but we're special, don't you know. The US has something to offer--death and destruction.

No end in sight, for sure.