Operation Iraqi Freedom Exposed: Bush Negotiates Permanent Presence in Iraq
The revelation that Bush will sign an agreement for a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq before his term is up confirms the real reason he invaded Iraq and changed its regime.
It was never about weapons of mass destruction. It was never about ties between Saddam and al Qaeda. And it was never about bringing democracy to the Iraqi people. These claims were lies to cover up the real motive for Operation Iraqi Freedom: to create a permanent American presence in Iraq. With Bush’s November 26, 2007 announcement that the United States and Iraq were negotiating a permanent “security relationship,” his lies have been exposed.
Bush declared, Iraqi leaders “understand that their success will require U.S. political, economic, and security engagement that extends beyond my presidency.” His outline for the permanent U.S.-Iraqi “Economic” relationship is “to encourage the flow of foreign investments to Iraq.” Two senior Iraqi officials told the Associated Press that Bush is negotiating preferential treatment for U.S. investments.
This isn’t the first time Bush has tried to turn Iraq into an investment haven for U.S. oil companies. He used to tout the “Iraqi oil law,” which would transfer control of three-quarters of Iraq’s oil to foreign companies, as the benchmark for Iraqi progress. But in the face of opposition by the Iraqi oil unions, the parliament has refused to pass that law.
All along, Bush has been building mega-bases In Iraq. Camp Anaconda, which sits on 15 square miles of Iraqi soil, has a pool, gym, theater, beauty salon, school and six apartment buildings. Our $600 million American embassy in the Green Zone just opened. The largest embassy in the world, it is a self-contained city with no need for Iraqi electricity, food or water.
Although Bush has negotiated terms to keep U.S. troops in Iraq in perpetuity, the majority of American people oppose a permanent American occupation of Iraq.
So do many Iraqis. University of Michigan Juan Cole’s blog, “Informed Comment,” cited an Al-Hayat report in Arabic that the Sadr Movement and the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front rejected the “memorandum of understanding” between the United States and Iraq that Bush and Nuri al-Maliki signed. These groups say this agreement would be illegal unless agreed to by the legislature, and they complain about the absence of any timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
No wonder Iraqis oppose the U.S. occupation. The organization Just Foreign Policy has estimated that 1,118,846 Iraqis have been killed since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. Australian born journalist John Pilger wrote, “The scale of death caused by the British and U.S. governments may well have surpassed that of the Rwanda genocide, making it the biggest single act of mass murder of the late 20th century and the 21st century.”
Yet Congress refuses to reign in the President. When Bush announced that violence is down in Baghdad so he can withdraw 5,000 troops, the Democratic candidates cheered, diverting their criticism to the lack of political progress in Iraq. But with so many Iraqis dead, there are fewer to kill.
We the people have to keep the pressure on. As we demand the United States withdraw completely from Iraq, we must also forbid Bush to attack Iran. Our voices must be heard - by Congress, by the media, and throughout the world.
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and President of the National Lawyers Guild. Her new book, Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law, was just published. Her articles are archived at http://www.marjoriecohn.com.
How long before Iraq is flooded with fanatical and well armed evangelical Christian missionaries in Phase I of Operation Convert or Die? Blackwater mercs carrying bibles. They will spread out from the Green Zone and the military megabases in the ludicrous attempt by George Wanker Bush and his ilk to destroy Islam in that country and then move on from there. That, too, was a prime factor in invading and occupying Iraq. There is nothing too evil or too absurd that this scum will not attempt.
Can any halfway intelligent being honestly claim to be surprised by this agreement?
jj
*Yawn*
I mean, it’s all true, but it was old news in 2004 …and there’s that tinge of hyperbole: “Our voices must be heard - by Congress, by the media, and throughout the world.” Everything’s clear and there are no questions here, but one: what the hell do we do now? Unfortunately, there’s little to do but sit back and watch somebody else (who may be, for all purposes, less-qualified than you or I) answer in our name. History, not pessemism, tells us this.
Once these idiots are out of office they will be indicted for war crimes just like the Nazi leaders were after ww2. Our law does not allow double jeapordy, thats why impeachment is off the table. These idiots continue to hang themselves with their illegal activities. This is sort of like gathering
information using a wiretap where you tape everything until you have more than enough information to arrest, but we all know how chimpy and the dick are with executive priveledge so like I say, once they are out of office, out come the hand cuffs and no chance for pardon.
This criminal cabal has lied,cheated,neglected,invaded,murdered,leaked,deceived & tortured. They have essentially told America to shove it;we do what we want and you’re going to pay us and they get away with it. Since congressional Dumocrats can’t do anything, what has to happen to get rid of this guy.
What is it that will get us lazy Americans of our butts? The only thing that would wake up the populace is if he shoots an upper middle class white baby on live TV. In the White House! It would also have to be during prime time when the most people are watching Dancing with the Stars or something, otherwise Hannity,Limbaugh,Coulter et al will say: “We don’t know all the facts.” “If shooting babies is so bad why did’nt the Democrats stop him.” etc etc.
Thanks Keith Knight.
“We the people have to keep the pressure on. As we demand the United States withdraw completely from Iraq, we must also forbid Bush to attack Iran. Our voices must be heard - by Congress, by the media, and throughout the world.”
Which people? The people of Iraq? Of the US? Last time I looked, the New Rome didn’t appear to be listening to any voices, or feeling any pressure.
There seems to be some bipartisan understanding that our “Camp Anacondas” will continue to slither into whatever parts of the world suit our interests or provide the resources we covet. I doubt whether We the People will be consulted in this. If we’re lucky, we might get bread and circus.
“With Bush’s November 26, 2007 announcement that the United States and Iraq were negotiating a permanent ’security relationship,’ his lies have been exposed.”
They weren’t before?
This has been clear for a long time as Naomi Klein, among others, has been telling us since 2003, if not earlier. Potential corporate profits have always constituted the most important unmentioned reason for the invasion. What mystifies me is that the corporate media can continue to pretend that the administration’s tale regarding Iraq is believable and was made in good faith. I do not understand why Rove is being villified for merely going one iota further than the corporate media does regularly when he recently communicated his easily refutable version of history.
This construction and spending will be the demise of the US imperial dreams. We will be spending beyond our means and china is happy to help us along.
This will be the beginning of the end of the US empire.
BTW, this was exposed a very long time ago. It should not make the news now.
“Christian missionaries in Phase I of Operation Convert or Die?”
Where’s this come from?
“With Bush’s November 26, 2007 announcement that the United States and Iraq were negotiating a permanent “security relationship,” his lies have been exposed.”
Well, now he’s had it! We’ve got him on the ropes finally! The opening we’ve been looking for, so Congress can at last step up to the plate and . . . award more funding than Bush asks for to keep the war crime going perpetually, quibble about meaningless “timetables” and generally support every last detail Bush-Cheney insist they must focus on.
This article could have been written a year or four years ago, except for specific dates when Bush made his latest pronouncements. Nothing to see here, time to get back to Britney and Paris.
Operation Iraqi Freedom is political talk for protection of Israel. The control of oil resources is necessary for empire running but protection of Israel is the basis of our foreign policy. It’s not surprising since our Congress is an occupied Israeli territory.
Hoa binh
mcpete: “Our law does not allow double jeapordy, thats why impeachment is off the table.”
I wish it were so, but I don’t trust such strategy to the Democrats.
“How long before Iraq is flooded with fanatical and well armed evangelical Christian missionaries in Phase I of Operation Convert or Die?”
So true Mordechai ! The Christians have not yet admitted or apoligized for the American Genocide. Over one hundred million American Indians were killed under the banner of both Catholic and Protestant Christianity. It began with the issuance of the Papal Bull Inter Caetera. In the Age of Discovery the world was treated as if it were a franchise of Christianity. “Convert or die,” is exactly what the American Indians were told. Those who converted died too! Witness the Cherokee Trail of Tears where the majority of Cherokees who were forced to walk the trail to Indian Territory in Oklahoma were both Christian and civilized. Four thousand of them died along the trail. Christianity and Democracy are just convenient excuses for the theft of land and resources. Bush not only wears a black hat, he wears a black soul.
The ‘law’ does not allow mass murder and wanton theft, either. But there you have it.
“Over one hundred million American Indians were killed under the banner of both Catholic and Protestant Christianity.”
How many died of disease as opposed to being directly killed?
What is your *most recent* indication that some kind of “Convert or Die thing is going to happen in Iraq?
“Witness the Cherokee Trail of Tears where the majority of Cherokees who were forced to walk the trail to Indian Territory in Oklahoma were both Christian and civilized. ”
This had to do with the gold that existed in Georgia, nothing to do with conversion to another religion.
mcpete December 3rd, 2007 12:47 pm
“Our law does not allow double jeapordy, thats why impeachment is off the table.”
Impeachment does not subject an impeached individual to double jeapordy if that individual is subsequently tried as a civilian after removal from office. Impeachment is simply the mechanism for removing an individual from office after that individual has engaged in misconduct warranting impeachment.
Next excuse for why we can’t impeach the two criminals in charge please.
Lobo Gris
The manipulation of public sentiment has been a key part of the White House’s entire Iraq war enterprise, and it will likely have a similar role in promoting our enduring presence there. For those interested in a psychological analysis of this warmongering, I have recently completed an online video entitled “Resisting the Drums of War.” It examines how the Bush administration’s propaganda targets five core concerns that often govern our lives–concerns about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. The video describes their warmongering appeals and offers suggestions for how to counter them. It’s available for viewing HERE.
Lobo-
I do not entirely agree, although you may be correct, I believe that these scoundrels would take the stance that I mentioned and use the fact that the impeachment proceedings were in fact a trial, and therefore, if they were removed from office, that would be the maximum sentence that could be handed to them. Then the assholes in the supreme court would have to decide, and they would also agree that “since the jerk-offs were tried by the house and senate, any additional trial would be in fact, double jeapordy”
Additionally, once impeachment proceedings are started
and the evidence is submitted for impeachment, once again, the jerk-offs would have plenty of time to thwart and re-write history so none of this ever happened. I think that we should be making an issue about the repukers using the filibuster to tie up everything like they were accusing the dems of doing before they lost the majority. At this point, instead of making accusations, they should take the position of making it very public, how these assholes are tying up the government. But nonetheless, we should not forget the dems that have sold us down the river and group them in with the repukers and throw them out also.
Promotion of “freedom” and “democracy” has become the leading theme of dominant political powers in the world. “Freedom” has been used to perpetuate and protect a particular social order fostered by these powers or a majority community. It has been used as rhetoric for justification of wars on other sovereign countries, and to perpetuate social segregation. For all the propaganda surrounding the promise of freedom by the dominant powers, the fact remains that individuals, communities and nations have continued to experience nonfreedom to a greater or lesser extent. Thus, “freedom” and “democracy” have become empty words that the dominant powers kick around like an inflated balloon when they serve their interests. This “freedom” and “democracy” have been jealously guarded and zealously defended by these powers both locally and globally, in order to continue the status quo of powerlessness and subservience of the other communities and nations.
To maintain the dominant social order, the powers know that the people and nations have to be muzzled and rendered powerless. Propaganda, biased or filtered media news coverage, and violent punishment of “disobedient” individuals are the tools for maintaining this social order. The dominant powers, both locally and globally, not only keep the general populace in ignorance of the reality with their propaganda and biased information through state controlled media, but also create a “culture of fear” through punishment of the “disobedient” by portraying the latter as the “terrorists” and thus, justifying their violence against the “disobedient”. This “culture of fear” is “conducive to an extreme individualization and privatization of human beings” where people try “to isolate themselves from their social environment and emotional attachments in order to attain that state of detachment necessary to ignore the shouts for help and the cries of despair of their neighbors….” Thus, the “culture of fear” results in the silence of the victims, making any opposition powerless and voiceless. Under the apartheid regime of South Africa “much of the country’s populace was silent through fear, apathy, indifference….”
The silence of the populace is conducive for the narrative of the dominant powers or the oppressors. Teresa Godwin Phelps says: “(I)n that silence, a new…narrative is created by the oppressors. The oppressors symbolically “have the microphone” and construct the dominant story, the master narrative” about the society or nation and its citizens. The narrative of the oppressors arises out of the silence of the oppressed. The apartheid regime in South Africa constructed a narrative about the necessity of separation of races with the white race as the ruling class and the other communities relegated to inferior class and thus pushed to the margins of the society. Similarly the US and the Europe supported dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochet, constructed a narrative of a critical fight against the forces of communism that threatened to take over the country, and that portrayed him to be the savior of the western civilization, and so freedom and democracy, in Chile. This fight, according to the dictator’s narrative, required draconian measures to ensure safety and security, and “freedom” and “democracy” in the nation. Thus, he justified his dictatorship and inhuman cruelty towards the opponents of his rule, by depicting the latter as the cause of social disorder, and a threat to “freedom” and “democracy”. Similarly the US “imperial grand strategy,” presents the US as “a revisionist state seeking to parlay its momentary advantages into a world order in which it runs the show,” a “unipolar world” in which “no state or coalition could ever challenge” it as “global leader, protector, and enforcer” of “freedom” and “democracy”. That is why the invasion of Iraq has been given the title “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” In the name of “freedom and democracy” and fighting communism, the U.S. government has been supporting ruthless despots. No “legal issue” arises when the US responds to a challenge to its “power, position, and prestige” and to its efforts to “promote freedom and democracy” around the world. Thus, it wants to create a “culture of fear” in the world, and silence any opposition to the imposition of its will and authority over other sovereign nations. The intellectual rationalization for the “promotion of imperial freedom and democracy” is provided by political scientists and the state controlled media. The most spectacular propaganda achievement was the lauding of George Bush’s “vision” to bring “freedom” and “democracy” to the Middle East in the midst of a display of hatred and contempt for democracy. Former US Attorney General John Ashcroft declared that US freedoms are “not the grant of any government or document, but…our endowment from God”. Arundhati Roy rightly comments: “Here we are, confronted with an Empire that has conferred upon itself the right to go to war at will, and the right to deliver people from corrupting ideologies, from religious fundamentalists, dictators, sexism, and poverty by the age-old, tried-and-tested practice of extermination. Empire is on the move, and Democracy is its sly new war cry. Democracy, home-delivered to your doorstep by daisy-cutters. Death is a small price for people to pay for the privilege of sampling this new product: Instant-Mix Imperial Democracy.” Thus the language of the oppressor or dominant power constructs a myth: “It constructs social categories, it gives orders, it persuades us, it justifies, explains, gives reasons, excuses….” The myth of the oppressor and exploiter is clearly expressed by the French advocate of colonialism Jules Harmand:
“It is necessary, then, to accept as a principle and point of departure the fact that there is a hierarchy of races and civilizations, and that we belong to the superior race and civilization, still recognizing that, while superiority confers rights, it imposes strict obligations in return. The basic legitimation of conquest over native peoples is the conviction of our superiority, not merely our mechanical, economic, and military superiority, but our moral superiority. Our dignity rests on that quality, and it underlies our right to direct the rest of humanity. Material power is nothing but a means to that end.”
Therefore, what is at stake is the very meaning of “freedom” and “democracy” in the rhetoric of the dominant powers. These terms are in crisis. Every kind of violence is being committed in the name of “freedom” and “democracy”. They have become little more than a hollow words, “a pretty shell, emptied of all content or meaning.” They can be whatever you want them to be. “Freedom” and “democracy” are “the Free World’s whore, willing to dress up, dress down, willing to satisfy a whole range of taste, available to be used and abused at will.” Thus, “freedom” and “democracy” have become euphemism of the dominant powers. Because what has been regarded as “freedom” by the dominant powers is certainly experienced as nonfreedom by other communities, and nations and their citizens.
What is that needed is: the voices of the victims – individuals, families, and the nations – must be heard and acknowledged. Victims must be given space in which they may speak for themselves. The poem of Antjie Krog, who reported the painful experiences of victims during the South African Truth Commission, clearly expresses this: “Beloved, do not die. Do not dare die! I, the survivor, wrap you in words so that the future inherits you. I snatch you from the death of forgetfulness. I tell your story, complete your ending – you who once whispered beside me in the dark.”
Operation Iraqi Fiefdom.
This is how you stop the war, ready…
Enlist.
That’s right, enlist. Watch what happens when a bunch of peace activists are sent to wage war on Iraq.
Also they would be able to lend legitimate support to the soldiers who fee isolated and alone and powerless out there.
it is super dangerous and ballzy, but that’s what it takes; and if were not willing to leave our comfort zone then this is what we get.
We just need to go back to the old cowboys and Indian movies to see the story line for Iraq. The American Indians recognized the situation based on the “Bureau of Iraqi Affairs” take off on the Bureau of Indian Affairs which is a part of the Department of Interior. Here is what appeared back in 2003 on most of the American Indian web pages.
BUREAU OF IRAQI AFFAIRS (BIA) march 26, 2003
Dear People of Iraq,
Now that you have been liberated from your tyrannical oppressors, we at the BIA look forward to our relationship with you. Below you will find a list of what to expect from the services of our good offices.
1. Henceforth, English will be the spoken language of all government and associated offices. If you do not speak English, a translator fluent in German will be provided.
2. All Iraqi people will apply for a spot on a citizen roll. Citizenship will be open to those people who can prove that they are Iraqi back four generations with documents issued by the United States. Christian church records may also be given in support.
3. All hospitals will be issued with a standard emergency aid kit. The kit contains gauze, Band-Aids, burn cream, iodine, tweezers, and duct tape.
4. Your oil is to be held in trust for you. We will appoint your new American approved government a lawyer with a background in the oil industry. Never mind that he works for the company that he will eventually cut a deal with. This close relationship will guarantee you more money for your oil.
5. Each Citizen will be allotted one hundred acres of prime Iraqi desert. They will be issued plows, hoes, seed corn and the King James Bible. All leftover land will be open to settlement by Israelis.
6. Each Citizen is entitled to draw a ration of milk, sugar, flour and lard. If you can not use the rations for health or religious reasons you may file a complaint with your BIA appointed liaisons, Crisco. Those Iraqis showing signs of diabetes, heart disease, or glaucoma will be issued with double rations in place of adequate health care.
7. We will mismanage your trust monies, allowing any five year old with minimal computer skills to hack into the system and set up their own account. Records of your accounts will be kept, but you must receive express written permission from the head of the BIA to examine them.
8. In keeping with the separation of Church and State supported by the US constitution, Christian missionaries will be sponsored through government funding. Only Iraqis who convert to Christianity will be allowed to hold jobs within the government.
9. For the purposes of treaty making, any single Iraqi will be found
competent to sign on behalf of all other Iraqis.
10. Welcome to the Free World and have a nice day!
–
Elizabeth Winter * Taos, New Mexico * ewinter@newmex.com
“I’m the person who gets to decide, not you.”
George W. Bush - Crawford, TX - 12/31/02
(from CNN.com, dated 1/1/03)
Exposed?
Stop the presses!!!
The American people do not want to continue the occupation, and the Iraq people do not want us to continue it. However, the King of the World, GWB, does want to continue it and so it will be continued. Simple, end of story.
Fraid you are correct Kernel.
DEEPA: Impressive post. Thank you for providing it.
I guess it exposes our government type for what it is: a Republic in the Roman sense, a Constitution as a formality, with a rubber stamp of Democracy.
mcpete December 3rd, 2007 3:24 pm
Lobo-
“I do not entirely agree, although you may be correct, I believe that these scoundrels would take the stance that I mentioned and use the fact that the impeachment proceedings were in fact a trial, and therefore, if they were removed from office, that would be the maximum sentence that could be handed to them.”
You are incorrect. Impeachment is the equivalent of Wal Mart firing you for stealing on the job. That does not prevent the DA from filing charges against you for grand theft nor does it prevent Wal Mart from filing a civil suit in an attempt to recover the stolen goods or the proceeds you got from selling them.
Lobo Gris
“Operation Iraqi Fiefdom.”
- ctrl-z December 3rd, 2007 4:04 pm
“…to create a permanent American presence in Iraq.”
- Marjorie Cohn
I don’t understand why Cohn, as president of the National Lawyers Guild, which recently passed a resolution calling for impeachment, didn’t utter the impeachment word at least once in this article(?).
Anyhow, in arguing for impeachment a strong point for it’s defense is that We The People are not only subsidizing with blood and treasury (economic catastrophe and military/national guard un preparedness) the “fiefdom” of Iraq but their own fiefdom (unless they are part of those who have sold out to the transnational corporations), and that ,again, said sacrifices of subsidizing are not for permanent “American” bases but permanent transnational corporate bases (see gas price at the pump, collapse of infrastructure, especially the inner city).
Falsify information, lie to Congress, lie to the American somnambulistic public, lie to the worthless UN, then launch a powerful “blitzkreig” on a defenseless nation, murdering, torturing, raping, pillaging and plundering an ancient land and people like ourselves who did us no harm. Destroy the infrastructure, steal the oil, make it illegal to be in a labor union, pit one group against another and call it a civil war, build permanent bases, but keep telling the American people the troops will be coming home soon enough, and now force the puppet government to sign an agreement keeping us there. If this isn’t “imperialism”, I don’t know what is. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Paine and many others wouldn’t be turning in their graves, their lachrymal glands would be overflowing from grieving the end of America as we knew it,and they envisioned it.
DEEPA; Very good writing.
I agree with Stilba–while it’s nice to have it officially in black and white this is “olds” rather than “news”. Why else would the US be building a theme park sized “embassy cum fortress in the heart of Baghdad?
I can see the comercials for it now:,”Hey, Trent Lott, you just beat the lobbying law restrictions by less than a month by retiring in mid-term–now what are you going to do? I’m going to Bushland in Baghdad!”
Deepa–as far as I am concerned the best part of your excellent post was the last part–”operation Iraqi fiefdom” indeed sums it all up very nicely.
This is the Neocons’ aim : to have the US play the same role in Iraq that Israel plays in Palestine. Occupier. They see Israel’s occupation of Palestine as such a great success that they want to reimplement it in Iraq, using the superior military muscle of the US.
This is just how sick, how very sick, this bunch is. And they would destroy Iran for the sheer joy of wielding death and destruction.
There are just three candidates who can stand up to them : Gravel, Kucinich, and Paul. I am not sure that Kucinich is up to it, so make that two.
From my perspective Ron Paul and the libertines, I mean libertarians, are anathema.
Yet I would vote for Ron Paul rather than anyone in the running other than Gravel or Kucinich because when it comes to standing up to the Israeli far-right the others all stand with rather than up to. Neoliberal, Neocon, all the same.
And the result of that is a nightmare of violence for everyone on this earth. Gravel, Kucinich, Paul. The only possible candidates. Take your pick. I’m with Mike Gravel.
Someone quoted Eugene V Debs : You’re better off voting for what you want and not getting it than voting for what you don’t want and getting it. A century later the mephistophelean deal is still being made. If you care not for yourself still, don’t sell my soul and the souls of the next generation, along with your own, I beg you.
Question: with whom are these agreements being made? The Vichy government in Iraq? How does an occupying force make “agreements” with a subjugated state? Do puppets have volition now? If Iraq ever achieves actual self-rule, I expect these “agreements” will be the first thing repudiated, and rightly so.
“His outline for the permanent U.S.-Iraqi “Economic” relationship is “to encourage the flow of foreign investments to Iraq.””
In that case, let him also encourage the flow of money from “foreign” investors to cover the cost for a permanent base. The tax payers in the U.S. are fed-up with corporate welfare that benefits the super-wealthy globalists at our expense.
war=not war
peace=peace