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TechnoratiThe 'Great Satan' Strike Out
Are the media dumb or just out to lunch? Sorry to be intemperate, but how else can one explain the meager attention paid to the truly historic visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Iraq? Not only is he the first Mideast head of state to visit the country since its alleged liberation, but the very warm official welcome offered by the Iraqi government to the most vociferous critic of the United States speaks volumes to the abject failure of the Bush doctrine.
On Tuesday, Condoleezza Rice reiterated the administration's position that Iran is behind the turmoil that has engulfed the Mideast from Beirut to Baghdad and, most recently, Israel, where what she claims are Iranian-supplied rockets have totally destroyed the belated Bush peace plan. There is also the matter of Iran's nuclear program, which President Bush condemned once again over the weekend. But what leverage does the United States have over Iran when, as the image of Ahmadinejad holding hands with the top leaders of Iraq demonstrated to the world, we have put the disciples of the Iranian ayatollahs in power in Baghdad? There is no face-saving exit from Iraq without the cooperation of Tehran, and the folks who call America the "Great Satan" now hold the high cards.
How interesting that Ahmadinejad, unlike a U.S. president who has to be airlifted unannounced into ultra-secure bases, was able to convoy in from the airport in broad daylight on a road that U.S. dignitaries fear to travel. His love fest with Iraq President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who fought on Iran's side against Iraq and who speaks Farsi, even took place outside of the safety of the Green Zone, adding emphasis to Ahmadinejad's claim that while he is welcome in Iraq, the Americans are not.
Nor did the Iraqi leaders take exception to Ahmadinejad's insistence that the U.S. has only brought terror to the region and that the continued American presence is the main obstacle to peace. On the contrary, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pronounced his talks with fellow Shiite Ahmadinejad "friendly, positive and full of trust." Video of Talabani, who asked that Ahmadinejad call him "Uncle Jalal" after holding hands and exchanging kisses with the Iranian president, was broadcast throughout the region.
Saddam Hussein went to war with Iran, but George W. Bush has given his Iranian foes a Shiite-run ally. Iran is now a major trading partner of Iraq that has offered a $1 billion loan, the border is increasingly porous as religious pilgrimages have become the norm, and many investment projects supervised by Iranians are in the works. Instead of isolating the "rogue regime" of Iran, the Bush administration has catapulted the theocrats of Tehran into the center of Mideast political power. There can be no peace, whether in Lebanon, Gaza or Iraq, without the cooperation of the ayatollahs of Iran. If that was the intention of the neoconservative cabal that led Bush into this folly, its members should be tried for treason.
That was, however, obviously not what the neocons expected from the invasion of Iraq, which they engineered in the wake of 9/11 with a much rosier scenario in mind. The saying that there is no need to attribute to mendacity what can be explained by ordinary stupidity aptly defines the neoconservative folly. Clearly the neocons were conned by the likes of Ahmed Chalabi, the rogue banker accused by the CIA of slipping U.S. secrets to Tehran, into believing that a "liberated" Iraq would advance democracy in the region, not to mention the security of Israel. That the opposite has occurred is no big problem for them as they emerge with their careers intact.
The leading neocon publicist, William Kristol, has even been rewarded for never getting it right with a premier spot on the New York Times opinion pages, so yes, in the punditry business, one does fail upward.
But for Bush, his signature issue, the battle against terrorism, is a shambles. The terrorists are very much on the rise in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which Bush neglected for an Iraq sideshow that has cost over a trillion dollars and tens of thousands of lives. But the long-run price will be far higher, with the blowback from the massive instability that he has engendered in the region.
When Bush has finally retired to that ranch, cutting sagebrush to his heart's content, his all-consuming smugness might ever so subtly be troubled by the memory of a father who knew best, and who warned against the terminal foolishness of seizing Baghdad.
Robert Scheer is editor of Truthdig.com and a regular columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle.
© 2008 TruthDig.com
17 Comments so far
Show AllThe past couple of postings hit the nail on the head... when Americans have to go to foreign Press or comedy shows to get the best and most accurate news, something is seriously wrong wuith the so-called "liberal media" in this country.
Now let's see... liberal media... would that be LIMBAUGH, COULTER, O'REILLY, HANNITY, SCARBOROUGH, NOVAK, PODHORETZ, HUME, KRISTOL, KAGAN, KRAUTHAMMER AND ROBERTSON FOR EXAMPLE???
All of these folks sold us down the river with their constant "If you oppose Bush you are a terrorist sympathyzer" crap... they shouldn't be rewarded with a column in the New York times, they should be deported to the red zone in Baghdad... and dropped on the street naked in the middle of the night.
Some of us very accurately predicted this mess and the followers of the above "news" people absolutely refused to listen... now those people are losing their homes, their farms, their cars, their jobs, their young adult family members... and the futures of their children and grandchildren.
If Bush and Company are criminals, those "news" people are at the very least complicit in the crimes.
The media are neither dumb or out to lunch. They are complicitors who are not interested in exposing the failure of a war and occupation they endorsed from its beginning. They don't care if a Shiite-dominated Iraqi government is friendly with Iran as long as they get a good oil deal, although they'd prefer a Sunni-dominated one allied with Saudi Arabia, except for the fact that Sunnis are more likely to sympathize and support Al-quaeda. I agree that stupidity often trumps mendacity.
Robert Scheer is being a bit "intemperate" when he includes ALL media in his sweeping condemnation. After all, the Daily Show committed about 5 minutes worth of coverage to the Ahmadinejad visit in which Jon Stewart made many of the same points Scheer does. MSM news could learn a thing or three from the Daily Show.
Struggling to make sense out of the insanity
surrounding Americans may turn out to be an
all consuming task. I hope its not all a waste of time and energy. Don't know why I persist.
Some irresistible force at work.
I, too, am a fan of Sheer's, however, the idea of "terrorism" being Bush's signature issue is not exactly true. As well know, the basis for this illegal invasion has altered to suit the moment like a chameleon seeking to adapt to its changing surroundings. I can't recall which writer stated it, but the true missions here include making oil LESS available to boost prices, and of course, promoting fear, terror, hell and damnation so that the military has continued cause to do battle, and then continued blank check to reproduce the weapons and tools of war that become spoiled in so many brutal conflicts. The Price is being paid not only in dollars, but in innocent lives and the karmic boomerang sure to follow from such a hollow and diabolical policy of unapologetic destruction.
I apprediated the article above but judging from Mr. Scheer's own words and some of these comments, it appears many think George Bush might have a conscience.
Sociopaths lack conscience. Their actions are not governed by reasoned thought or ethical standards. They do simply what they feel they have a right to do and do it. Sociopaths are completely self-centered with hugely inflated egos and they appear in all levels of society.
After 42 more or less normal persons as president, the odds suggest we were due for the one we have. It's just so appalling to me that after 225 years of relative social and economic progress, it's taken just seven years of a second-rate person--George Bush--to turn us into a second-rate nation.
I loved the Ahmadinejad visit. The Surge is working! Bush has killed tens or hundreds of thousands to establish an obedient client state for...Iran! No wonder the neocons are trying to engineer a war with Iran; they're furious at their own idiocy.
Dead on, Rebel Farmer. I second.
Big Corporate Media also appears unconcerned that our ally Turkey has declared war on our ally Iraq. That is what it's called when one country invades and bombs another, right? If Canada invaded and bombed North Dakota to route out anti-Canadian insurgents hiding in the Red River Valley, we would consider that an act of war, yes?
And, since WE are the OCCUPYING POWER responsible for security by law, hasn't Turkey, in essence, declared war on the America?
Damn liberal media...
Rebel Farmer -- Very appropriately said, let us all imagine (and create a possible future of):
Hey Geo, we know you think that the 'mission is accomplished', but around here it's not done until the paper work is done.
You missed some over there.
Namaste
If Bush is allowed to "retire" to cut sage brush, it should be in an orange jumpsuit with leg irons at the side of a Texas highway with the rest of the prisoners doing road clean-up.
This Scheer piece is wonderful writing.
On the subject of William Kristol getting an opinion slot in the NYT in spite of being wrong on every major point and prediction he has made. It is not merely that he is wrong.
In the military they say "it is better for your career to be wrong for the right reasons than right for the wrong reasons."
Kristol is a team player who is willing to say any wrong thing for the right reasons. As opposed to the rest of us boobs stumbling around trying to make sense when they talk or write.
Let's see - when the leaders of the glorious liberating coalition visit Iraq, they must skulk in and out, public announcement only after departure.
When the biggest threat to Iraq stability visits, it is widely publicized waaay ahead of scheduled visit and the itinerary is made public. Said visit is accompanied by a warm reception amid crowds and hoopla.
Cognitive dissonance for me.
What am I missing?
Just in case y'all don't know, Robert Scheer got punched out of his job with a major paper in the US because he did not sing with the choir in the foreplay to the Iraq fuggup.
What I'm saying is the dude has paid his dues and then some, so, when you see his byline, read with attention.
What is the Bush doctrine? Is that the one that says "screw em if they don't see things our way"? That in your face, up your behind kind of pseudo macho cowardice is what got us into a mess in the first place. Do us all a favor and shove your doctrine where the sun don't shine.
But did Ahmadimejad present them with a fake turkey?
Chuck Cliff;
Well said - he was among the 1st casualties of the MSM 'dummy up for the dummy' puscht.