She's Done It Again
One thing we can always count on with this administration is that when it comes to a foreign policy initiative, it will move heaven and earth (and, with frightening regularity, a brigade) to find a way to fail. This week it was Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice's turn. Her attempt to convince Iraq's Arab neighbors to open embassies in Baghdad failed miserably. The Arab nations weren't buying what Secretary Rice had to sell, and with good reason, according to this April 24, 2008 article in The Brunei Times.
SHE came, she saw and she failed again! US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might go into the annals of US history with the dubious distinction of having most failed missions to her credit. Another failure was added in her cap on Tuesday night when she failed to win commitment from Iraq's neighbours to any immediate strengthening of diplomatic or economic support for the Baghdad government.
Rice, who had been on a whistle-stop tour of the Gulf to rally for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, saw her hard work coming to naught when Iraq's neighbours failed to make any commitment on writing off Iraqi debts and establishing diplomatic missions in battle-scarred Baghdad. ...
Dr Rice should know that it is the wrong policies of the US which have made Iraq the most dangerous place on the planet, a haven for al-Qaeda and a political chessboard for Iran to checkmate the US from wielding a wider influence in the region. Five years ago when the US occupied Iraq, it had ample time to establish rule of law and democracy. But the US administration failed to install a creditable and effective alternative government in Iraq. Instead of consolidating Iraqi institutions, the US went about dismantling them. The Iraqi army was disbanded, rendering hundreds of thousands soldiers jobless. Same was done with Iraqi state institutions and the Baath Party.
Worst of all, the US opened a can of sectarian hatred by setting up Iran's allies and militias as the new rulers and providing them with money, weapons, and political and moral support and ultimately pushed Iraq from the Arab fold towards Iran. That is why none of the Iraq neighbours even uttered a word about writing off its debts or given their word on establishing missions. Security is not the real reason, as many other foreign countries have kept diplomatic missions in Baghdad despite worsening security situation. [Emphasis added]
But, hey! What did you expect? A government that didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shia is certainly not going to know the difference between Arab and Persian. And besides, this government doesn't do "nuance." It doesn't have to. This is America we're talking about.
269 days.
SHE came, she saw and she failed again! US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might go into the annals of US history with the dubious distinction of having most failed missions to her credit. Another failure was added in her cap on Tuesday night when she failed to win commitment from Iraq's neighbours to any immediate strengthening of diplomatic or economic support for the Baghdad government.
Rice, who had been on a whistle-stop tour of the Gulf to rally for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, saw her hard work coming to naught when Iraq's neighbours failed to make any commitment on writing off Iraqi debts and establishing diplomatic missions in battle-scarred Baghdad. ...
Dr Rice should know that it is the wrong policies of the US which have made Iraq the most dangerous place on the planet, a haven for al-Qaeda and a political chessboard for Iran to checkmate the US from wielding a wider influence in the region. Five years ago when the US occupied Iraq, it had ample time to establish rule of law and democracy. But the US administration failed to install a creditable and effective alternative government in Iraq. Instead of consolidating Iraqi institutions, the US went about dismantling them. The Iraqi army was disbanded, rendering hundreds of thousands soldiers jobless. Same was done with Iraqi state institutions and the Baath Party.
Worst of all, the US opened a can of sectarian hatred by setting up Iran's allies and militias as the new rulers and providing them with money, weapons, and political and moral support and ultimately pushed Iraq from the Arab fold towards Iran. That is why none of the Iraq neighbours even uttered a word about writing off its debts or given their word on establishing missions. Security is not the real reason, as many other foreign countries have kept diplomatic missions in Baghdad despite worsening security situation. [Emphasis added]
But, hey! What did you expect? A government that didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shia is certainly not going to know the difference between Arab and Persian. And besides, this government doesn't do "nuance." It doesn't have to. This is America we're talking about.
269 days.
Labels: Foreign Policy, Iran, Iraq, Middle East
posted by Diane at 2:34 PM
2 Comments:
Why do we have to read a Brunei editorial to find out about our Secretary of State? What is wrong with our media?
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TKK, do the North Koreans learn about North Korea from their media?
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