Washblog

By Nancy A. Youssef
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Monday, May 29, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - As one U.S. politician charged Sunday that U.S. Marines had murdered 24 Iraqi civilians last fall, and press reports seemed to support the claim, the story remained a non-starter in Iraq.
It didn't come up when Iraq's parliament met on Sunday. The talking heads on Iraqi television issued no new calls for a U.S. troop withdrawal, as often happens after U.S. forces are seen to have made big mistakes. Even local papers ran no stories about possible murder charges against Marines allegedly involved in the Nov. 19 shootings.
Senseless killings - whether at the hands of U.S. soldiers, criminal gangs or militias - have become everyday occurrences in Iraq, some residents explained

Murthada Abdel Rashid, 29, a Baghdad sandwich vendor, was beyond caring, however.
"I am not surprised by what happened in Haditha because Americans are terrorists and killers. And this is the way of life now," he said. "I don't care if they punish the American soldiers because they cannot bring back the lives of the dead."

George W. Bush speaks in glowing terms about the "turning point" that the appointment of a new Iraqi cabinet presents to the "forces of good". By my reckoning, we have now had enough "turning points" to simply point out that we have been traveling in circles in that country. The newly appointed Prime Minister Maliki has proclaimed (from behind the thick walls of the Green Zone) that he sees Iraqi forces being able to "stand up" sooner rather than later so that the American forces might "stand down". However Maliki apparently didn't check with Bush before making such comments. In the days immediately following the prime mister's remarks, Bush was quick to point out that American forces will leave in years rather than months. Unfortunately, much like the inhabitant of the Whitehouse, PM Maliki does not seem to have much of a grasp of the average Iraqi citizen and his view on the Iraqi government either.

"The Iraqi politicians have failed in every way. The Shiite politicians have shown that they work for their own interests and their parties. The same thing is true for the Sunnis and Kurds. They do not think about the country," said Ali al-Rubaie, a fabric-store owner in Baghdad

"There are so many problems in the daily life of the individual and so many casualties in towns like Haditha that it is sometimes difficult to track and talk about every one," said Hazim Abdel Hamid al-Nuaimi, a professor of politics at al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad.

So here we are, almost halfway through our "Year of Transition" and not only do we not have a fully trained and willing Iraqi military ready to "stand up" but, according to a recent report from the BBC "Electricity generation at best meets half of estimated demand and fell below pre-war levels in early 2006. A 2004 survey found just over half of households had a stable supply of safe drinking water."  

Perhaps the real "benchmarks" for our withdrawal from Iraq will be how well the incumbent American government does in the November elections and how willing the American people are to stand up so that the Iraqi people may move on.

Peace,