Things could hardly be worse as far as the situation in Iraq. While the continuing deterioration in Iraq is accepted as par for the course, the war party seize on any momentary lull in the chaos as a sign that the corner has been turned. The fact is that these lapses have little to do with the strategies of the occupation forces.
The propaganda being pumped out by the ministry of truth is pathetic, even by Washington standards. The US military just declared that it had killed the mastermind of the 2006 bombing of the Samarra’s al-Askariya mosque.
In truth, CNN has no idea who al-Baderi really was or whether he belonged to Al Qaida or not. They just jot down whatever the Pentagon spokesman tells them and then pass it off later as news. It’s the same with the rest of the media. They don’t care. They build their stories on statements from government officials and don’t bother looking for evidence. All they know is that al-Baderi is another unlucky victim in Bush’s war on terror who has been subsumed into the Pentagon’s propaganda war against the American people. That’s it.
So why bother publishing a crazy story like this? It doesn’t change public opinion on the war or convince people that al Qaida is the main enemy in Iraq. So what good is it? It’s just an attempt to show progress in a losing cause by holding up another enemy scalp.
In spite of the happy talk, Gordon Brown is heading for the exits and pulling British troops out of Iraq and the US are blaming the rapid withdrawal of British forces for the fact that Basra is out of control. It’s curious to hear the US refer to the withdrawal as rapid, after four years of trying.
Last but not least, Iraqis have soundly rejected the oil privatizing laws drawn up in Washington. Even Malaki’s party has stated that the laws have no chance of passing while Iraq remains occupied.
While it’s hard to imagine things getting worse, it’s a guarantee that they will.