I know the question's ludicrous, because the answer's obvious. I keep thinking sooner or later one of the administration's hypocracies will be the tipping point, so offensive to simple bourgeoise decency that Bush's ability to govern will be irreparably disabled. OK, the lies about WMDs and Iraq's alleged links to Al Queda weren't it. But now we've levelled a town to dust so that it's citizens could vote in safety. If Fallujan's are able to vote in meaningful numbers because of the destruction inflicted on the city by the US armed forces, that will be a serious embarrassment to the administration.
Regards,
Gary
-----Original Message-----
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 13:22:09 -0500
From: "Marvin Gandall" <marvgandall at rogers.com>
Subject: [lbo-talk] Why Fallujah (and Najaf) were pulverized
To: "LBO-Talk" <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
Message-ID: <00ea01c4cc09$2fcecaf0$6401a8c0 at LAPTOP>
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Today’s Wall Street Journal carries an article acknowledging that the brutal
assault on Fallujah was deliberately aimed at civilians to demonstrate the
cost to them of supporting and harbouring guerrillas. Of course, the
article is not framed in this way, nor is there any suggestion that the
deliberate targeting of the civilian population constitutes a war crime. Nor
is there any appreciation of the grotesque irony in US statements that the
savage punishment meted out to the Sunnis was "for their own well-being"
because it "forces (them) to recognize that they can't hold territory in the
face of overwhelming U.S. firepower and must participate in the political
process."
The Americans also know that their own forces and those of the Allawi puppet
regime "can't hold territory", but that was not their intent. As in Vietnam
and in any counter-insurgency, the massive and indiscriminate bombing and
shelling of civilian areas is designed to produce mass terror and population
flight, and to force the beleaguered population to abandon its support for
armed resistance. The US has, for the moment, neutralized the Shia
resistance, post-Najaf. Now, having applied the stick, the report suggests
the US is ready to offer some concessions to "representatives of groups that
might have actively supported the (Sunni) insurgency".
MG
-------------------------
After Fallujah, U.S., Iraqis Aim At Pitching Elections to Sunnis
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN and GREG JAFFE Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET
JOURNAL November 16, 2004; Page A6
Even as U.S. and Iraqi forces consolidated gains in Fallujah and beat back
smaller uprisings throughout the Sunni triangle, they began contemplating
the challenge of persuading the Sunni minority that its best hopes lie in
Iraqi elections, not insurgents.
U.S. officials said they hope the week-long assault on Fallujah, designed to
take down insurgent strongholds, forces Sunnis to recognize that they can't
hold territory in the face of overwhelming U.S. firepower and must
participate in the political process for their own well-being.
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End of lbo-talk Digest, Vol 11, Issue 225
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