Like Rats From A Sinking Ship
Our mission - as defined this week - to 'bring Democracy to Iraq' having evidently been completely accomplished, US assets led by Halliburton have begun to move on towards greener pastures.
Meanwhile, Kos comments on the hail of self-congratulation raining down us.
So listening to the latest rash of "mission accomplished" talk in the wake of the elections, it's striking how the other side has convinced itself that we have spent $200 billion and over 1,500 US and allied lives so that Iraqis could vote.
Meanwhile, Kos comments on the hail of self-congratulation raining down us.
So listening to the latest rash of "mission accomplished" talk in the wake of the elections, it's striking how the other side has convinced itself that we have spent $200 billion and over 1,500 US and allied lives so that Iraqis could vote.
posted by Management at 8:54 PM
2 Comments:
Halliburton to End Iran Operations
From Reuters
January 29, 2005
HOUSTON — Halliburton Co. will pull out of Iran after its current contracts there are wound down, its chief executive said Friday.
"The business environment currently in Iran is not conducive to our overall strategy and objectives," Chief Executive Dave Lesar said in a conference call.
The Houston-based company, formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, has been criticized for its work in Iraq, where it is the largest private contractor with revenue totaling more than $10 billion.
The company is under investigation for possible overcharges for fuel and food services connected to its Iraq contracts.
Halliburton said in July that it had received a subpoena seeking information about operations in Iran of its Cayman Islands subsidiary, Halliburton Products & Services Ltd.
The company has argued that using a Cayman Islands subsidiary exempts it from a U.S.-imposed trade embargo against Iran, which is accused of seeking nuclear arms and funding terrorist networks.
Halliburton provided no details on when its current contracts in Iran would be completed or on the value of the work. The company generated about $80 million in revenue in Iran in 2003.
So listening to the latest rash of "mission accomplished" talk in the wake of the elections, it's striking how the other side has convinced itself that we have spent $200 billion and over 1,500 US and allied lives so that Iraqis could vote.
These people couldn't give a rat's ass about Saudis not voting (in any meaningful fashion), they couldn't care about Uzbekistanis suffering under their own torturing regime, they couldn't care about that great Democratic nation -- Pakistan -- with its military coup-installed dictatorship.
Iraq wasn't about WMDs. It wasn't about a torturing, murdering regime (since we've done a great job of giving Iraqis more of the same). It was about GOTV.
Anyime a people get to vote, it's a great thing. But voting in and of itself means little. In Iraq, it means that Shiite dominate over the Sunnis is now somewhat institutionalized. It means that Iraqis will bid American troops a fond farewell, and turn to guns when the occupiers stay put. It means that these newly elected individuals will now face a wave of assassinations. It means an Iraqi government too weak to protect the machinery of the Iraqi economy. Miles of oil pipelines cannot be protected.
So best case scenario, you have a cold-war detente between Iraq's three main factions, a restless Turkey, a restless Iran, and a restless US occupation, all bundled up in a low-intensity insurgency in the mold of Northern Ireland. (Back in the rose petal days, the neocons were dreaming of an Israel-friendly Chalabi-led Iraqi regime.)
Mid-case scenario, we have a Middle Eastern Colombia -- a semi-functioning Democracy under siege from a whole host of paramilitary groups. Lots of assasinations, lots of territory outside effective government control, and a government held hostage to the forces of violence.
Worst case, more of the same. 100+ US and allied dead per month (which, incidentally, is approaching the level of casualties suffered by the Soviets during their Afghanistan invasion and occupation). A failed state, breeding ground of future terrorists, and a crucial region destabalized by endless war and religious fanaticism.
But since the reason for the invasion was apparently GOTV, then mission accomplished! Or something like that...
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