There is hope in Iraq. If the new Iraqi governing council can get its act together things will start looking up. At least some of the militants attacking the Us Army must come under the influence of some of the council members. If the council is happy, the attacks should ease of slightly. [In the third world, people go to great lengths for power, including attacking the US].
[quote] There are two ways you can look at the governance of L. Paul Bremer III: either he continually missteps and must issue corrections; or he’s a good manager who swiftly learns from his mistakes without losing sight of the overarching goal. Right now, I’m leaning toward the latter. The NYT has a good story on his work that’s worth reading — what’s striking is the combination of ideological certitude and pragmatism. He’s obviously quite committed to eventual democratic rule, economic liberalism, and — if I’m reading the tea leaves right — a federal Iraq. (See more in his own words.)
The inauguration of the Iraqi governing council is a credit to Bremer’s leadership. It’s been ignored, so far as I’ve seen, in the blogosphere — certainly by some who otherwise cover every guerrilla skirmish with a breathless intensity — but it is indeed a big deal. It’s a governing body rather than an advisory council, and as such represents a restoration, however tentative, of Iraqi sovereignty.
[url=http://38.144.96.23/tacitus/archives/000765.html#000765] >>t a c i t u s[/url] [/quote]
And heres a rebuttal:
[quote]In his otherwise reasonable post, Tacitus gets a little huffy about people on the left who are suspicious of (in some cases, downright hostile to) the “good news” about the formation of the council, because, he argues, “general goodwill, human decency and..patriotic feeling” should make us all want to see a “successful occupation.”
And that’s where he loses me. I don’t want to see a “successful occupation.” I’d love to see a real democracy develop in Iraq, although I think the odds of it are poor (not impossible). But it seems to me that once you start looking for a “successful occupation,” the way you define success reflects the interests of the occupier, not the occupied.
>>[url=http://bodyandsoul.typepad.com/blog/2003/07/its_just_one_wo.html]Body and Soul: It’s just one word, but.. [/url]
[/quote]