The Success of the Surge

Thomas Riggins

We hear the neocons and their supporters as well as McCainites and Palinites mouthing off about how successful the "surge" is supposed to be. The fact is that Iraq is still too dangerous and violent for McCain or anyone else with a high profile to visit the country without sneaking in on a "surprise visit." Experts tell us that the relative calm is due to the US bribing the Sunni insurgents to work for us (paying tribute)and the Shite fighters laying low for the time being. It could all fall apart at any time. So have we succeeded in introducing democracy and the rule of law? Not according to an article in the New York Times online ("Western Lawyers Say Iraq Discarded Due Process in Hussein Trial" by John F. Burns).

This article gives evidence that high Iraqi officials "railroaded" Hussein to the gallows in contravention of all legal norms. This was all done out of the office of the prime minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki . An American lawyer who helped Iraq set up the trial said the for those "who wished for it to mark a break with the barbarism which characterized the regime under Saddam Hussein, these events were tragic. They were not tragic because a brutal dictator was put to death without proper legal controls. They were tragic because they demonstrated once again that fair and neutral justice and more importantly the RULE OF LAW IN THE NEW IRAQ IS NOT TERRIBLY DIFFERENT THAN IT WAS IN THE OLD IRAQ."

But only children and hypocrites ever thought that democracy and the rule of law was what the US was all about in Iraq. It's the oil stupid! Should be our response to those praising the US for its accomplishments in Iraq.