So Right, and Yet So Wrong
Posted by MEC on August 24, 2007
Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), the ranking Republican on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, admits the obvious.
The U.S. effort to install a democracy in Iraq within three to five years was a flawed strategy with little chance of succeeding, U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra said Friday.
[…]
He said he met with Sunni tribal chiefs who hold politically sway in Iraq, and concluded, ‘They are not looking for a county commission to tell them what to do.”
Unfortunately, this little glimpse of reality is not enough to bring Rep. Hoekstra into the reality-based community.
But Hoekstra said he opposes setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops. He said Congress and President George W. Bush must decide on a unified course of action that will stabilize Iraq, based on new intelligence reports and a much-anticipated September status report by the U.S. top commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus.
To reach that consensus, Hoekstra said Bush should drop the notion of a democratic Iraq.
After we’ve all had a good laugh at the notion of Congress and Bush deciding on a unified course of action, and another laugh at the notion of American actions stabilizing Iraq (we laugh so we don’t weep), let us ponder the implications of “drop the notion of a democratic Iraq”.
A non-democratic government takes Iraq right back to where it was before we invaded it. Only it’s too late to bring back Saddam Hussein, who at least had enough power to prevent sectarian conflict, provide basic infrastructure services like electricity and water, and guarantee women some legal rights and social freedom.
Oh, wait. Hoekstra wouldn’t want a non-democratic government like Saddam Hussein’s. He must mean a non-democratic government that will be America’s puppet.
Yeah, sure, that’ll make everybody in Iraq stop fighting and support the government.
It’s no laughing matter. When fools like Peter Hoekstra are proven wrong once again, it’s not the fools like Peter Hoekstra who suffer. It’s the people of Iraq.
22 Responses to “So Right, and Yet So Wrong”
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Mercury Rising 鳯女 
whig said
Isn’t the Republican objective transparently colonial?
lambert strether said
The Bush administration operates under the carefully crafted Theory Of We Get To Do Whatever The Fuck We Want. And so, they’re doing whatever the fuck they want.
Since the Bush administration’s owners get rich exploiting chaos no matter how caused, it’s useless to look for consistent motives. Chaos is the plan, and that’s why the rationales, the plans, the strategeries are constantly shifting.
You can make a lot of money one Friedman Unit at a time.
r€nato said
Gee, I thought democracy was something you just plug in and walk away from, like swapping out a light bulb or a printer driver.
I guess that makes me stupid enough to be a right-winger.
r€nato said
yep. In the end it doesn’t really matter (which is why the goalposts keep getting moved); as Ahmad Chalabi memorably said on Frontline, ‘It doesn’t matter. We are in Baghdad now.’
Oh, and we’re not leaving no matter who gets elected next year, unless it’s Gravel, Kucinich or *shudder* Ron Paul.
John Iceknife said
Would it be overly cynical of me to suggest that Pete Hoekstra’s wanton lust for throwing our money and lives into the grinder of the military industrial complex might be predicated on something other than our best interests?
Does it matter to anyone that Ol’ Sneaky Pete was given $25,750 by the defense industry in ’06? Or that the energy/nat resource sector gave him $16,980 that same election cycle?
Is it cynical of me to mistrust the hawkishness of a man who numbers Boeing Co, General Dynamics, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman among his biggest financial supporters? Or am I getting all mired down in reality based thinking?
“Facts are stupid things” –Ronnie Reagan
Folks will just have to excuse me if I’m less concerned with sound bytes about mythical tax and spend democrats than I am with the reality of attack-and-spend “conservatives”. Those quotes around the word conservative are there because someone who’s only conservative with their own life and their own money isn’t a *real* conservative.
Phoenix Woman said
And it’s John Iceknife for the win.
PotatoHead said
Of course at one time Saddam was basically an American puppet (as the Administration wag put it in a slightly different context: we have the receipts to prove it), so the idea that the US couldn’t have its undemocratic cake and eat it too, is perhaps not completely ridiculous.
Whispers said
Clap harder, dammit!
Re: Potato Head
Saddam Hussein wasn’t installed after an invasion. It makes a difference.
(I’m avoiding the question as to whether the US should even want to go around the world installing “pro-American puppets”. But I would say I don’t see how the US can be authoritarian abroad and democratic at home. One or the other will have to go, and as we’re seeing with the current administration, there is a real danger that the one these people want to see go away is democratic rule at home.)
Enslaved said
Now begins the difficult task of deciding which ethnic group to slaughter in Iraq. A year from now we will all be asking ourselves who would have thought that they would choose to slaughter the Kurds.
It will all come down to some sick mathematical calculation they do in their twisted little minds about what country poses the least amount of risk. Saudi Arabia protects the Sunnis and wiping out 80% of the population would be too messy.
Oh, and don’t forget where the oil sets.
Welcome to the fall of the American Empire and just like the Romans it begins with disgrace.
whig said
PotatoHead, that would be Bill Hicks, whose comments on the elder Bush were remarkably prescient.
MEC said
“Welcome to the fall of the American Empire and just like the Romans it begins with disgrace.”
Just like the Romans, it also begins with extending our territory to places where we need a constant military presence to keep control, and therefore an increasing reliance on mercenaries instead of a citizen-army.
Gary Ruppert said
If the liberals keep trying to sabotage our mission to bring freedom to Iraq, it will not be surprising if there is a little less freedom at home: to protest, to criticise our administration, to interfere with those doing the job. As a supporter of our administration, I have nothing to fear, but the left liberal fifth column could wind up in camps. I would not cry.
Argonaut said
Gary, Gary, Gary. Y’know, we did try, but in spite of our efforts Iraq is now completely free. Their government does not impede its citizens with foolish environmental and occupational safety regulations. It does not prevent them from bearing arms. It is, in fact, exactly the kind of government *you* want. So, I suggest that you move there as quickly as possible to enjoy the Brave New World the Bush Administration has given the Iraqis.
Charles said
Gary is fighting for freedom, which is why he knows it’s necessary to put people who disagree with him in concentration campls.
He’ll fit in nicely to Shi’a-controlled Iraq.
Dora said
So Gary, I take it you’re not a fan of democracy. Didn’t Saddam suppress those who criticised his ruling party? Didn’t they wind up in “camps”? From your comments I’m sure you support the use of torture by this administration too. Since those who criticise this administration would be considered “enemies” of the ruling party I’m sure you wouldn’t cry if they were tortured either. Then explain to me Gary, how are you different than him?
Gary, an American who has known nothing but democracy, is the perfect example of how easy it is to become the evil you seek to defeat when you adopt their tactics. He exemplifies the 30% of “conservative” Americans who unthinkingly support the Bush administration. He represents the Fox News generation. God help us all.
Veritas78 said
We have 725 bases overseas. Why? Not a one is protecting you or me.
Sharon said
On his way to the gallows, Saddam Hussein said, “Iraq is nothing without me.” He was right. And I wish there was an afterlife, so that the Decider could spend eternity with him, listening to “Told ya!”
ronin said
Apparently The Plan now is to install Allawi and use our army to keep him in power. Which will have the effect of turning all of the factions in Iraq against us.
Heckava job, Bushie!
whig said
Glenn Greenwald might be on point to what Ronin is saying.
whig said
I screwed up the link, let me try again.
MEC said
“If the liberals keep trying to sabotage our mission to bring freedom to Iraq”
In spite of the Eevul Libruls, George W. Bush has brought freedom to Iraqis: freedom from electricity; freedom from safe drinking water; freedom from secure homes; freedom from hospitals and medical care; freedom from having their heritage displayed in museums; freedom from travel; freedom from employment; freedom from interacting with people who practice other varieties of Islam. Women are especially free; besides being freed from all these things, they have freedom from education; freedom from making independent choices about their own lives; freedom from deciding for themselves what to wear; and even freedom from leaving the house.
The invasion and occupation of Iraq has brought hundreds of thousands of Iraqis the ultimate freedom: freedom from life.
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