Mr Bush, your sheikh is dead

[bemildred]

By Pepe Escobar

Some may call it divine providence, some may call it Allah's bidding; in the end it was up to real Iraq to intervene and shatter the "surge is a success" story sold to US and world public opinion by President George W Bush and his top man in Iraq, General David Petraeus.

Only hours before Bush recommended to the nation and the world what he had told Petraeus to recommend to Congress - in essence his roadmap toward counterinsurgency and endless military occupation of Iraq - a key player in the "success" story was killed, significantly right at the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha - along with his two bodyguards - was killed by a roadside bomb planted near his home in Ramadi, the capital of an Anbar province Petraeus had sworn was "pacified".

---

# With regard to Abu Risha's killing, as far as the White House is concerned it was the work of al-Qaeda (12 mentions of "al-Qaeda" in Bush's speech). Were this to be the case, the "don't mess with us" al-Qaeda message couldn't be more devastating. Consider the chain of events of the past few days. In a carefully stage-managed piece of theater, Bush visits al-Asad military air base in Anbar (not real Iraq) to stress his "surge" is working. He personally meets Abu Risha.
# Osama bin Laden, looking like a clone of himself with a stick-on beard, releases his first video in almost three years, proving he's alive and kicking. The video may or may be not be a fake.
# Petraeus and US Ambassador in Iraq Ryan Crocker start their presentation in front of Congress, assuring the US and the world the "surge" is a "success".
# Bin Laden releases his second tape in four days, praising one of the September 11, 2001, "martyrs". His image is on freeze-frame; his lips do not move.
# Bush announces he will recommend to the nation what he told Petraeus to recommend to Congress: not a drawdown, but the actual extension of the "surge" until next summer.
# Abu Risha, the man Petraeus relied on for the "success" of the "surge", is killed in Anbar. No wonder Petraeus defined it as "a tragic loss".


http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/II15Ak03.html

[leftchick]

1. hi bemildred

have you seen Pepe's Iraq reports here?......

http://therealnews.com/web/index.php

It is wonderful to actually hear him report after reading his material for so many years. :)

[bemildred]

2. Might be interesting.

My browser sucks when it comes to Flash video, so I don't do video much. I google Pepe every once in a while to see what he is up to, like a few other writers. But it might be worth it to look up a video competent machine to see him ...

This piece has another good bit farther down:

Call it Afghanistan remix. Petraeus was a godsend; local Sunni tribal sheikhs could hardly believe their luck. They had found an eager counterinsurgency messiah with large pockets. Now they can't get enough of the United States' cash, weapons, spanking-new uniforms, body armor, helmets, pickup trucks, high-tech information.

They can patiently build their own Sunni militias and/or death squads with no hassle. They can take their time to settle ancient, ever-evolving tribal scores. And sooner rather than later, they can turn on the occupiers themselves. All this financed with US taxpayers' money.

Petraeus's counterinsurgency game - arming Sunnis and Shi'ites alike - is the ideal recipe for non-stop sectarian hatred, the perfect justification for an indefinite US presence in Iraq.

Petraeus did not even bother to seek "permission" from the puppet Nuri al-Maliki government in Baghdad to arm Sunni militias who will try to depose this same government. There's also the extra bonus of the militias doing part of the dirty work for the Pentagon - going with a vengeance after Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. Furthermore, it all fits the anti-Iran Pentagon hysteria - the creation of a Sunni counter-power to the Shi'ite Iran-trained Badr Organization.

[leftchick]

3. Pepe nails it as usual

We are in some deep shit in Iraq. I came to the conclusion the other day that the US will not leave in my lifetime and bush and the democrats confirmed it for me last night.

I guess I am a little slow. :(

[bemildred]

4. We will not leave willingly.

Which means it will be very expensive before it is done. But we will leave. Politically, the closer we get to November 2008, the more our political weasels will be squeezed between what they want and what their constituents want. It should get very twisted before it is done. Having watched the long slow process of forcing us out of VietNam, it is hard to be optimistic. In my own opinion, we are far from the level of public dissent that did the job back then, so the Iraqis would do well not to rely on the American public to free them.

[cliss]

5. What an article.

...I choked on my morning coffee as I read the quote,

"They can patiently build their own Sunni militias and/or death squads with no hassle. They can take their time to settle ancient, ever-evolving tribal scores. And sooner rather than later, they can turn on the occupiers themselves. All this financed with US taxpayers' money."

I've also read that the US has been bribing local chieftains with junk like video games, installing marble floors, etc.

Why do I get the feeling there is NO depth they will not sink to, no humiliation too low for the U.S. occupiers. Who's got the taxi meter ticking? And who has infinite time? I think the answer is obvious.

Thax for posting.

[bemildred]

7. Remember Dostum's pool?

http://www.cursor.org.nyud.net:8090/images/dostumpool.jpg

Is that like Afghanistan or what?

[bhumikag]

6. making of a disaster

US decision to arm rival groups to keep tabs on al-qaida will prove to be a disaster. i agree with a previous post, one day these guys..armed with US gifted weapons and intelligence information will turn up against the US forces..what are we going to do then..? turn to Iran for help??



bhumika
politics desk,the newsroom

[shimmergal]

8. Abu Risha's assassination is also

the latest in a lon g, long line of events showing that anyone who enters *the Decider's orbit becomes cursed. He's the 'king' with the reverse Midas touch.