Tom Hayden: Pentagon Fights Peace Majorities in US and Iraq

[marmar]

from The Nation:



Pentagon Fights Peace Majorities in US and Iraq
Comment
By Tom Hayden

July 13, 2008



There's an emerging story that Iraqi leaders--notably Nouri al-Maliki--are standing up to the United States by demanding a timeline for withdrawal. See, for example, the latest New York Times account on July 11, one of many in recent days. But far from this portrayal, it is more likely that al-Maliki and the Pentagon are conspiring to fool public opinion in both countries during an election year by finally promising a withdrawal deadline, with vague parameters of three to five years--if conditions allow, says an al-Maliki spokesman. What's going on here?

As Congressional leaders like Rep. William Delahunt are beginning to point out, public opinion in both countries strongly favors a one-year deadline for American troop withdrawals. This has been the case for at least two years, as I pointed out in my 2007 book, Ending the War in Iraq. In addition, a the tide of Iraqi parliamentarians petitioning for a rapid end of the occupation has been a majority since last summer, mirroring the majority sentiment in the US Congress.

Official Iraqi pandering to public opinion is an old story by now. Even before the first January 2005 Iraqi election, the CIA issued a "grim" warning that the new government "promised they will press Washington for a timetable, and assessments say the new government will feel bound, at least publicly, to meet that commitment." Three years later, the public pressure on al-Maliki--from Iraqis and from American opinion--is far worse.

This, then, is a crisis of democracy in both countries, one that is little if ever mentioned in the New York Times or the mainstream media, as if they carry a "write-man's burden." ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080721/hayden2