Procrustes Stretched
"intuition and imagination and intelligence"
Bringing popular Democracy to Iraq and dissolving the Iraqi Army was an evil whose depth was unimagined
Uncensored2008
"Well gawddamn - looks like Bush was 100% right." - really?
some things need to be looked at from afar...
poor Uncensored ::
Transcript Losing Iraq FRONTLINE PBS
{Something that looks an awful lot like democracy is beginning to take hold in Iraq. It may not be 'mission accomplished'Ābut it's a start.
"Iraqi democracy will succeed," President George W. Bush declared in November 2003, "and that success will send forth the news from Damascus to Tehran that freedom can be the future of every nation." The audience at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington answered with hearty applause. Bush went on: "The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution."}
A Democratic Iraq Is Emerging - Newsweek
Well gawddamn - looks like Bush was 100% right.
Uncensored2008
"Well gawddamn - looks like Bush was 100% right." - really?
some things need to be looked at from afar...
poor Uncensored ::
NARRATOR: One of the first to raise concerns about Maliki was national security advisor Stephen Hadley.
STEPHEN HADLEY: There was a sectarian agenda that was being carried out on the ground.
[PBS Public Broadcasting Service NY Times transcription]
NARRATOR: The previous fall, Hadley had authored a memo warning that Malikiās government was becoming increasingly sectarian. Reports of nondelivery of services to Sunni areas, removal of Iraqās most effective commanders on a sectarian basis and efforts to ensure Shia majorities in all ministries, all suggest a campaign to consolidate Shia power in Baghdad.
STEPHEN HADLEY: And I tried to frame the issue for the president, knowing that this was a judgment that the president was going to have to make himself.
NARRATOR: And now, over a secure videoconference, both General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker gave up on the presidentās man.
RYAN CROCKER: There was a moment when Dave Petraeus and I, because we were in the smoke and the dust every single damn day, had had it with Maliki. We said, āBoss, we got to have a change here.ā
NARRATOR: But Bush had taken a liking to Maliki. He insisted he would not turn his back on the prime minister.
PETER BAKER: Bush really believes in his gut instinct towards other leaders. He really believes that international affairs is driven at least partly by how heads of state get along and whether they can trust each other. And he thinks heās gotten a read on Maliki at this point.
STEPHEN HADLEY: There was a sectarian agenda that was being carried out on the ground.
[PBS Public Broadcasting Service NY Times transcription]
NARRATOR: The previous fall, Hadley had authored a memo warning that Malikiās government was becoming increasingly sectarian. Reports of nondelivery of services to Sunni areas, removal of Iraqās most effective commanders on a sectarian basis and efforts to ensure Shia majorities in all ministries, all suggest a campaign to consolidate Shia power in Baghdad.
STEPHEN HADLEY: And I tried to frame the issue for the president, knowing that this was a judgment that the president was going to have to make himself.
NARRATOR: And now, over a secure videoconference, both General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker gave up on the presidentās man.
RYAN CROCKER: There was a moment when Dave Petraeus and I, because we were in the smoke and the dust every single damn day, had had it with Maliki. We said, āBoss, we got to have a change here.ā
NARRATOR: But Bush had taken a liking to Maliki. He insisted he would not turn his back on the prime minister.
PETER BAKER: Bush really believes in his gut instinct towards other leaders. He really believes that international affairs is driven at least partly by how heads of state get along and whether they can trust each other. And he thinks heās gotten a read on Maliki at this point.
Transcript Losing Iraq FRONTLINE PBS
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