Old Stuff  -

Coalition forces in Iraq will continue to place themselves above the law. Expect more attrocities...

This article sums it up pretty well I think. The summary of the summary: The inabbility of coalition forces to see their own actions through the eyes of an Iraqi is the main reason for the current quagmire...

Fareed Zakaria makes the point I made yesterday in quite a lovely way in Newsweek.

May 24 issue - Larry Diamond is not going back to Iraq. One of America's foremost experts on building democracy—a man who has spent years studying and helping countries from Asia to South America make the transition—he had been working with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad over the last few months. Three weeks ago, when it was time to return to Iraq from his perch at Stanford, he decided not to do it.
 
Diamond has become increasingly gloomy about the situation in Iraq, and a meeting in April with a women's group there crystallized his feelings. "I'd met these amazing women a couple of times before and had been urging them to organize and get active politically," he explained. "Then one of them stood up and said, 'If we do all these things, who's going to protect us?' She was right. We're asking people in Iraq to do things that will get them killed. Without security, democracy is impossible. If we're trying to win people over in Iraq," he said, "the strategy is obvious: it's about security, stupid."

It's like I wrote yesterday: "The situation [in Iraq] favors extremists over moderates, violence over debate. Anyone who has enough influence right now to play a significant role is probably unfit for the job. To retain influence in Iraq right now and not be killed requires very different qualities then leading Iraq towards a free and prosperous future."

After starting out on a completely different footing, the US now seems to be adding their mistakes in Afghanistan to their long string of Iraq policy failures. Recall that in Afghanistan, most of the real fighting was "subcontracted" by the US to the warlords of the Northern Alliance, who have since tried to maximize their influence over that of the US-backed government. Some are even aiding the Taliban in their comeback.

Now this was long coming. In an article for Newsweek (link via MSNBC) Micheal Isikoff reveals:

"The White House's top lawyer warned more than two years ago that U.S. officials could be prosecuted for "war crimes" as a result of new and unorthodox measures used by the Bush administration in the war on terrorism, according to an internal White House memo and interviews with participants in the debate over the issue."

Now why doesn't this suprise me?

In a democracy, a government is the representative of the people. It's actions can be expected to be the will and responsibility of the people. If not, a democratic people will (should) fight for regime change at home. If a government infringes on the will of the people in a minor way the people may await the next elections, but if the violation is big enough, the government must go. Now.

Niet in Oostenrijk! De Oostenrijkers bouwen eengevangenis in Roemenie om daar Roemeense criminelen die in Oostenrijk over de schreef gaan hun straf te laten uitzitten. Uitstekend idee lijkt mij. Een gevangenis op de Antillen voor drugscouriers, lost ons probleem op en creert werkgelegenheid daar, da's pas ontwikkelingshulp...

Something positive is coming fromthose nasty pictures. The atrocities of the past finally are being reported. Like the prison massacre at Shebargan prison in Afghanistan. There are others (update) too. Maybe, just maybe, those responsible will finally have to answer for their deeds. Still not seing the simularities between mr. B. cs. and Milosevic cs.?

And it's like Rummy said, worse is still to come. I expect there to be a lot of scandals like these that have not been underreported, but not reported at all uptil now. And if it wasn't for digital camera's, we'd probably stay in the dark for quite a long time. So to all the decent US soldiers in Iraq, use those picture phones you're cariing. Expose Rummies torture camps. Show the world what real US soldiers are about...

Can Americans please stop telling us the pictures of prisoner abuse are abberations, that they are "not American"? Please show us how un-American they are by dealing with those responsible and by dealing with the abuse and rape at prisons on US soil. No, not by hanging the misguided soldiers depicted out to dry. Inhuman practices to prisoners were sanctioned at the highest levels of US government. If Americans really think this behaviour is un-American, there is but one possible response, impeach your president, prosecute the entire command chain. And because the US legal system is notoriously unreliable I'd suggest a trail at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. If Milosevic can get a fair trial, so can mr. B. cs. I'm not saying any one person (like mr. B.) is guilty. I am saying it it time for a court to consider the question...

Reports of abuse and misconduct at US prisons at home and abroad have been abundant. Yet a couple of pictures of abused Iraqi's spawn a public row of growing proportions. I am again reminded of the power of images... For those who doubt the term "torture" applies; read the UN convention against torture and decide yourselves. These things can be expected when no steps are taken to prevent them. I have been very unimpressed by US policy in this respect for a long time, I really hope things will improve from here.

When going to war a few things are given. People will die, this is the nature of war. Soldiers will misbehave, this is the nature of soldiers/humans. It is a matter of policy as to how much of both a war will see. I think no decision to go to war should be made without a clear statistical assessment of the expected casualties and misconduct. This can be debated publicly.

I believe this will highly improve the decision making process, forcing leaders to give fair predictions on the true costs of the war. It will allow accountability afterwards for the quality of predictions and it will ensure proper procedures are in place to prevent misconduct. Transparancy is the best protection against bad policy.

I often disagree with Mr. Krugman. Not with his April 30 column in the NY Times though (free registration required)... Like most of those opposing the conduct of the Iraq war and the war of terrorism, I am often asked to formulate an alternative strategy. Since I have no positive alternative scenario on offer, I am often dismissed as a pacifist or radical who's views needn't be taken seriously. I have often been puzzled by this. Why should I have an exit strategy for a situation I would never allow to take shape? Krugman puts it this way:

I don't have a plan for Iraq. I strongly suspect, however, that all the plans you hear now are irrelevant. If America's leaders hadn't made so many bad decisions, they might have had a chance to shape Iraq to their liking. But that window closed many months ago.