The View from Baghdad Blair's Departure

By PATRICK COCKBURN



Iraq may be seen in Britain as Tony Blair's nemesis but Iraqis yesterday greeted his departure with utter indifference. Asked what they thought about it, most simply shrugged their shoulders and looked surprised at being asked the question. Others said they saw him as a surrogate for President Bush.

It is easy to see why Mr Blair is not regarded with more affection in Iraq. On 8 April 2003, just before the fall of Saddam Hussein, British troops distributed a leaflet in Arabic containing a message from him to Iraqis. It promised "a peaceful, prosperous Iraq which will run by and for the Iraqi people".

Iraqis are all too aware this never happened. Four years after the letter, Iraq is perhaps the least peaceful country in the world. Baghdad is gripped by terror. On a quiet day yesterday police picked up 21 bodies of murdered men. Nobody knows how many corpses lie at the bottom of the river or in shallow graves in the desert.

It is not just the economy that is in turmoil. Much of the population is close to malnutrition with 54 per cent of the population living on less than one dollar a day, of whom 15 per cent seek to survive on just 5 cents.

Some 60 per cent of people are unemployed. Of the 34,000 doctors in Iraq in 2003, 12,000 have fled the country and 2,000 have been killed, according to the United Nations.

Mr Blair has also failed in Iraqi eyes to fulfil his other promise that the country would be run by Iraqis. A poll this spring showed that 59 per cent of them believe that Iraq is controlled by the US and only 34 per cent think it is being run by the Iraqi government.

In Britain criticism of Mr Blair has mainly revolved around the decision to go to war, the "dodgy" dossier and the absence of the weapons of mass destruction. This has been to his advantage. He has repeatedly said that Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator and does not regret removing him.

Many Iraqis would agree. They did not fight for Saddam--not even the supposedly super-loyal Special Republican Guards--and most were glad to see the end of his disastrous rule. But within a month of the supposed end of the war, Blair went along with what was essentially a US decision to remain in occupation of the country and remake Iraq as it wanted. It was from this decision that all the present disasters flowed.

Mr Blair never gave a sense of knowing much about Iraq when he invaded it or learning anything over the past four years. His speeches and statements about it were often puerile.

The first year after the fall of Saddam saw a thorough-going occupation. The second offered nominal Iraqi independence under unelected pro-Western Iraqis.

The elections of 2005 saw the triumph of the Shia religious parties to the dismay of the American and British embassies. Ever since they have sought to neuter their influence.

It has always been difficult to know how much of his own propaganda Mr Blair actually believed. Again and again he would say that much of Iraq was at peace, the press was exaggerating its miseries and progress was being made.

He had the great advantage that these placid provinces were in reality so dangerous that no reporter could go there to refute the Prime Minister's claims.

No successful political or military policy could be based on the nonsense that Mr Blair repeatedly spoke about Iraq.

He said that the insurgency was isolated when from an early stage in the war it had wide support among the Sunni community. By March this year, 78 per cent of Iraqis opposed the presence of US and British forces according to a wide-ranging poll.

There was a further ugly consequence to this. In Afghanistan al-Qa'ida had little support. Its numbers were so small that, for its promotional videos showing its fighters in action, it had to hire local tribesmen by the day. In the first months of the occupation of Iraq, al-Qa'ida for the first time found a sympathetic environment in which to grow.

The "terrorism" that Mr Blair was so regularly to denounce incubated and flourished in conditions that he helped create.

Iraq exposed not only Mr Blair's weaknesses but Britain's. It has been strange over the past four years for me to return to London from Baghdad wondering if people really knew what was happening in Iraq.

I found almost immediately that, from taxi driver to general and senior civil servant, they knew all about the mistakes made in Iraq but they were also resigned to the fact that they could do nothing about them.

Mr Blair is not unique among prime ministers in making catastrophic errors in the Middle East.

It was said that Lloyd George could remain prime minister for life as the architect of victory in 1918 but four years later he was forced to resign after trying to go to war with Turkey.

In 1956, Anthony Eden disastrously invaded Egypt claiming, in words echoed by Blair almost half a century later, that Nasser was a threat to the Middle East.

Lloyd George and Eden were swiftly evicted from Downing Street. Mr Blair clung on. It is this that makes his legacy in Iraq so poisonous.

For four years he has nailed British colours to a failed US policy over which Britain has no significant influence. He has advertised a humiliating British dependency on Washington without gaining any advantages.

As for Iraqis, despite all his rhetoric about rescuing them from Saddam, he has been surprisingly indifferent to their fate.

"It is not just the economy that is in turmoil. Much of the population is close to malnutrition with 54 per cent of the population living on less than one dollar a day, of whom 15 per cent seek to survive on just 5 cents."

I got this far and said enough........this is a good fictional story, nothing more.

Have a good one!:s4:

Come on P4B you cant believe everything FOX news tells you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fishman3811

Come on P4B you cant believe everything FOX news tells you.

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Fox News?? They're just a TAD better than the rest about reporting any sort good news out of Iraq but they don't report anything dealing with the economy.......BUT that is an issue that holds special interest with me.

FACT is this, the Iraqi economy has been showing the largest increase of any other of the middle eastern economys.
The unemployment rate reported in this article is also bogus. It's actually down to 27% by last reports which isn't great but is a vast improvement from when we started.
Their currency value has risen from 4000IQD:1USD to 1264IQD:1USD since the invasion.
A manufacturing agreement was signed between Iraq and Jordan to build the largest manufacturing cell in the middle east on it's border to promote employment and trade between both countries.
Debt relief from Western countries has ranged from 80% to 100%.
The Paris Club, which was one of the major debt holders has forgave 80% of their debt.
As of the beginning of this month, plans were signed for debt relief in the sum of $38 bill. from middle eastern countries.
Oil investment is coming in from Canada, Norway, Japan, not to mention the new oil law that will be passed shortly. China has also shown recent interest in investment.
The northern sector has once again become the breadbasket of the region to the point that they don't have enough packaging facilities. This will create even more investment and jobs.

The average annual income of an Iraqi household is currently at $1,500/year and with the new oil law each family will be receiving a check for $3,500/year esculating with oil output.

It's not all peaches and cream over there but I just love these asshole attention seeker reporters that twist the facts to suit their sales agenda. You DON'T tell a man with a broken leg that he's dying of cancer..............

The way this so called "journalist" twisted the actual truth of the economic facts how can anyone actually believe the rest?

Have a good one!:s4:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud

Fox News?? They're just a TAD better than the rest about reporting any sort good news out of Iraq but they don't report anything dealing with the economy.......BUT that is an issue that holds special interest with me.

FACT is this, the Iraqi economy has been showing the largest increase of any other of the middle eastern economys.
The unemployment rate reported in this article is also bogus. It's actually down to 27% by last reports which isn't great but is a vast improvement from when we started.
Their currency value has risen from 4000IQD:1USD to 1264IQD:1USD since the invasion.
A manufacturing agreement was signed between Iraq and Jordan to build the largest manufacturing cell in the middle east on it's border to promote employment and trade between both countries.
Debt relief from Western countries has ranged from 80% to 100%.
The Paris Club, which was one of the major debt holders has forgave 80% of their debt.
As of the beginning of this month, plans were signed for debt relief in the sum of $38 bill. from middle eastern countries.
Oil investment is coming in from Canada, Norway, Japan, not to mention the new oil law that will be passed shortly. China has also shown recent interest in investment.
The northern sector has once again become the breadbasket of the region to the point that they don't have enough packaging facilities. This will create even more investment and jobs.

The average annual income of an Iraqi household is currently at $1,500/year and with the new oil law each family will be receiving a check for $3,500/year esculating with oil output.

It's not all peaches and cream over there but I just love these asshole attention seeker reporters that twist the facts to suit their sales agenda. You DON'T tell a man with a broken leg that he's dying of cancer..............

The way this so called "journalist" twisted the actual truth of the economic facts how can anyone actually believe the rest?

Have a good one!:s4:

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And why would we believe your "facts" over all the others. Iraq is a shithole and you can pour candy on it, but take a bite and you'll tast the shit. Not only a shithole but a hellhole with life expectancy in the 30-90 day area if you're as man between 18-60. I could go into all the rants on these facts but if you stop and look at the "facts", you'll come away with the same conclusions that I and millions of others have. Time to leave, period.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by medicinal

I could go into all the rants on these facts but if you stop and look at the "facts", you'll come away with the same conclusions that I and millions of others have. Time to leave, period.

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There's a difference between actual facts and opinions. I understand that the Defeat-o-cons want to run with the tails between their legs but like in another thread.....The People Have Spoken!

Now if ANY of what I stated above is in disbute please point out which line and I'll be more than happy to find a link to your area of concern. :D Like I've stated, the economic enviroment has been a focal point of mine since 4-03.

Have a good one!:s4:

1500 dollars a year P4B thats 5$ a day wow where is the beer lets party,so why is it so hard to believe that 54% live on a dollar a day i can see that if the average is 5$ a day for the whole population.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fishman3811

1500 dollars a year P4B thats 5$ a day wow where is the beer lets party,so why is it so hard to believe that 54% live on a dollar a day i can see that if the average is 5$ a day for the whole population.

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Do you actually think that food, housing, etc.....is the same there as it is here? You can buy a mansion right now in Iraq for about $2,500 USD.

Have a good one!:s4:

( "BAGHDAD, Dec 1 (IPS) - Despite the allocation of billions of dollars of U.S. government money for "reconstruction", Iraqis are struggling to exist amidst soaring prices, unemployment, a devastated infrastructure, and cuts in services.

Iraqis received a monthly food ration during the Oil for Food programme which was set up to provide relief during the sanctions against Iraq up to the invasion in 2003. The head of each family was allotted monthly food coupons for commodities like sugar, rice, tea, detergents, cooking oil, beans and baby milk.

But the U.S.-backed governments, starting with the Iraqi Governing Council, have failed to consistently deliver the monthly food basket on time, amidst an unemployment rate estimated at close to 70 percent.

Abu Ali, 66, worked until recently as a distributor of the monthly food ration.

"The Ministry of Trade used to give us sugar for the people," he said. "But not any more. This means we have to buy it from the market at twice the price just to achieve the same quantity. What will poor people do now to get their sugar?"

Abu Mushtaq, a 40 year-old father of five lacks the money to buy products in the market, even after receiving 120,000 Iraqi Dinars (roughly 85 dollars) monthly from the government to offset the shortfall in the food ration.

"Everything has gone up in price so many times," Abu Mushtaq told IPS. "Petrol, kerosene, even the price of bread has gone up so many times since the invasion. The invaders only came to Iraq to fill up their own pockets."

The recent influx of government money to offset the untimely delivery of food rations has raised the demand for particular items, along with prices. This trend is disconcerting because the government's record of keeping food supplied is getting worse.

"The Ministry of Trade did not give sugar for the last seven months, nor rice for two months," Abu Ali said. "Nor tea for four months, and no cooking oil for the last three months."

Meanwhile the market price of sugar has risen 25 percent, of rice 80 percent, tea 100 percent and cooking oil 50 percent.

Most homes in Baghdad get on average only three hours of electricity supply per day, and Iraqis who can afford them use small generators. But petrol shortages and rationing continue, with only 40-50 litres allowed per vehicle monthly.

The interim government is considering a five-fold increase in petrol prices early next year.

The situation is being further complicated by attempts by some Iraqis to compensate for the dramatic shifts in their economy. "Many landlords are raising rents two or three times the normal amount," said Abu Ali. "This creates a bad spiral for everyone."



Hope also appears to be in short supply. "Anybody who tells you there are plans for this is a liar," Abu Anas, who works in the Ministry of Trade told IPS. "The government is still interim, so they cannot make plans, and they don't think that is their task. God help the Iraqi people."

Many analysts have blamed the U.S. government squarely for this situation.

"The 'reconstruction' of Iraq is the largest American-led occupation programme since the Marshall Plan (for reconstruction of Europe after the second world war)," analyst Ed Harriman wrote in the London Review of Books. "But there is a difference: the U.S.. government funded the Marshall Plan whereas (defence secretary) Donald Rumsfeld and (former administrator of Iraq) Paul Bremer have made sure that the reconstruction of Iraq is paid for by the 'liberated' country, by the Iraqis themselves."

According to Harriman's research, 6 billion dollars in assets were left over from the UN Oil for Food programme, and revenue from resumed Iraqi oil exports brought another 10 billion dollars in the year following the invasion.

Nevertheless, while the U.S. Congress voted to spend 18.4 billion dollars of U.S. taxpayers' money in Iraq on 'reconstruction', Harriman says that "by 28 June last year, when Bremer left Baghdad two days early to avoid possible attack on the way to the airport, his CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) had spent up to 20 billion dollars of Iraqi money, compared to 300 million dollars of U.S. funds."

Allegations of fraud and theft have plagued the occupiers of Iraq from the beginning. Auditors with the U.S. government are reported to have found serious problems.

"The auditors have so far referred more than a hundred contracts, involving billions of dollars paid to American personnel and corporations, for investigation and possible criminal prosecution," writes Harriman.

"They have also discovered that 8.8 billion dollars that passed through the new Iraqi government ministries in Baghdad while Bremer was in charge is unaccounted for, with little prospect of finding out where it went. A further 3.4 billion dollars earmarked by Congress for Iraqi development has since been siphoned off to finance 'security'."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fishman3811

"The 'reconstruction' of Iraq is the largest American-led occupation programme since the Marshall Plan (for reconstruction of Europe after the second world war)," analyst Ed Harriman wrote in the London Review of Books. "But there is a difference: the U.S.. government funded the Marshall Plan whereas (defence secretary) Donald Rumsfeld and (former administrator of Iraq) Paul Bremer have made sure that the reconstruction of Iraq is paid for by the 'liberated' country, by the Iraqis themselves."

Nevertheless, while the U.S. Congress voted to spend 18.4 billion dollars of U.S. taxpayers' money in Iraq on 'reconstruction', Harriman says that "by 28 June last year, when Bremer left Baghdad two days early to avoid possible attack on the way to the airport, his CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) had spent up to 20 billion dollars of Iraqi money, compared to 300 million dollars of U.S. funds."

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It's so easy to find the flaws in these b.s. stories. So how is it, are the poor Iraqis required to rebuild their own country or is the U.S. along with SEVERAL nations donating funds for the effort?

Have a good one!:s4:

LOL their is so much coruption going on in Iraq the average Iraqi is getting nothing while the people who run the country are stashing money away.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, that's all i can say. As if Britain wasn't already hated enough in the world for our imperialistic past, Blair goes and launches an unprovoked attack on Iraq and Afganistan which has put this country right back in the spotlight yet again.

To hell with this posh upper class c**t. I hope a relative of a dead British soldier tortures and kills this piece of s**t in the most brutal way possible!:mad:

Silent Wolf i see your a big tony blair fan lol