Juan Cole on today's revelation that US reconstruction in Iraq is ending

Juan Cole on today's revelation that US reconstruction in Iraq is ending, according to the Washington Post.

The Washington Post reports that the $18 billion voted by the US Congress for Iraqi reconstruction is mostly committed or spent, with large amounts diverted to security, prisons and trials. The administration does not intend to ask for any more. I'd say this is a good bellwether of administration intentions. If the US were staying in Iraq in a big way, and still hoping to make a significant place for the multinationals there, it would have to bite the bullet and continue to try to do reconstruction. If the Bush administration is throwing in the towel, then whether Iraqis have enough electricity really isn't its problem any more.


http://www.juancole.com/2006/01/guerrillas-target-police-all-over-iraq.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/02/AR2006010200370.html

America doesn't care if families have electricity, water--or homes for that matter.

They only care about running their operations from the protected confines of the "Green Zone"--and
ensuring that they have a significant military presence from which to conduct their other Middle Eastern war operations.

What do they care if schools are open? Or if the Iraqi economy is running? Or if people are living in tents?

Abandoning reconstruction sends a clear signal--that these neocon thugs are not even pretending anymore. They are operating militarily in Iraq--at this point. I think the "but we're bringing them freedom" rhetoric will stop soon. We're not even attempting to give the appearance of helping these people. We're destroying the country.

I'll also say that something SIGNIFICANT and MAJOR must be in the works. To abandon reconstruction means that these slimy bastards have something up their sleeves that will make the American public indifferent to the Iraqi reconstruction--that we promised. Undoubtedly, the neocon plan will involve fear, dependence on them and propping Bush up as a leader.

I say...be afraid. And be prepared for the worst from these third-class, warped thugs.

and all along the oil pipelines. :eyes:

about Iraq's standard of living, schools, etc...
It's all about what $ can be made.

all of the right-wing propaganda about how wonderful it is over there - as if it's all fixed.


More from Cole:


"The political and propaganda effectiveness of the guerrilla movement is demonstrated in the article. Apparently, the US has been deprived of any credit for any of its good works in Iraq (70% of Iraqis don't even know about them), and has been deprived of the good will that might have come from getting the services functioning and the oil flowing freely.

There is an error in the WaPo article, which quotes Iraqi oil production as 2 billion barrels a day a day. That should be 2 million, and will no doubt be corrected on the web. But that still isn't right. They weren't able to do more than an average of 1.8 million in 2005, last I knew, and in December it was less. 200,000 barrels of petroleum a day is significant enough so that it can't just be rounded up."

Freeing a group of politically well-connected Baath party officials, without so much as a public hearing to allow grievances to be filed, strongly hints that the US is attempting to set the groundwork for another dictatorship.



Entire article here: www.brainshrub.com/iraq-most-wanted

explained to the public, in the terms of a grade-schooler, that he kept - and exed out their faces when each was caught...

right in the Post report is a breakdown of millions that was diverted to other programs. Rumsfeld said just the other day that trillions are unaccounted for. There's plenty of money to be diverted into empire building there. The article pegs the main funnel, USAID, and funding through the foreign aid bills.

That is all.