NationStates Jolt Archive


The Saddam Factor

Neo Mishakal
11-12-2005, 20:22
Personal Thoughts on Article: George Bush Jr. has stated time and time again that America's history of working with dictators and tyrants is "over". Yet as support for the Iraq War fades to nothing, his poll numbers tank to numbers that Nixon didn't get at the height of Watergate, it is clear that in order for any sort of a victory to happen we will have to make a deal with the devil that America has sworn off for good.

America will have to work with former members of the Baath Party (Saddam's Party) in order to create a cohesive Iraqi Government.

Like a heroin addict that says "Just one last fix, then I quit for good" America will have to turn to the needle of Dictatorship in order get what we want. A "Victory" in Iraq, if by victory you mean a return of the Baath Party to a level of power in a country that we promiced "democracy" to.

In the end America won't come out smelling like roses, more like bullshit but at this point we have no choice (unless we cut and run of course, which is what I support).


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_saddam_s_ghost_iq1_1;_ylt=AmuOtEvr5vItvmH8xtD0xGZX6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl


Saddam Casts Long Shadow Over Elections:

By Robert H. Reid

BAGHDAD, Iraq - He sits alone in a cell, writing poetry, reading and preparing for appearances before a court that could sentence him to hang. But Saddam Hussein is very much a player in Thursday's national elections, even if he is not a candidate.

His legacy has shaped the electoral debate as the country's Shiite, Sunni Arab, Kurdish and other communities struggle to find a formula to share power in the wake of his 24-year rule.

And his loud courtroom antics — played out on TV to the nation — have reminded Iraqis that like it or not, Saddam is still around.

The trial, now in recess until after the election, has enabled Saddam to present himself as "a caged lion" instead of "a mouse in a hole," says Iraq's Sunni vice president, Ghazi al-Yawer.

As a result, a trial that was designed to expunge the ghosts of his tyrannical rule has instead sharpened divisions among Iraq's people at a time when the United States is struggling to promote national unity.

Shiite candidates warn that their followers must pull together lest Saddam or someone like him return to power. They wonder publicly why it has taken nearly two years since his capture to put Saddam on trial.

Sunni candidates promise their constituents an end to purges of Saddam's followers from government jobs. The violence that has plagued Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion has softened the memory of Saddam's crimes among many Sunnis, who now are terrified of domination by the majority Shiites.

How various groups view the Saddam years lies at the heart of Iraq's division and the insurgency that has cost more than 1,500 American lives since President Bush declared an end to major combat in May 2003.

Iraq's majority Shiites and minority Kurds suffered most under Saddam's Sunni Arab-dominated regime. Powerful factions within the Shiite political establishment remain adamantly against any accommodation with people they consider accomplices in the slaughter of Shiites.

"We must educate all Iraqi citizens to be cautious about the return of Saddam to power," Shiite cleric Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai told his followers ahead of the election.

Those remarks were a thinly veiled message: Vote for Shiite religious candidates who will stand firm against Saddam's loyalists.

The Sunnis, in contrast, want a guaranteed stake in the new Iraq, and thus have pushed to end the purging of former members of Saddam's Baath party from the government, military and public life.

As public support for the war ebbs in the United States, American generals increasingly see victory as achievable only through a deal with Saddam's followers.

The United States thus has been encouraging Sunni Arabs to vote in the election in hopes they will send a strong Sunni bloc to the new legislature. That in turn could produce a government more likely to win the Sunnis' trust and weaken the insurgency.

But key Shiite politicians have resisted any significant compromise on de-Baathification and have been quick to galvanize their voters by raising the specter of Saddam returning.

In Sadr City, Baghdad's giant Shiite slum, posters merge Saddam's face with that of Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite and former interim prime minister who is running for parliament. The message: A vote for Allawi is a vote for Saddam.

Allawi, a former Baath member, broke with Saddam and lived for years in Britain, where he tried to mount a coup against the Iraqi regime.

As prime minister, however, Allawi won the enmity of fellow Shiites by bringing former Baath members back into the government to add muscle to the battle against the insurgents.

Shiite politicians wish Saddam had been tried and quickly convicted, because it would have cheered up their voters and distracted attention from the Shiite-led government's failure to improve security and electricity supplies.

Instead, the trial, which began Oct. 19, has provided Saddam with a public forum to rail against his treatment by American guards, and a government he calls a servant of "foreign occupiers." Each such performance rekindles a nagging fear in many Iraqis that — against all odds — Saddam just might come back.
The Jovian Moons
11-12-2005, 20:36
I thought this was a Bill O'Riley (or however you spell his name) bashing thread....
Neo Mishakal
11-12-2005, 20:40
I thought this was a Bill O'Riley (or however you spell his name) bashing thread....

I'll let other people bash good ole' Bill. But any thoughts on America's addiction to Totalitarian Leaders and their Croynies?
[NS:::]Elgesh
11-12-2005, 20:45
I'll let other people bash good ole' Bill. But any thoughts on America's addiction to Totalitarian Leaders and their Croynies?

I don't think it'spurely an American failing - I think it's the nature of international politics, you have to work with 'compomised' allies. There are very few countries beyond reproach, if any, and only some with political and civil freedoms to live up to the _ideals_ a democratic, freedom-loving state might profess.

I don't for a second want to stop countries striving to reach this heady ideal, only to acknowledge that it can sometimes be difficult to reach, and nigh on impossible to _only_ work with countries and movements that hold themselves to the same high standards.
Neo Mishakal
12-12-2005, 02:05
Bump