Can I be your poodle too, please?

Gordon Brown wants to emulate his predecessor Tony Blair, and be Bush’s poodle, if this report in the Telegraph is accurate:

Gordon Brown has agreed to support US air strikes against Iran if the Islamic republic orchestrates large-scale attacks by militants against British or American forces in Iraq, according to senior Pentagon officials. Washington sources say the Prime Minister has been informed of US plans to launch limited air and special forces raids against Revolutionary Guard bases.

After talks with President George W Bush in July, Mr Brown left US officials with the belief that Britain was “on board” for a military response — but only if Iran was proved to be behind a big militant attack or another stunt similar to the kidnapping in March of British sailors.

And what’s Brown going to accept as “proof”? The say-so of Dumbya?

(via Lenin’s Tomb)

Could the Iraq War have been avoided?

Juan Cole points to an alledged transcript of a conversation between George Bush and then Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, which suggests that Saddam Hussein would have accepted exile if he got $1 billion and guarantees of safety, but Bush wasn’t prepared to accept those terms.

The Iraq War is beyond parody

From Blood and Treasure:

US soldiers are luring Iraqis to their deaths by scattering military equipment on the ground as “bait”, and then shooting those who pick them up, it has been alleged at a court martial.

… Capt Didier, of the 1st Battalion 501st Infantry Regiment, said members of the US military’s Asymmetric Warfare Group visited his unit in January and later supplied ammunition boxes filled with “drop items” to be used ” to disrupt the AIF [Anti-Iraq Forces] attempts at harming coalition forces and give us the upper hand in a fight.”

and:

A unit of Polish snipers seconded to first Fallujah had permission to shoot any adult male carrying a cellphone after 8pm on the basis that mobile phones are used as IED triggers.

Apparently the Poles claimed a hit rate of 80%, which may be down to the fact that someone ambling down the street chatting on a mobile is an easier target than most that snipers encounter.

More on Ahmadinejad at Columbia

Over at The Volokh Conspiracy, David Bernstein says Ahmadinejad shouldn’t have been allowed into the USA because he’s America’s enemy:

Unlike when I objected last time Ahmadinejad was to visit Columbia, my reason this time is that Ahmadinejad is the head of state of an enemy state, whose armed forces are killing American soldiers with equipment they provide to Iraqi insurgents. That makes Ahmadinejad an enemy of the United States, something that can’t be overcome with some questions.

I often hear the claim that Iran is arming Iraqi insurgents. But is there any evidence for it, from sources independent of the US government?

I’d genuinely like to know the answer to this. When I Google on “Iran helping Iraqi insurgents” I get lots of links saying things like “Iran Is Helping Insurgents in Iraq, U.S. Officials Say”, but nothing from independent sources.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse in Iraq…

Cholera has broken out:

International Medical Corps is responding to an urgent request by the Iraqi Ministry of Health to combat a deadly cholera outbreak in large parts of Northern Iraq. Today, August 31, IMC, in cooperation with provincial health authorities, distributed over 90,000 units of IV fluids, nearly 100,000 units of antibiotics, and other medical supplies worth more than $100,000. At least 3,000 cases of severe dehydration due to diarrhea and cholera will be treated through this assistance.

Eight people have been killed and 80 more have been infected since the beginning of August. According to news reports quoting local government sources 2,350 people in Sulaimaniya and about 2,000 in Tamim province are suffering from acute watery diarrhea, the main symptom of cholera. Officials fear that the disease might spread within the coming weeks to more areas.

Cholera is not uncommon in Iraq, but according to local officials, this outbreak is three times larger than in previous years. The current crisis is a result of decreasing water quality and bad sanitation, a consequence of the fragile infrastructure.

(Via Technocrat).

The utter incompetence of the Bush regime

From Blood and Treasure:

Before the war, 64 Iraqi government-owned factories produced consumer, agricultural and industrial goods. But Iraqi industrial production plummeted 80% after the U.S. invasion, due in large part, Brinkley writes, because of a series of decisions by the Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran the country for 13 months after the invasion.

The CPA transferred cash and receivables from factory coffers to infrastructure reconstruction projects, shutting off cash flow needed for operations. It prohibited commanders and diplomats from doing business with state-owned businesses, to drive demand to private enterprise. And the process of removing members of Saddam Hussein’s regime from Iraqi institutions eliminated the government’s planning staff, who managed industrial production, according to Brinkley’s report.

This is, of course, only a small example of the incompetence of the occupation; it has been a failure for the USA and a disaster for Iraq. But I still think it could have been successful, if it had been properly managed, although it would still have been difficult.  But not with Bush and his cronies in charge — Bush’s  incompetence is legendary. I wouldn’t trust Dumbya to shovel elephant shit around without making a complete cock-up of it.

John Cole on Iraq

John Cole, on the occupation of Iraq:

Someone proposed extending tours beyond 15 months? Cripes. We might as well give the troops Iraqi citizenship and call them a faction.

Iyad Allawi, next prime minister of Iraq?

I’m not sure if there’s anything in this, but Helena Cobban is reporting about Iyad Allawi:

Iraqslogger has a great piece that reproduces the text of a contract signed between Ayad (Iyad) Allawi and Robert Blackwill, in the latter’s capacity as head of a DC lobbying firm.

Allawi undertakes to pay Blackwill’s firm $50,000 a month for, in the first instance, six months starting August 1. In return Blackwill’s firm, BRG, will “provide strategic counsel and representation for an on behalf of Dr. Ayad Allawi before the US Government, Congress, media and others.”

Blackwill was the Bush administration’s envoy to Iraq in 2004, when longtime CIA protege Allawi was briefly PM there. Last Saturday, BRG scored its first hit for Allawi when it succeeded in placing an anti-Maliki article, allegedly “written” by him, in the WaPo.

Allawi was interim prime minister of Iraq during 2004-2005. Perhaps he wants his old job back. Maliki seems to be on the way out, in any case.

Maliki loses support from Bush and Sistani

Juan Cole is reporting that Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, is losing support from Bush and Sistani:

When pressed on the future of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Bush declined to back him as forcefully as in the past. He said it was up to the Iraqis to decide. I don’t think things look good for al-Maliki.

Al-Quds al-`Arabi [pdf] reports in Arabic that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is “disgusted” with the al-Maliki government. He complains that it has ‘filled his heart with pus’ by donning his robes and then neglecting to establish security or provide services to the people. If Sistani has soured so badly on al-Maliki, he really could be in trouble. The old man still has enormous moral authority.

I daresay Maliki hasn’t done a good job in providing Iraqis with security. But could anyone else have done much better? I doubt it. Iraq right now seems completely ungovernable, and is likely to remain that way until its civil war burns itself out. If I was Maliki I’d suggest to Bush and Sistani that they do his job, if they think they can do any better.