With all the emphasis Bush has put on convincing Americans of the righteousness of the Iraqi crusade, he must have somehow neglected getting the Iraqis - ya know, the ones supposedly benefiting from our benevolent occupation - on his side. Miraculously, this nation which does not check its inbox for Bush Admin emails found time to bring disparate parties in the Middle East to the table to work out a statement of principles - parties whom we never thought would coexist in the same room:
The conference delegates "called for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national programme to rebuild the armed forces...control the borders and the security situation" and end terror attacks.
It was unclear how the "timetable" might reconcile what until now has been US and Iraqi government policy - that the withdrawal of foreign forces be dictated by the readiness of Iraq's own security forces to handle the insurgency - and that of Sunni Arabs who want a more definite schedule for the pull-out.
It makes perfect sense to me how that position reconciles with the U.S. plans: Iraqis want to solve these problems, but they realize that the U.S. is part of the problem, not the solution. Notice that quote calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces as a means to the ends in peace and security which they seek in common with us (ostensibly). In other words, we're in the way. Refusing to withdraw until we believe order is established creates the very situation that requires our armed forces to stay. It's almost as if we don't want to leave, and it's perfectly understandable why it must look like that to the Iraqis.
Now, here's a great element of the statement of principles issued by a body with representatives from all walks of life in Iraq:
The statement also affirmed that "resistance is a legitimate right for all people".
But other than condemning terrorism and attacks on civilians, it did not address the contentious issue of what legitimate "resistance" might entail.
The disconnect between Bush Administration and reality seems to just widen and widen. Nobody likes to be helped in spite of themselves, though they may cordially fail to define exactly what qualifies as a polite resistance to such help. Iraqis are nothing if not polite.
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