One of Ours

The other day, while taking a break by the Al-Hamra Hotel pool, fringed with the usual cast of tattooed defence contractors, I was accosted by an American magazine journalist of serious accomplishment and impeccable liberal credentials.

She had been disturbed by my argument that Iraqis were better off than they had been under Saddam and I was now — there was no choice about this — going to have to justify my bizarre and dangerous views. I’ll spare you most of the details because you know the script — no WMD, no ‘imminent threat’ (though the point was to deal with Saddam before such a threat could emerge), a diversion from the hunt for bin Laden, enraging the Arab world. Etcetera.

But then she came to the point. Not only had she ‘known’ the Iraq war would fail but she considered it essential that it did so because this would ensure that the ‘evil’ George W. Bush would no longer be running her country. Her editors back on the East Coast were giggling, she said, over what a disaster Iraq had turned out to be. ‘Lots of us talk about how awful it would be if this worked out.’ Startled by her candour, I asked whether thousands more dead Iraqis would be a good thing.

She nodded and mumbled something about Bush needing to go. By this logic, I ventured, another September 11 on, say, September 11 would be perfect for pushing up John Kerry’s poll numbers. ‘Well, that’s different — that would be Americans,’ she said, haltingly. ‘I guess I’m a bit of an isolationist.’ That’s one way of putting it.

The moral degeneracy of these sentiments didn’t really hit me until later when I dined at the home of Abu Salah, a father of six who took over as the Daily Telegraph’s chief driver in Baghdad when his predecessor was killed a year ago...

...We've been through more BS about Iraq and more twists, turns and potholes than on the road from Kanapali to Hana. The worst of us and the best of us have appeared and disappeared. But we are at a fork in the road and one sign says democracy and the other says fascism and chaos. It's time for "W" to suck it up...and forget about one thing...the election...because we're long past worrying about anything so dopey as Democrats versus Republicans. This is about civilization, not somebody's job or potholes in the Hana road or on our local streets or even tax rates. Forget about Tip O'Neill. "All politics is local," seems like a pretty trivial statement when people are getting their throats cut for being Americans. It's time for "W" to be like Kobe...Whether the wins or loses, it's time "to leave it on the court."

...Morale is keeping steady here...Between the scandal at Abu Ghraib and the recent beheading it seems like the only news coming out of Iraq is one bombshell after another. I know it’s been said so many times before but there is very little attention being paid to the day to day work that’s going on over here. That’s okay and I don’t think many soldiers mind, but I think we have a different perspective than most people living in the States...

...We spend most of our time working on claims, detainee issues, and military justice. But yesterday we got to focus on another part of our mission over here. I went with several of my bosses to the Tikrit courthouse to meet with the Chief Judge of Salah Ad Dinh province and about fifty other judges from cities around the province. We drove a short way through Tikrit on our way to the meeting and passed by bustling shops selling all sorts of stuff, construction workers putting together new buildings, and tons of people walking or driving. By all appearances it seems like the Iraqi economy has grown significantly in the last year. Tikrit seems like a relatively normal, busy city. While there are still some security concerns, yesterday it almost seemed like the only real danger was getting into a car accident as we maneuvered our big HMMWVs through the crowded narrow streets.

At the meeting we discussed the problems the courts were facing and what we could do to help them out. All the courts are functioning well but they still need some help. We’ve been helping to repair and renovate the buildings, getting computers, supplies and security for the courts. I’ve been impressed with the apparent eagerness of the judges to improve their judicial system. They say they really want to help establish a society that adheres to the rule of law and they want to be free to make fair and impartial decisions without the interference of other branches of government...

...No matter how the retreating governments try to spin it, every time a country pulls out of Iraq it is al Qaeda and other extremists who win. They draw the conclusion that the coalition of the willing is weak and that the more terrorist outrages, the more countries will withdraw.

...when it comes to rescuing an innocent people from tyranny or genocide, I've never questioned the justification for resorting to force. That's why I supported Vietnam's 1978 invasion of Cambodia, which ended Pol Pot's regime, and Tanzania's invasion of Uganda in 1979, to oust Idi Amin. In both cases, those countries acted without U.N. or international approval--and in both cases they were right to do so.

Perhaps the French have forgotten how they, too, toppled one of the worst human-rights violators without U.N. approval. I applauded in the early '80s when French paratroopers landed in the dilapidated capital of the then Central African Empire and deposed "Emperor" Jean Bedel Bokassa, renowned for cannibalism. Almost two decades later, I applauded again as NATO intervened--without a U.N. mandate--to end ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and liberate an oppressed European Muslim community from Serbian tyranny. And I rejoiced once more in 2001 after the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban liberated Afghanistan from one of the world's most barbaric regimes.

So why do some think Iraq should be any different? Only a year after his overthrow, they seem to have forgotten how hundreds of thousands perished during Saddam Hussein's tyranny, under a regime whose hallmark was terror, summary execution, torture and rape. Forgotten too is how the Kurds and Iraq's neighbors lived each day in fear, so long as Saddam remained in power.

Those who oppose the use of force at any cost may question why overthrowing Saddam was such a priority. Why not instead tackle Robert Mugabe, the junta in Myanmar, or Syria? But while Mugabe is a ruthless despot, he is hardly in the same league as Saddam--a tyrant who used chemical weapons on his own people, unleashed two catastrophic wars against his Muslim neighbors, and defied the U.N.

Saddam's overthrow offers a chance to build a new Iraq that is peaceful, tolerant and prosperous. That's why the stakes are so high, and why extremists from across the Muslim world are fighting to prevent it. They know that a free Iraq would fatally undermine their goal of purging all Western influence from the Muslim world, overthrowing the secular regimes in the region, and imposing Stone Age rule. They know that forcing Western countries to withdraw from Iraq would be a major step toward that goal, imperiling the existence of moderate regimes--from the Middle East to the Magreb and Southeast Asia.

If those regimes were to fall, hundreds of thousands of Muslims who today denounce the "evils" of Western imperialism would flock to Europe, the U.S., Canada and Australia, seeking refuge. As in Iran, Muslims might have to experience the reality of rule by ayatollahs before they realize how foolish they were not to oppose these religious zealots more vigorously.

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In almost 30 years of political life, I have supported the use of force on several occasions and sometimes wonder whether I am a worthy recipient of the Nobel Peace prize. Certainly I am not in the same category as Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu or Nelson Mandela. But Mr. Mandela, too, recognized the need to resort to violence in the struggle against white oppression. The consequences of doing nothing in the face of evil were demonstrated when the world did not stop the Rwandan genocide that killed almost a million people in 1994. Where were the peace protesters then? They were just as silent as they are today in the face of the barbaric behavior of religious fanatics.

Some may accuse me of being more of a warmonger than a Nobel laureate, but I stand ready to face my critics. It is always easier to say no to war, even at the price of appeasement. But being politically correct means leaving the innocent to suffer the world over, from Phnom Penh to Baghdad. And that is what those who would cut and run from Iraq risk doing.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, making a surprise visit to Iraq, went to the Abu Ghraib prison Thursday and told U.S. troops "we'll get through" the international uproar over abuse of inmates there.

Arriving here with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers by helicopter in a dust storm, the embattled Rumsfeld called the abuse scandal a "body blow for all of us" but said he was determined that those in the wrong be punished.

"The people who engaged in abuses will be brought to justice," the defense secretary said. "The world will see how a free and democratic society functions."

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"I've stopped reading newspapers," Rumsfeld quipped to the troops here. "You've got to keep your sanity somehow. I'm a survivor."

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...Rumsfeld told reporters en route to Iraq that lawyers are advising the Pentagon not to publicly release any more pictures of Iraqi prisoners being abused by U.S. soldiers. He also dismissed as "garbage" any suggestion the Pentagon tried to cover up the prison abuse.

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...he said, "As far as I'm concerned, I'd be happy to release them all to the public and to get it behind us. But at the present time I don't know anyone in the legal shop in any element of the government that is recommending that."

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He said the incidents "sullied the reputation of our country. I was stunned. It was a body blow. And with six or seven investigations under way and a country that has values and a military justice system that has values, we know that those involved, whoever they are, will be brought to justice."

" .. It's important for each of you to know that that is not the values of America and it's not your values and I know that, and you know that and your families know that," he said...

...Appearing before the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, Rumsfeld said all authorized methods had been confirmed by Pentagon lawyers as complying with the Geneva Conventions on treatment of detainees. Rumsfeld's contention was backed by Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...

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Experts in military law and human rights also argued that some of the authorized U.S. methods run counter to international prohibitions against coercive or cruel treatment.

Even within the military, some lawyers have expressed unease with the interrogation rules. Last year, several military lawyers appealed to a senior representative of the New York State Bar Association to try to persuade the Pentagon to revise its practices.

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The list [of approved interrogation methods] showed two categories of measures -- those approved for all detainees and those requiring special authorization by Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. Among the items in the second category are "sensory deprivation," "stress positions," "dietary manipulation," forced changes in sleep patterns, isolated confinement and use of dogs.

Holding up the list, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said some procedures requiring special approval "go far beyond the Geneva Conventions."

Rumsfeld shot back that "any instructions that have been issued or anything that's been authorized by the department was checked by the lawyers" in the Pentagon and deemed to be consistent with the Geneva code.

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Kenneth Roth, director of Human Rights Watch, said the U.S. interrogation rules for Iraq "look like someone tried carefully to avoid torture but forgot about the parallel rule against cruel and inhumane treatment." He called those U.S. techniques that require special approval "blatantly illegal."

Hutson said the Pentagon was trying to draw lines within the gray area between torture and benign treatment. "I fundamentally disagree with where they drew the lines," he said...

US forces, having collapsed half of the historic al-Mukhayyam Mosque and set 7 hotels on fire in its environs in Karbala, are continuing to fight Mahdi Army militiamen in the area around the shrine of Imam Husain. Az-Zaman reports that fighting is also heavy in the eastern, al-Abbasiyah neighborhood of the holy city. 20 to 30 Mahdi Army men were killed, as they holed up in mosques and other buildings, putting civilians at risk. Hundreds of Iraqi and Iranian pilgrims to the tomb of Imam Husain cowered in their rooms as the firefights grew hot.

The US was given the green light by Karbala governor Saad Sufuk, who says he is determined to get the Army of the Mahdi out of Karbala.

Muqtada al-Sadr, in the meantime suddenly announced that he would dissolve and disarm his militia if these steps were requested by the grand ayatollahs in Najaf. Observers suggested that this was a clever move by Muqtada, since he has now placed the onus on the heretofore somewhat silent senior Shiite leaders.

Some sources are blaming Muqtada for the breakdown of negotiations with the Americans. Others say the problem is Paul Bremer, who is insisting that Muqtada be taken into custody immediately and dealt with before the turn-over of sovereignty on June 30...

Gunfire erupted across Baghdad and tracer bullets lit the night sky last night, but this was not war, it was joy. Iraq’s young footballers have qualified for their first Olympics.

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Fans glued to television screens erupted in traditional Iraqi manner, blasting Kalashnikov rifles and machine guns into the air when Hawar Taher made it 3-1 a minute from time.

Carloads of men drove crazily round Baghdad, horns blaring.

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Once a force to be reckoned with in Middle East soccer, Iraq suffered in recent years through war, sanctions and the vicious whims of Saddam's son Udai, who ran Iraqi sport - and was known even to beat footballers who failed to perform...