1115.org

(1) The Unconscious Humor Of George Bush

President Bush, on Wednesday afternoon, addressing the ongoing fighting between government forces and Shi’ite militants in Basra and Sadr City:

Bush: My first reaction to watching the Iraqi government respond forcefully and to make it abundantly clear that — I think the exact — I can’t remember the exact words of the Prime Minister, but “criminal elements” I know were a part of his declaration — would be dealt with. I thought that was a very positive moment in the development of a sovereign nation, that is willing to take on elements that are — you know, that believe they’re beyond the law.

Could there be a more egregious example of the pot calling the kettle black?

It’s hard to imagine that any politician could be so blissfully unaware of how he is regarded by not just his critics, but a majority of his electorate. In the American consciousness, George Bush has arguably come to displace Richard Nixon as the president who most arrogantly exemplifies the belief that he is above the law and answerable to nobody.

Have to hand George one thing, though: it would indeed have been a very positive moment in the development of this sovereign nation if Pelosi and Reid had managed to find the backbone to hold Bush to account for shredding our civil liberties, and riding roughshod over the Constitution and the laws of the land.

(2) Wrong Again, Naturally

On Wednesday, President Bush also stressed another positive developmental aspect of the ongoing fighting between government forces and Shi’ite militants in Basra and Sadr City:

And secondly, we are helping, but it’s important to know that the Iraqis are in the lead. This is a positive moment in the development of a nation that can govern itself and defend itself and sustain itself. We will provide oversight and, on occasion, support when asked. This is an Iraqi operation.

And this morning, the WP has a story with the sub-heading “Americans Appear To Take the Lead As Iraqi Units Wait”:

U.S. forces in armored vehicles battled Mahdi Army fighters Thursday in Sadr City, the vast Shiite stronghold in eastern Baghdad, as an offensive to quell party-backed militias entered its third day. Iraqi army and police units appeared to be largely holding to the outskirts of the area as American troops took the lead in the fighting.

(3) George Bush Versus Reality

Still the WP:

As President Bush told an Ohio audience that Iraq was returning to “normalcy,” administration officials in Washington held meetings to assess what appeared to be a rapidly deteriorating security situation in many parts of the country.

(4) On The Positive Side

What appears to Western eyes as armed conflict may just be electioneering, Iraqi-style. Evidently, they prefer to practice a slightly different form of democracy from what we tried to export:

Maliki decided to launch the offensive without consulting his U.S. allies, according to administration officials. With little U.S. presence in the south, and British forces in Basra confined to an air base outside the city, one administration official said that “we can’t quite decipher” what is going on.
[…]
In Basra, three rival Shiite groups have been trying to position themselves, sometimes through force of arms, to dominate recently approved provincial elections.

The U.S. officials, who were not authorized to speak on the record, said that they believe Iran has provided assistance in the past to all three groups — the Mahdi Army; the Badr Organization of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Iraq’s largest Shiite party; and forces loyal to the Fadhila Party, which holds the Basra governor’s seat. But the officials see the current conflict as a purely internal Iraqi dispute.

Some officials have concluded that Maliki himself is firing “the first salvo in upcoming elections,” the administration official said.

“His dog in that fight is that he is basically allied with the Badr Corps” against forces loyal to Sadr, the official said. “It’s not a pretty picture.”