Just a quick post on the release of the Iraq Study Group Report. For the political savvy people out there, what are your thoughts on the report? What should the president do with this report?

I myself, have not read it yet. However, I think I will be able to read it tonight and let you know in a future post my thoughts on it. My educational background did not specialize in Middle East Affairs, it is actually was in Asian Affairs. But in any event, I figured I would see what I can make out of the report. The way things are going right now, I think President Bush needs all the help he can get.

You can download the full report here.

Members of the Iraq Study Group:

James A. Baker, III – Co-ChairFormer Secretary of State Honorary Chair, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
Lee H. Hamilton – Co-ChairFormer Member of Congress Director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Lawrence S. Eagleburger Former U.S. Secretary of State Chairman, International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. – MemberFormer Advisor to President ClintonSenior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC

Edwin Meese III – MemberFormer Attorney GeneralRonald Reagan Chair in Public Policy, The Heritage FoundationDistinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution

Sandra Day O’Connor – MemberAssociate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court (Retired)

Leon E. Panetta – MemberFormer White House Chief of StaffFounder and Director, Panetta Institute

William J. Perry – MemberFormer Secretary of DefenseProfessor, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

Charles S. Robb – MemberFormer Governor of VirginiaFormer U.S. SenatorDistinguished Professor of Law & Public Policy, George Mason University School of Law

Alan K. Simpson – MemberFormer U.S. Senator from Wyoming

The word “mistake” seems to me a big understatement in terms of U.S. policy in Iraq. Nonetheless, lately there has been above coverage on the issue of top leaders admitting mistakes have been made in Iraq. Now…really? Isn’t that quite obviously that the U.S. strategy has not been working for years now.

In the past Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has admitted that there are things that should have been handled differently. Recently in an interview, she stated “As to whether the United States has made mistakes: Of course, I’m sure we have. “You can’t be involved in something as big as the liberation of a country like Iraq and all that has happened since, and I’m sure there are things that we could have done differently.” She left it at that and later told an Arabic news program that she will say more in her future books after she leaves office.

In addition, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a Nov 6th memo that “In my view it is time for a major adjustment… Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.”
Delusional President Bush said earlier this year that “I think the biggest mistake that’s happened so far, at least from our country’s involvement in Iraq, is Abu Ghraib. We’ve been paying for that for a long period of time.” I am not sure much further a President of the U.S. can be from the truth when one only has to read or turn on the papers to see the mounting evidence that has been present for years that Iraq is in civil war and that the U.S. strategy is fundamentally flawed.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

The increasing violence in Iraq is putting a strain on U.S. and international troops along with the civilian population. The civilian population is faced with daily instances of walking passed dead bodies that have been tortured and dumped along side the road or being faced with the fear of being blown up by bombs. The sectarian attacks which are on the rise left 3,700 people dead last month according to a U.N. study.

The government plan that was initiated on June 14th, 2006 , which was aimed at addressing the increased level of violence and growing criminality has not been working. The U.N. reports that since the Samarra attack on February 2006, 200,000 individuals have been displaced. The reconstruction, development and humanitarian assistance that was promised by the U.S. can be summed up as an utter failure. Today, Iraq is faced with an acute crisis in terms of its human and humanitarian crisis. The law of order is not run by the Iraqi government or the U.S. but rather the growing power of the militias who show their power through indiscriminate killings and targeted attacks. In addition, kidnappings and torture continue unabated in many parts of the country where U.S. forces claim to have control.

The U.S. has made Iraq a haven for terrorist and one of the most unstable and dangerous places in the world. A strategy must come forth from the U.S. and international community that enables a framework for reconciliation and peace that takes into account the lack of security and numerous human rights violations.

As the United States occupation of Iraq continues, many of us continue to watch the news of the endless battles that the American troops are fighting against. One town named Fallujah is right in the heartland of the bloodshed as hundreds of thousands of civilians are caught between two sides. We rarely encounter documentaries on how civilians in Fallujah are expected to survive once the fighting is over. Unfortunately, the fighting is still not over and these civilians trapped inside Fallujah must struggle to keep their families alive.

Mark Manning, an independent filmmaker shows us the other side of the story that the mainstream American media often does not show. He lived with the citizens of Fallujah un-embedded and experienced life from their perspectives after their city was completely destroyed in an operation known as “Phantom Fury.”
So with fulfilling Mark’s promise on sharing his story to the rest of the word, you can watch the two part mini documentary on the aftermath of “Phantom Fury.”

Watch Part One

Watch Part Two

Since the invasion of Iraq by the imperialist region of the Bush Administration, violence in Iraq has only further crippled the daily lives of Baghdad inhabitants. Stability and security were by far better off under the leadership of Saddam Hussein. Here is an account of one family’s fight for a better life.

Never have I heard of a man speak with such integrity and eloquently speak of President Bush like this. Please watch the full video right here. Excerpt from video: The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a war, on the false premise that it had ’something to do’ with 9/11 is “lying by implication.” The impolite phrase is “impeachable offense.”