For better or worse

Some people are just incredible, claiming that something is white when almost everyone can clearly see it is black. And they still expect to convince some people to become color-blind. Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack have the temerity to write in the New York Times: “Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms.” (The New York Times: “A War We Just Might Win”)

Sure, didn't Bush himself say more than four years ago that the mission in Iraq was accomplished? “Today, morale is high,” write the two propagandists. Sure, that's why the suicide rate in the U.S. army is the highest in 26 years. Still, some naive souls will no doubt believe their claims. After all, they are just back from a visit to Iraq, they saw the glorious situation with their very own eyes. They strolled down Ramadi without body armor. Well, sometimes the wrong people are lucky. Anyway, they don't hide the purpose of all this happy hullabaloo at the end of their story: “There is enough good happening on the battlefields of Iraq today that Congress should plan on sustaining the effort at least into 2008.” The purpose of their lies: convince Congress to continue funding the occupation of Iraq, safeguarding the profits of the arms industry.

“The war in Iraq is about to get worse – much worse. [...] Iraq is in a state of anarchy. [...] The war was not doomed because Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz did not do sufficient planning for the occupation. The war was doomed, period. It never had a chance. [...] This anarchy could end with foreign forces, including Iran and Turkey, carving up the battered carcass of Iraq. No matter what happens, many, many Iraqis are going to die. And it is our fault.”

Now who is this Chris Hedges? The former Middle East bureau chief of ... The New York Times. O'Hanlon and Pollack visited Iraq on a tourist trip organized by the U.S. army. Hedges has lived in the Middle East for seven years. Chose yourself whom to believe at the New York Times.

Is it getting better or worse? Chris Hedges doesn't think it's getting better. (Truthout: “Beyond Disaster”)