Rebuilding Iraq: Rebooting the occupation

Now you see it…

After weeks of George W. Bush taking it on the chin (both literally and figuratively), and after setbacks and backtracks on the ground in Iraq, last night’s speech by President Bush was intended to reboot the occupation, hoping that people will forget the past and muster some hope for the future. With 64% of Americans believing that there is no clear plan for Iraq, Bush’s five-step plan offered no new initiatives (indeed, when was the US not pursuing any of them?) and plenty of references to the War on Terror, but there some clever moves that should have been done at the start – like razing the Abu Ghraib prison to the ground. At home, Bush has circled the wagons, withdrawn to his cocoon of his war cabinet, and is taking no questions. The problem for anyone who feels that the Bush administration should have hell to pay for all the lies, miscalculations, and manipulation that led to the war is that it isn’t worth having things get worse in Iraq to insure Bush’s defeat in the November elections. So even with handpicked Iraqi leaders getting taken out every now and then (or self-immolating, as is the case with the Ahmed Chalabi, the man everyone can agree on to dislike), the US is continuing with its “Hail Mary” (er, I mean “Allahu Akbar”) pass that is the June 30th handover of power to President TBD. And despite the pleasure it would give some to see things go really, really bad for President Bush, everyone hopes at some level that this reboot of the occupation will work.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.