The International Crisis Group has put together a little profile of the Iraqi insurgency by harvesting information from “their Internet Web sites and chat rooms, videos, tapes, and leaflets,” – which finds what others have been saying for some time – that the insurgency is mainly national, not foreign. The report claims that Sunni Arab and Sunni Islamic groups have recently overcome their differences to form a united front but not because they’ve been in negotiations with U.S. officials which are just nasty rumours. And it seeks to affirm that the new Iraqi govt. will collapse if the U.S. withdraws its troops from its shiny new bases and restores Iraqi sovereignty. ABC News aired the report.
“A new editorial feature of The Hill newspaper”
ICG’s report seems as credible as a political ad I was invited to view and rate yesterday. I doubt that Hugo Gurdon, Editor in chief of The Hill, and Chris Wilson, CEO, Wilson Research Strategies, will test my gag reflex again. It’s made clear, only after beginning the survey, they’re only interested in the opinions of people who work in fields related to politics. I was allowed to view and rate the ad anyway.
I then went to Progress for America, the “nonprofit corporation” that paid for the ad, and found “that everyone is talking about” it. News to me. And I watched their latest ad in what they’re calling the “MidWest Heroes” initiative. PFA claims to be a “Republican-leaning,” non-partisan supporter of conservative agendas. That statement is as truthful as the ads.
The conservatives want to fight them there, so we don’t have to fight them here!
The liberals want to fight a smarter war.
This is a rerun of the 2004 presidential race. Neither party cared about what Iraqis wanted then, either.
In fairness to the political culture of the United States, it would be a bit late to start actually caring about what Iraqis want or think. One day we will find some grateful people who will just be liberated and not run their mouths off.