DancesWithCamels

here a little sum’em sum’em i dug up from the Hammer’s vault dated August 20, 2004…..

Guerrilla in our Midst

Often the retelling of political events in a satirical manner can prove to be a daunting task. Fortunately Steve Bell’s cartoon “Najaf faces final Assault” has successfully avoided capitulating to such by providing a unique critique as to the nature of the Bush administration’s foreign policy with Iraq. In it, Bell likens the actions of the Bush administration in Iraq to those of the 1933 cult classic film King Kong, as though to insinuate American foreign policy as primitive, ignorant, and cumbersome to the disadvantage of many Iraqis. For many political pundits, including Bell, this parallel rings true as one only needs to see the state of chaos Iraq appears to be in since the American lead invasion. The similarities invoked are as follows; the struggle for the survival of the primitive giant ape (the embodiment of the U.S ?) represented by Bush against the forces of urban civilization (the Shi’ite Iraqis?) followed by the unreciprocated love of Sadr resulting in the frustration and suppression of violent and perverse desires. However, this criticism does not solely remain with pundits alone.

Many former U.S diplomats and general have condemned the Bush administration’s handling of the situation as deteriorating in Iraq. This due to the blinding ideological and callous indifference to the realities of the world around it. In fact, some would state the assertiveness of this administration as having fully overextended its limits by conquering and occupying Iraq. I recall Joseph Nye, from the Kennedy school of government, labeling the U.S as ‘paradoxical’ in that despite being a hegemonic power it is incapable of executing its own objectives when initiating them unilaterally. For Nye, the Bush administration’s continual unwillingness to comprehend the present realities in Iraq is currently attributing to the current quagmire that the U.S appears to be in. One of the realities that the U.S has continually over sighed is the power of the religious establishment that the Shi’ite clergy holds over the lives of ordinary Shiite Iraqi civilians. In addition the U.S response to this religious political reality have been conducted as, for the most part, inappropriate. For example, the U.S led offensive launched on August12 2004 on the ‘holy’ Shi’ite city of Najaf was aimed particularly at disabling the military faction of Muqtada al-Sadr’s movement; the Mehdi Army. The goal was to undermine the cleric as a major Shiite political force. The operation however, has had little success in reducing the political strength of the cleric. This is largely due to the fact that Washington seems to be unaware as to the root of Muqtada al-Sadr source of power. This said, power for Al-Sadr does not emanate from the existence of the Mehdi Army. In fact, it is a direct consequence of his popular standing within the Shi’ite masses. In light of this offensive, attempts at destroying his ‘ragtag’ militia composed of untrained and inexperienced young men fighting an unconventional war will not weaken Muqtada Al- Sadr. It has, however, transform the nature of his group into a quasi-cult movement against foreign domination.

Judging by the asymmetry of the Mehdi’s military incapabilities, defeat appears most definitely eminent. However immobilizing the Mehdi Army will not by any stretch of imagination prevent the continual process of Iraqis politicizing their religious leaders, a phenomena which many have come to see in the region. The apparent inability of the U.S to weaken the al-Sadr’s movement stems from the fact that the U.S insists on referring to this movement as an armed insurrection rather than a growing political phenomenon. The option to eliminate Sadr altogether in a military assault would bring dire consequences for the U.S. The credibility of the present interim administration as a fully independent Iraqi government would be at stake and possibly be viewed as a puppet regime of the U.S. Rifts in the interim government are already visible. For instances, the leader of the Dawa Party and as well as the Shi’ite vice-president of the interim government Ibrahim Jaafari have already publicly condemned the presence of U.S troops in the ‘holy city’. He has also threaten to resign from his post as the deputy governor of Najaf in protest to the military operations that have been conducted in the city. Another possibilities of this outcome would be the expediential grow of other rogue insurgencies from the other ‘confessional groups’ in Iraq such as the Kurds and Sunnis.

To sum, cartoonist Steve Bell’s “Najaf faces final Assault” alludes to more than simple brute force on the part of U.S president George W. Bush. It is in fact a commentary of the incompetence of the United States with respect to the occupation of Iraq, its reluctance to appropriately address the political movement of al-Sadr, and the possible repercussions the U.S might face should the siege in Najaf result in the death of al-Sadr. It would appear that for the U.S the radical cleric is here to stay.

“though the spirit is willing… the flesh is weak”

…from the mindset of the heb’ hammer