The re-writing of Iraqi history is now going on at supersonic speed

By Robert Fisk - 26 May 2004

I can’t wait to see Abu Ghraib prison reduced to rubble by the Americans — at the request of the new Iraqi government, of course. It will be turned to dust in order to destroy a symbol of Saddam Hussein’s brutality. That’s what President Bush tells us. So the rewriting of history still goes on.

Last August, I was invited to Abu Ghraib — by my favorite U.S. Gen. Janis Karpinski, no less — to see the million-dollar U.S. refurbishment of this vile place. Squeaky clean cells and toothpaste tubes and fresh pairs of pants for the “terrorist” inmates. But now, suddenly, the whole kit and caboodle is no longer an American torture center. It’s still an Iraqi torture center and thus worthy of demolition.

The rewriting of Iraqi history is now going on at supersonic speed.

Weapons of mass destruction? Forget it. Links between Saddam and al-Qaida? Forget it. Liberating the Iraqis from Saddam’s Abu Ghraib life of torture? Forget it. Wedding party slaughtered? Forget it. Clear the decks for both “full (sic) sovereignty” and “chaotic events.” This is, at any rate, according to Bush. When I heard his hesitant pronunciation of Abu Ghraib as “Abu Grub” on Monday night, I could only profoundly agree.

BUSH’S FIVE STEPS IN A SPEECH: FIVE STEPS TO LOSE A WAR AND THE UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION ON THE TABLE

by Phyllis Bennis
Institute for Policy Studies
24 May 2004

The U.S. is losing the war in Iraq. The Bush administration has lost the battle for Iraqi hearts and minds; four out of five Iraqis hold a negative view of the U.S. occupation authority and U.S. troops. The U.S. has, with the expose of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, lost whatever shreds of moral authority it once claimed in Iraq, the Arab world, or the international community. And at home, President Bush is losing support faster than ever before; a majority of Americans believe the war was not worth the price, and 64% of Americans believe the president does not have a clear plan for Iraq.

Bush’s new “five-step plan” to “help Iraq achieve democracy and freedom” is not new, does not lay out serious steps to resolve the Iraq crisis, and will not bring about anything resembling democracy or freedom. Instead, it is a recipe for continuing U.S. occupation, continuing deaths of hundreds of U.S. and coalition troops and thousands of Iraqis, and continuing destruction in Iraq.

Step One: Hand over something
Whatever it is that the U.S. plans to “hand over” to the not-yet-appointed appointed interim Iraqi government on June 30, it will certainly not be sovereignty. Iraq will not be sovereign as long as 135,000 U.S. and tens of thousands of “coalition” troops remain in the country under U.S. command and unaccountable to the Iraqi government.