Why did the Bush Administration fail to adequately plan to prevent Iraq from fracturing along religious sectarian lines?

In his new book, Peter Galbraith has revealed one possible reason : President Bush might not have even known that Iraq had religious sects.

A year after his ‘Axis of Evil’ speech before the U.S. Congress, President Bush met with three Iraqi Americans, one of whom became postwar Iraq’s first representative to the United States. The three described what they thought would be the political situation after the fall of Saddam Hussein. During their conversation with the President, Galbraith claims, it became apparent to them that Bush was unfamiliar with the distinction between Sunnis and Shiites.

Galbraith reports that the three of them spent some time explaining to Bush that there are two different sects in Islam–to which the President allegedly responded, “I thought the Iraqis were Muslims!”

If that seems too appalling to be true, remember that, at roughly the same time, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz testified in front of Congress that Iraq had no history of ethnic strife.

“We have no idea what kind of ethnic strife might appear in the future, although as I have noted, it has not been the history of Iraq’s past.”

” One does not abruptly decide, between the first and second vodka, or the ticks of the indicator of velocity, that the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion are valid after all.”

Read Christopher Hitchens’ delightful dismantling of Mel “Atrocities Happened” Gibson here.

“F*****g Jews… The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”

— Mel Gibson, July 28, 2006, while being arrested for drunk driving in Malibu.

“Atrocities happened. War is horrible. The Second World War killed tens of millions of people. Some of them were Jews in concentration camps.”

–Mel Gibson, March 2004 Reader’s Digest, after being asked if the Holocaust happened.

Jul 27, 11:54 PM EDT
Army Dismisses Gay Arabic Linguist

By DUNCAN MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) — A decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, though he says he never told his superiors he was gay and his accuser was never identified.

Bleu Copas, 30, told The Associated Press he is gay, but said he was “outed” by a stream of anonymous e-mails to his superiors in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Read more.

In case you didn’t know, the U.S. government is seriously short of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashtun speakers willing to translate all of the telephone calls and e-mails that we’re spending billions to intercept.

The story referenced above is not an isolated incident. This 2005 story from FOX News makes is clear that institutional homophobia is much more important to the Bush White House than protecting Americans from terrorism.

Think of all of the attacks that the U.S. military could have stopped in Iraq or Afghanistan had these linguists not been shoved aside for the sake of homophobia.

(apologies for earlier posting an unedited draft)

If this article is true . . .

Elimination of Hezbollah the ultimate goal
By Nicholas Kralev
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
July 19, 2006

Israel’s military operation in Lebanon is designed to cripple Hezbollah by destroying its headquarters, weapons stockpiles and supply network, and eventually eliminating the militant group, Israeli officials and analysts said yesterday.

. . . then explain this article from Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper . . .

Latest targets of air blitz: milk and medicine

By Lysandra Ohrstrom
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 19, 2006

BEIRUT: Israel switched gears in its military campaign against Lebanon Monday and Tuesday, launching a series of debilitating air strikes against privately owned factories throughout the country and dealing a devastating blow to an economy already paralyzed by a week of hits on residential areas and crucial infrastructure.

The production facilities of at least five companies in key industrial sectors – including the country’s largest dairy farm, Liban Lait; a paper mill; a packaging firm and a pharmaceutical plant – have been disabled or completely destroyed. Industry insiders say the losses will cripple the economy for decades to come.

“I think the picture will be much worse than we can possible imagine when the whole thing ends, but the direct damage from yesterday’s attacks to the industrial sector alone will take years to recover from,” said Wajid al-Bisri, the vice-president of the Lebanese Association of Industrialists (LAI).

How does destroying Lebanon’s economy undermine Hezbollah? It’s a political and terrorist movement that flourishes on misery and dissatisfaction.

“Zarqawi’s death is a severe blow to al Qaeda. It’s a victory in the global war on terror, and it is an opportunity for Iraq’s new government to turn the tide of this struggle.” –President Bush, June 8, 2006

“An average of more than 100 civilians per day were killed in Iraq last month, the highest monthly tally of violent deaths since the fall of Baghdad, the United Nations reported today.” –NYTimes.com, July 18, 2006

from the Jerusalem Post:

Jul. 18, 2006 10:52 | Updated Jul. 18, 2006 18:21

IDF: One week to remove threat in North
By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST STAFF, AND AP

Forty to fifty percent of Hizbullah’s military capability has been destroyed in the six days of the IDF counter-attack following last Wednesday’s Hizbullah raid in northern Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

The IDF, it is understood, believes it needs another week or so minimum to achieve its military goals in terms of alleviating Hizbullah’s capacity to threaten Israel.

If the report is true, or even close to true, then hooray. A weakenened Hezbollah is good for Israel, good for Lebanon, and good for the world.

But reading the story, I can’t help but remember all of the previous times that we’ve been told about either the Israeli military squashing the enemy.

Hezbollah was founded in the midst of an Israeli offensive in Lebanon in 1982. The goal of that offensive, and the 18 occupation that followed it, was to eliminate attacks and threats to Israel from Lebanon. Invasion and occupation didn’t crush them then. I’m not convinced it’s going to work now.

The report also reminds me of all of the times we Americans have been told that our enemies have been squashed. The Taliban were “beaten” now they’re back. The mission in Iraq was “Accomplished” three years and 50,000-100,000 lives ago. Zarqawi’s death was a turning point. Zarqawi’s death will cripple the insurgency, etc.

Start gathering rotten fruit.
On Wednesday, July 19 at 10:00 P.M., I will be the guest monologist on The Doug Dank Project, a live improv comedy show at Push Push Theater in Decatur. Admission is $5.

The guest monologist’s job is to start the show with an entertaining story or anecdote that the show’s improv performers use as a starting point for a series of improv scenes.

Last week’s performers, Christian Danley, Rene Dellefont, Matt Stanton and Dan Triandiflou took a minute-long story by Adult Swimmer Jay Edwards and turned it into an hour-long improvised story featuring toilet-based bartenders, violent flowers, and animals who aspire to work on film crews. It was very strange and very funny. I’m sure that, even if my monologue consists mumbling incoherently for a minute then fainting, the actors could turn it into something funny and worthwhile. They’re that effing good.

It’s entirely possible that me, my lady, and some friends will be across the parking lot at either Figo or Corner Pub before the show. Please join us if you can.

UPDATE: 8:30P at Corner Pub for pre-show drinks.

The person who wrote the post below is a grad student and information analyst. He’s like most of the people reading this blog.

Except he has to flee his home today to save his life.

from: Lebanese Political Journal

Becoming a Refugee

We have no sympathy for Israel’s position right now. None.

We have sympathy for the Israeli civilians being hit by Hezbollah bombs, but there is no justification for Israel’s action. It’s abusive. The United States did not hit civilians or civilian escape routes out of the country like this when invading either Afghanistan or Iraq.

Israel made its statement. We cannot tolerate any more. We understood what they were doing. We understood why they needed to do it. But now, there is no sympathy left. Hezbollah is not a mortal danger to you. It has the potential to be, but we Lebanese have been trying to change that internally, through UN resolutions and peacefully.

The bombing has gone on for too long. It’s too fierce. Hezbollah has lost morale. The Shia have lost morale. The Lebanese have lost their country.

This is a fight Israel cannot win. Everyone in Lebanon knows that Hezbollah cannot win, including Hezbollah. There is nothing Israel can do to get the soldiers back through force. But this isn’t about soldiers or Israeli defense any more.

You’ve made this country unliveable for the people fighting to disarm Hezbollah.

Guess what? I’m leaving. Yep. Me.

Where am I going? Syria. Didn’t want to, but I have to. The people we marched against are the ones you sent us begging to. The people who assassinated our leaders, kept us from having an operating democracy, and who armed Hezbollah are laughing it up because they’ve won the game because of you.

Bashar Assad said Lebanon would be destroyed if he left. I didn’t know the Israelis would play into his game. It’s not surprising that Syrian-allied Hezbollah started the mess, but you guys are just vicious.

All my Hezbollah supporting friends are sticking around. They call the rest of us cowards. I guess we are. We want to do scientific research. We want our children to learn how to play the piano. We want to watch our stock porfolios burgeon. We can’t do that here any more.

I tried to sympathize with you. I didn’t support Hezbollah, and if you look at the posts before this conflict began, I was maligning the political parties that oppose Hezbollah for not doing enough.

I even gave you guys the benefit of the doubt at the beginning of this, as did most Lebanese. Even the Shia, Christians, and Druze in South Lebanon understood your position. Not any more.

Oh, well. I’m a refugee.