Dick Cheney- Warmonger extraordinaire

I believe congratulations are in order.

Kudos to the only man on the planet who can inspire gunfire and multiple bombings less than 24 hours after his arrival in Iraq. Some people might think twice about traveling when they are aware of the violence they seem to inspire in the very wake of their existence, but not our VP.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/17/iraq/main3942256.shtml

If there were an award given to a person who darkness follows like a thick shroud of secrecy veiling motives and actions both, it's obvious recipient would be Dick Cheney. Let's call it the Warmonger Extraordinaire.

I wondered what the 'Dark Lord' himself might be up to in Iraq. I was pretty certain it didn't involve diplomacy (what's that?), but had no idea exactly how many lives would be lost to suit the hidden agenda of the Halliburton hero. I didn't have long to wait.

Not one week after VP Cheney left Iraq, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (who had done almost less than nothing since he's been in office) ordered a crackdown on Basra's "criminal gangs", the militias that have run the south of Iraq since the war began. I don't know if you've been reading the papers, but it's not going so well.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/31/iraq/main3981072.shtml

Iraqi and American officials have hailed this move to "finally take on" the Shiite militias, many of which are, according to today's Philadelphia Inquirer "without question deep into oil smuggling, extortion, murder and robbery." They might also have added that the primary target of this mission was Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army (previously funded by US in order to maintain 'peace and stability' inside Iraq so that US forces could concentrate on putting down the Sunni insurgency 4 years ago).

Prime Minister al-Maliki has called them "outlaws" and "worse than al-Qaeda". This even though every attack against Iraqi and US forces in Iraq is nearly always attributed to al-Qaeda, especially in the last 6 months.

What they didn't mention was that al-Sadr's Mahdi Army feels it has been unfairly singled out, as they are the Shiite rivals to al-Maliki's own Islamic Shiite government forces(as well as better armed and trained military forces) and that they have huge popular support leading up to the provincial elections this fall. Needless to say, they are very anti-American, and against what they feel is continued unwanted US occupation of their country. They have called for a cease-fire and a 'standing-down' for now, but refuse to turn their weapons over to a government that will not commit to a date for US troop withdrawal, but only to "a state that can throw out the occupation."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/29/iraq.main/

The facts of the ensuing week-long battle, (Iraqi forces assisted by American and British troops with air and ground support) show exactly how weak and incapable the Iraqi government forces are of protecting themselves against dissident militia forces within their own country. Which means we can't leave any time soon.

This also points out the effectiveness and support that al-Sadr's movement commands, that they are being targeted now only when the Sunni insurgency has been weakened sufficiently to assign troop support to Basra.

US officials fear things are not going as well as they had imagined. US military intelligence analysis found that the Iraqi forces control less than a quarter of the city, and have reported that at least 40 members of Iraq's national police have turned in their uniforms, kept their US issued weapons, and are now fighting for al-Sadr in Baghdad.

It also seems to me that there are yet other hidden agendas here that are not reported about, or even realized. That somehow we are also trying to play both ends against the middle...not just by switching support, sides, and money based on the ebb and flow of the insurgency and counter-insurgency in Iraq, but that the real motives are not even on the table. I keep looking around to see Karl Rove in the background, and instead only find the murky darkness of Dick Cheney.

The CNN story is the only one I've read that even mentions that Basra is not only Iraq's second largest city, but it's chief oil port. We cannot possibly control the oil flow in and out of Iraq if this port is held by al-Sadr and his militias. And I'm forced to wonder, was this one of the goals all along? Was this meant to be a large scale occupation (read: quagmire) from day one?

And if we can't get the oil out prior to this administration losing power, then making certain that we are once again embroiled in the internecine affairs of a divided Iraq will cement the flow of cash and support to energy giant Halliburton, and keep US troops locked in a deadly and unwinnable war. http://halliburtonwatch.org/

There is nothing clean about this war; no mission to be accomplished aside from the energy companies and the current administration's hidden agenda. No way to win, and no easy way out.

So, just for fun, let's review the statement by our government that the militias that we are trying to destroy are "without question deep into oil smuggling, extortion, murder and robbery." Now lets look at the mirror this presents to us.

Oil smuggling: something we are desperately trying to do, but have been prevented so far by armed militants. But you can still count it if you understand that the US is using Iraqi oil to fuel all it's vehicles, etc. But I'm sure we are keeping a close count on our usage.

Extortion: Well, it's not extortion, but bribery when you pay off certain people not to set off bombs, shoot at US troops, kill their own citizens or start a civil war.

Murder: Do we know how many dead-but-innocent Iraqi civilians there are? Has anyone assessed the 'collateral damage' yet?

Robbery: Other than the original loss of $9 billion taxpayer funded US dollars?

Is there is similar pattern here, or am I just crazy? How can we ever win a 'War on terror' that we promote on a daily basis?

Yes, as I see it, this special warmonger award has only one possible recipient; Dick Cheney. And I'm certain that, although not my personal belief, there is a special place in hell reserved for all murdering, torturing, conniving, thieving warmongers and their supporters.