Abstract

Sham Plan for Iraq

The "new" Bush plan to "help Iraq achieve democracy and freedom," far from laying out the definite steps needed to resolve the Iraq crisis, instead sets the stage for continuing US occupation and for continuing instability and violence. Impelled by his falling approval ratings and the images of US torture of Iraqi prisoners, George W. Bush attempted in his May 24 speech to sell the Iraq war using one of the false arguments he has used from the start: that "Iraq is now the central front in the war on terror." After this dishonest linking of Iraq and 9/11, Bush went on to outline how the United States is fighting terrorism while building democracy in Iraq, a plan that includes providing Iraqis with a sham version of sovereignty on June 30. The furthest Washington appears ready to go is to say, as Bush did in his speech, that these troops "will operate under American command as a part of a multinational force authorized by the United Nations. Members of the UN Security Council may yet demand significant changes in the resolution, and realities on the ground may very well force the United States to give up more control. But for now, the Bush "plan" appears simply to call for more of the same.