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Frontline: The Lost Year in Iraq
Weeks after the toppling of a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, ambassador L. Paul Bremer and a group of administrators went to Iraq with the goal of establishing a democracy. One year later Bremer left, but a growing insurgency and broken economy have continued to pose a challenge to U.S. troops and the young Iraqi government.
Jun 22, 2008 5:46 AM
Re: Frontline: The Lost Year in Iraq
Proof enough of the farce that is the Bush Administration.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/view
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/view
By: spam_vigilante
Re: Frontline: The Lost Year in Iraq
Our "Leaders" need to stop the politics, get their heads out of their asses and actually Lead. I don't care who the "Leaders" might be.
By: OregonMike
Re: Frontline: The Lost Year in Iraq
That's what the Germans said, too; and lo and behold, Hitler rose to power.
Give or take a few decades and the world wars (hell, just about any war of the Twentieth Century) will be practically forgotten by the masses. The same thing will probably happen over and over again.
Give or take a few decades and the world wars (hell, just about any war of the Twentieth Century) will be practically forgotten by the masses. The same thing will probably happen over and over again.
By: White_Wolf
Re: Frontline: The Lost Year in Iraq
Shortly into the film, they discuss that the US tolerated the looting, primarily because they were reluctant to alienate the Iraqis, and preventing the looting -- no matter how carefully -- would have resulted in Iraqi casualties by US soldiers...
It's a pity, though. I was against the invasion to begin with, but once we committed, it should have been done right.
And one of the first things they should have done was put the entire country, and particularly the major cities like Baghdad, under martial law with a strictly enforced curfew.
Even a casual student of history knows that a political power vacuum is a surefire catalyst for revolution, civil war, and violent unrest.
They never should have tolerated the looting. That's should have been strategic common sense. They should have completely taken control of the populace, as peacefully as possible, but as assertively as necessary, until they could install an interim Iraqi government that took its job seriously.
Once you let the genie out the bottle, it's too late, and it was too late the day they tolerated petty crimes and failed to lock down the country.
Which, to my mind, shows how completely ideological and idealist the architects of this farcical, disastrous war really were... they took no precautions, they failed to take into account all the historical precedents for human political behavior, they failed to understand the very real ethnic conflicts of the country, etc. etc. because they actually believed their own ideological rhetoric -- that it would be all liberated Iraqis throwing flowers at the feet of US soldiers.
A lot of people use to think this administration was evil, or at best, cynical and greedy. But now we see that they were just stupid and deluded.
A lot of people have trouble understanding that Hawks can be just as naive and idealistic as Doves.
But given our soundbite, Fox News era, I suspect that no one will learn anything from this disastrous adventure.
Historians, though, will note it as the event tied to the decline of the American era.
It's a pity, though. I was against the invasion to begin with, but once we committed, it should have been done right.
And one of the first things they should have done was put the entire country, and particularly the major cities like Baghdad, under martial law with a strictly enforced curfew.
Even a casual student of history knows that a political power vacuum is a surefire catalyst for revolution, civil war, and violent unrest.
They never should have tolerated the looting. That's should have been strategic common sense. They should have completely taken control of the populace, as peacefully as possible, but as assertively as necessary, until they could install an interim Iraqi government that took its job seriously.
Once you let the genie out the bottle, it's too late, and it was too late the day they tolerated petty crimes and failed to lock down the country.
Which, to my mind, shows how completely ideological and idealist the architects of this farcical, disastrous war really were... they took no precautions, they failed to take into account all the historical precedents for human political behavior, they failed to understand the very real ethnic conflicts of the country, etc. etc. because they actually believed their own ideological rhetoric -- that it would be all liberated Iraqis throwing flowers at the feet of US soldiers.
A lot of people use to think this administration was evil, or at best, cynical and greedy. But now we see that they were just stupid and deluded.
A lot of people have trouble understanding that Hawks can be just as naive and idealistic as Doves.
But given our soundbite, Fox News era, I suspect that no one will learn anything from this disastrous adventure.
Historians, though, will note it as the event tied to the decline of the American era.
By: StrangeAttractor
Re: Frontline: The Lost Year in Iraq
Imagine if Patreus was in command from the beginning. This guy is as legendary as Grant, Sherman, Patton ect...We really lucked out that things have turned around so dramatically since this lost year.
By: poonhound
Re: Frontline: The Lost Year in Iraq
Bush, Cheney and company had shuffled quite a few in and out over the years. It was just a matter of time before they accidentally stumbled upon one that wasn't inept.
But while General David Petraeus has quite an impressive career of accomplishments, he also was the president's lap dog when it comes to congressional oversight. Once again, we have an instance of this administration's disdain for the US Constitution.
But while General David Petraeus has quite an impressive career of accomplishments, he also was the president's lap dog when it comes to congressional oversight. Once again, we have an instance of this administration's disdain for the US Constitution.
By: spam_vigilante
The wrong perspective
This piece is fundamentally flawed, in fact it is total propaganda.
The whole premise and underlying message is that if it were not for X, Y, and Z the war would have been a success. Right off the bat, the first scene they show is the famous statue being torn down, but not once did they bother to mention that the entire event was completely staged and has been proved to be a photo-op set up by the US military and the exile-lead Iraqi national congress. (www.camerairaq.com/2004/08/toppling_of_sad.html)
The message is quite a dangerous one, it finds no fault with starting a war BASED on lies and wrong information. It takes the perspective of the architects and finds no reason to question whether pre-emptive, unprovoked invasions will lead to insurgent uprisings, instead they buy into the notion that if managed correctly, the uprising of the Iraqi population would not have taken place.
A dangerous propaganda piece for sure.
The whole premise and underlying message is that if it were not for X, Y, and Z the war would have been a success. Right off the bat, the first scene they show is the famous statue being torn down, but not once did they bother to mention that the entire event was completely staged and has been proved to be a photo-op set up by the US military and the exile-lead Iraqi national congress. (www.camerairaq.com/2004/08/toppling_of_sad.html)
The message is quite a dangerous one, it finds no fault with starting a war BASED on lies and wrong information. It takes the perspective of the architects and finds no reason to question whether pre-emptive, unprovoked invasions will lead to insurgent uprisings, instead they buy into the notion that if managed correctly, the uprising of the Iraqi population would not have taken place.
A dangerous propaganda piece for sure.
By: theWorm
