ProPublica reports:
As the Mideast protests and government crackdowns continue, one country to watch closely is Iraq, with whom the U.S. has a long-term partnership and where clashes between protesters and government forces recently turned violent. Even as Iraqi security forces detained and abused hundreds of intellectuals and journalists, the U.S. government—in keeping with a pattern of silence on Iraq’s abuses—has withheld criticism of its strategic ally. (Salon noticed this too.)
Asked generally about the violence against Iraqi demonstrators on Friday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said only “the approach we’ve taken with regard to Iraq is the same that we’ve taken with regard to the region,” which he said was to call on governments to respond to the protests peacefully. Neither the White House nor the State Department seem to have mentioned the matter since. Yesterday’s State Department briefing discussed Libya, Egypt, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China, Pakistan, Argentina, South Africa and Haiti—Iraq was never discussed.
It should be clear to everyone by now, (except the U.S.) that the U.S. doesn’t really know what the hell they are doing in Iraq or Afghanistan. If they did, they wouldn’t be at war in those countries. Now, the challenge has come full circle on the U.S. with the M.E. boiling over. I suspect that we will see Iraq turning out like Libya is at the present time, Yemen sliding into same, even the Palestinians planning demonstrations. What will be the reactions then? The U.S. is spread too thin, can’t cover all the bases, but that doesn’t seem to be understood by the present administration. To say that the planning has been inept, would be an understatement. This is going to be the true test of the U.S. being the worlds cop on the beat. Of course, it can be a blessing in disguise, pull all the U.S. forces spread throughout the world and bring them home, offer true assistance, not from the I.M.F. or World Bank point of view, where the plutocracy continues unabated as has been. Of course, the whole of the M.E. is unraveling, the U.S. will be unable to contain it, so perhaps history will not be that kind to the U.S. It also may be that Israel will no longer exist, at least as it does at the moment. It does show what can/is taking place for listening to those so called think tanks. It also shows what the plutocracy’s didn’t prepare for, being challenged by the people. They drink their own brand of koolaid, becoming drunk on same.