Looks like the Iraqis gave Bremmer

[DoYouEverWonder]

a big send off today.




A crowd of one showed up to say goodbye to Bremmer at Baghdad Airport earlier today has he hightailed it out of Baghdad as fast as he could.

[grytpype]

1. This is just about the strangest goddamned thing...

This Iraq adventure is just about the strangest goddamned thing that has ever happened. Ever.

I don't think there's a historical parallel. The whole point of international relations since World War II has been to avoid war. Bush sought out war.

[brokensymmetry]

6. You're right.

It's bizarre. I simply do not understand what the * admin is thinking. We joke about Chimpy but I cannot help wondering if a cage full of apes could do any worse.

The problem is, we're going to be paying the bills on this for a long time. And I don't mean in just money, either.

[grytpype]

7. Did you see Brezinski on the News Hour tonight?

He points out that Israel has been entangled in the West Bank for 37 years now. Is that going to happen to us? And our Army is already at the breaking point, or past it. How does this end well?

[brokensymmetry]

10. I didn't see Brezinski -

thanks for mentioning some of his points.

Also, what happens if Saudi Arabia is destabilized? What happens if the U.S. - or U.S. interests abroad - are targeted by suicide bombers, just as Israel has been?

My assessment of this war involves the word cluster. It does not include the word bomb.

[JohnyCanuck]

2. A cut-and-run transition

When the "transition" moment occurred in Baghdad -- so tightly was the secret held that not even comrade-in-arms Tony Blair knew the schedule -- George Bush, in Turkey for the NATO summit, is reported to have turned to the British Prime Minister. "Stealing a glance at his watch to make sure the transfer had occurred, Bush put his hand over his mouth to guard his remarks, leaned toward Blair and then put out his hand for a shake."

That was in keeping with the moment. And momentary it was. An unannounced five-minute, "furtive" ceremony, two days early, on half an hour's notice, in a "nondescript room" in the new Iraqi prime minister's office, under a blanket of security, with snipers on adjoining rooftops in the heavily fortified Green Zone, "before only a handful of Iraqi and U.S. officials and journalists." A few quick, polite lies (L. Paul Bremer III: "I have confidence that the Iraqi government is ready to meet the challenges that lie ahead"), a few seconds of polite clapping by the attendees. That was it. Sovereignty transferred. The end.

Other than L. Paul Bremer, not a significant American official was in sight, even though the President, Secretary of Defense, National Security Advisor, and Secretary of State were all in Turkey, not 90 minutes away. There were no representatives from other governments. No flags. No bands. No cheering crowds. No marching troops. No hoopla. Nothing at all. And two hours later, Bremer, the erstwhile viceroy of Baghdad, his suits and desert boots packed away, was on a C-130 out of the country.

Talk about "cutting and running," he didn't even stick around the extra five hours for the swearing in of the new interim administration. That's not a matter of catching a flight, but of flight itself. I'm sure Bremer is already heaving a sigh of relief and looking forward, as Time magazine tells us, to enrolling in "the Academy of Cuisine in Washington." As for the "psychological boost" provided by the transfer of sovereignty, Prime Minister Allawi and friends are not likely to be its recipients. It looks as if the Bush administration engaged in a game of chicken with a motley group of insurgents and rebels in urban Iraq -- and at the edge of what suddenly looked like a cliff, the Bush administration flinched first.

www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=1520

[grytpype]

4. he didn't even stick around the extra five hours for the swearing in of th

he didn't even stick around the extra five hours for the swearing in of the new interim administration

Think about that. He got out as fast as he possibly could. What the fuck has been going on over there?

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. Not only was the US leadership only 90 minutes away

Bu$h had made NATO push back their meeting from its original date, so that he could be in the region to attend the turn over ceremonies.

Things must be even worse than we've imagined.

[mn9driver]

8. HA! From the blog:

"...ALLAWI: "Thank you Mr. Bremer. Today is a great day for the newly sovereign nation of Iraq and for the Iraqi..." (Sound of door slamming, footsteps running away down the hall) "...Mr. Bremer? Mr. Bremer? Where was he going in such a hurry? Oh well, where was I..."

What the hell will the history books make of this travesty? You can't make this stuff up; no one would believe it.

[grytpype]

3. I can't wait for the tell-all.

If Bremer came forward and told the complete truth about what has happened in Iraq, that would be the story of the century.

[grytpype]

9. And it looks like the new flag Did Not Happen.

Remember the new Iraqi flag? The one with the Israeli-blue crescent?

Well, you never saw that. I can't even find a picture of it with diligent googling.

Saddam's flag is back.





There was no announcement.

Just what the fuck is going on over there?

And here is Viceroy Jerry on his way to his one-fucking-way flight out of fucking Bagdhad:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. That's an unbelievable failure.

You can't ignore the symbolic message of us losing the "symbol war".

[BiggJawn]

12. So he changed his shoes?

I heard a report yesterday that said he had ditched his "trademark" boots for wingtips just for the ceremony...
And dig those crazy "Titan" escorts!