Wow! "Baghdad Year Zero" Great article regarding neo-con's

[Kingshakabobo]

looting of Iraq.

From Harpers: Long article. Well worth it.

http://harpers.org/BaghdadYearZero.html

>The problem is that governments, even neoconservative governments, rarely get the chance to prove their sacred theory right: despite their enormous ideological advances, even George Bush’s Republicans are, in their own minds, perennially sabotaged by meddling Democrats, intractable unions, and alarmist environmentalists.

Iraq was going to change all that. In one place on Earth, the theory would finally be put into practice in its most perfect and uncompromised form. A country of 25 million would not be rebuilt as it was before the war; it would be erased, disappeared. In its place would spring forth a gleaming showroom for laissez-faire economics, a utopia such as the world had never seen. Every policy that liberates multinational corporations to pursue their quest for profit would be put into place: a shrunken state, a flexible workforce, open borders, minimal taxes, no tariffs, no ownership restrictions. The people of Iraq would, of course, have to endure some short-term pain: assets, previously owned by the state, would have to be given up to create new opportunities for growth and investment. Jobs would have to be lost and, as foreign products flooded across the border, local businesses and family farms would, unfortunately, be unable to compete. But to the authors of this plan, these would be small prices to pay for the economic boom that would surely explode once the proper conditions were in place, a boom so powerful the country would practically rebuild itself.<

[Mizmoon]

1. Year Zero

Reminds me of Pol Pot.

[Malva Zebrina]

2. This is an excellent article by Naomi Klein

It filled in a lot of the gaps and puts it all together in an understandable and coherent manner. I read it a couple of weeks ago. Excellent

[Wind Dancer]

3. An excellent piece!

Everyone should read and distribute this article - shows just how dangerous the neocons are.

[napi21]

4. WOW, what an expose'! I don't know anything about this Mag. or

Naomi Klein, but evrything I read fits exactly with what has happened so far.

I don't believe in single source info, and always try to put the "does this make sense" test to everything I read. Unfortunately, what Naomi wrote makes sense and fits with the MO of this admin. I copied this article to a Word doc, printed it, and sent it to several people who only have a dial up service and can't stay on-line for long periods of time.

I am even more afraid that this insane group could have another 4 years to make this idealogy work.

It's impossible to get all the information in this article to register to most voters. I hate to say it, but the mojority would never bother to read an article that long! I only wish I had the answer of how to get the real motives of this admin. known to all the voters in the only thing they seem to understand...SOUND BITES!!!

[Kingshakabobo]

7. Harper's has been in existence since 1850

They are very well respected with plenty of credibility. Seymour Hersh broke My Lai in 1970 in Harper's.

Check out the history and awards.

http://www.harpers.org/HarpersHistory.html

[bloom]

5. A "must read" - what the "news" should be talking about

and Kerry, too.


Nominated for the Home page.

[napi21]

6. How could Kerry make this info consice enough tor people to listen?

I can't imagine even 25% of the voters taking the time to read this long article! I did, but it took quite a while. How could Kerry shorten it enough to get the proof out, and still retain the attention span of, ah, err, 9 year olds?

I hate that I have to put down my fellow Americans, but they have the attention span of about 2 minutes!!!!

[bloom]

13. Seems like the main messages are:

That it wasn't that there was NO plan but actually an illegal plan that favored outside corporations and had NOTHING to do with Iraqi freedom (and other non-reasons).

There has been a neocon plan to re-engineer the economy in favor of multinational corporations at the expense of the Iraqi people and has only brought instability to everybody.


GOING FORWARD:


Getting jobs for Iraqis (why not help the Iraqi factory workers jointly buy the previously state-owned businesses).

Seeing that Iraqi business are getting contracts - not US companies & other countries companies, and multinationals.

Getting the local cement businesses and such up and running - and to use local resources for reconstruction.

Follow the Geneva Conventions, International Law, etc. - in regards to business contracts as well as treatment of prisoners (any 40 yr. contracts that were an attempt to circumvent laws - written while the gov't was in transition - should be void if they are not in the interest of the Iraqi people).

Every effort needs to be made to see the Iraqis are in control of their constitution, etc. (seems like a no-brainer that if people are revolting as a result of being excluded from the process - the process isn't working).

ALSO:

(It should go without saying) I would think by now all prisoners should be released unless they have had a trial and been convicted of something worth holding them in prison. (And I hope there is international monitoring of the situation...)

[MisterP]

36. neoliberalism has NEVER helped the people it is applied to;

only the wealthy who promote it and profit off it; U.S., U.K., Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Zaire, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Malaysia, etc., etc., etc.

[never cry wolf]

8. Thanks, excellent article

I must admit I could not finish it tonight but i9t is right on the money!

[Kimber Scott]

9. I'm stunned. I knew it was about the jobs in my gut, but it was never on

the news. (The last phrase was sacrastic.)

I don't feel comfortable saying what I want to say, I mean since we live in a free country and all, but I think the neocons picked the wrong beehive.

I think I'll go cry now. Again.

[LibertyorDeath]

10. Kick for the Truth

Do yourself a favor & read it

[leftchick]

11. I read this recently. It is very well done...

Amazing the fuckups * gets away with. Is reading a requirement to be a rep. in congress?

[SeekingTruth]

12. Also, Hackworth's article in Oct Playboy...

I encourage everyone to pick up this article = this man has so much common sense when it comes to war. It's another must read. Wish I could link it...

It's titled "Why The Military Never Learns"....great piece....

[mistertrickster]

14. Also, reminds us of why neo-cons hated Saddam so much--nationalized

oil fields. He actually did help spread some oil wealth, and for that he had to crushed.

[citizen]

15. This is a "Must Read!"

While Bush dismisses any Iraqi who will not accept his tyranny as a 'terrorist,' this article really helps to give some additional dimension to how the Iraqi people are reacting to the evolving U.S. efforts in Iraq and why. The reality is that the Iraqis are getting screwed by Bush and his corporate-con game just like U.S. Citizens are.

Any of us here on DU are, in his eyes, 'terrorists,' and a potentital obstacle to to the corporate-cons.

http://www.civilthreat.com

[HootieMcBoob]

16. Tentacles Of Rage

The September issue of Harpers is excellent. In addition to Naomi Klein's piece, the editor of Harpers Lewis Lapham has written an article that details the rise of the conservative machine as he experienced it from Barry Goldwater to the present. If it's still on the newsstands pick it up -- it's really informative.

[Kingshakabobo]

18. I was looking for that article when I found this....

I think you were the person who told me about that article
about a week ago? Still haven't found it. Must be newsstand only.

This article really explains a lot of the insurgency and hatred toward us.

[Cocoa]

17. I'm sure the talking head shows are clamoring to book Klein

sarcasm, of course. The excellence of this article is the reason that we'll never see her on TV.

[HootieMcBoob]

20. stupid librul media

they make me so mad :mad:

[Sideways]

21. Every Fiber Of My Soul Is Quivering

I knew these fascists were fucking things up from day one and I have pounded my head on many a table trying to get this point across. This article was just fucking chilling. These pukes are reptilian.

NO FUCKING HUMAN behaves this way. Bush and his gang of worthless greedy pond scum sucking freaks should be in jail, not running for a second term of bullshit as usual.

How can any human support this ass-hat? I am not NOT coming back to the USA any time soon. Sicily and its mafia has nothing and I repeat nothing on Bush. I am fucking pissed.:puke:

[LibertyorDeath]

28. You took the words right out of my mouth.

"This article was just fucking chilling. These pukes are reptilian."

[bloom]

19. kick

:bounce:

[allemand]

22. Two Krugman columns about the same topic - Kerry should use this to

attack Bush.

"What Went Wrong?
Originally published in The New York Times, 4.23.04

<...>

It quickly became apparent that President Bush, while willing to spend vast sums on the military, wasn't willing to spend enough on security. And 9/11 didn't shake the administration's fanatical commitment to privatization and outsourcing, in which free-market ideology is inextricably mixed with eagerness to protect and reward corporate friends.

Sure enough, the administration was unprepared for predictable security problems in Iraq, but moved quickly — in violation of international law — to impose its economic vision. Last month Jay Garner, the first U.S. administrator of Iraq, told the BBC that he was sacked in part because he wanted to hold quick elections. His superiors wanted to privatize Iraqi industries first — as part of a plan that, according to Mr. Garner, was drawn up in late 2001.

Meanwhile, the administration handed out contracts without competitive bidding or even minimal oversight. It also systematically blocked proposals to have Congressional auditors oversee spending, or to impose severe penalties for fraud.

Cronyism and corruption are major factors in Iraq's downward spiral. This week the public radio program "Marketplace" is running a series titled "The Spoils of War," which documents a level of corruption in Iraq worse than even harsh critics had suspected. The waste of money, though it may run into the billions, is arguably the least of it — though military expenses are now $4.7 billion a month. The administration, true to form, is trying to hide the need for more money until after the election; Mr. Cordesman predicts that Iraq will need "in excess of $50-70 billion a year for probably two fiscal years." "

More:
http://www.pkarchive.org/column/042304.html

"Who Lost Iraq?
Originally published in The New York Times, 6.29.04

The Iraq venture may have been doomed from the start — but we'll never know for sure because the Bush administration made such a mess of the occupation. Future historians will view it as a case study of how not to run a country.

<...>

What the figures don't describe is the toxic mix of ideological obsession and cronyism that lie behind that dismal performance.

The insurgency took root during the occupation's first few months, when the Coalition Provisional Authority seemed oddly disengaged from the problems of postwar anarchy. But what was Paul Bremer III, the head of the C.P.A., focused on? According to a Washington Post reporter who shared a flight with him last June, "Bremer discussed the need to privatize government-run factories with such fervor that his voice cut through the din of the cargo hold." <...> Insurgents are blowing up pipelines and police stations, geysers of sewage are erupting from the streets, and the electricity is off most of the time — but we've given Iraq the gift of supply-side economics.

<...>

Let's say the obvious. By making Iraq a playground for right-wing economic theorists, an employment agency for friends and family, and a source of lucrative contracts for corporate donors, the administration did terrorist recruiters a very big favor."

More:
http://www.pkarchive.org/column/062904.html

[allemand]

23. The Stiglitz article Naomi Klein is referring to

Iraq's Next Shock Will be Shock Therapy
 
by Joseph Stiglitz
March 17, 2004
 
<...>

Now, everyone agrees, the most important task - beyond creating a democratic state and restoring security - is reconstructing the economy. Blinded by ideology, however, the Bush administration seems determined to continue its record of dismal failures by ignoring past experience.

<...>

Today, there is a broad consensus that shock therapy, at least at the level of microeconomic reforms, failed, and that countries (Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia) that took the gradualist approach to privatization and the reconstruction of institutional infrastructure managed their transitions far better than those that tried to leapfrog into a laissez-faire economy. Shock-therapy countries saw incomes plunge and poverty soar. Social indicators, such as life expectancy, mirrored the dismal GDP numbers. 

<...>

This record suggests that one should think twice before trying shock therapy again. But the Bush administration, backed by a few handpicked Iraqis, is pushing Iraq towards an even more radical form of shock therapy than was pursued in the former Soviet world. Indeed, shock therapy's advocates argue that its failures were due not to excessive speed - too much shock and not enough therapy - but to insufficient shock. So Iraqis better prepare for an even more brutal dose.

<...>

The dream of Iraq's American invaders was to create a stable, prosperous, and democratic Middle East. But America's economic program for reconstructing Iraq is laying the foundations for poverty and chaos.

More:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=13&ItemID=5164

[Kingshakabobo]

32. great article's .thanx n/t

[bloom]

24. ...

:bounce:

[whirlygigspin]

25. more comments here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x75225

[Forge]

26. Wow

One of the best articles I have read about Iraq. This is an absolute must-read! I've forwarded copies to all my friends.

[newyawker99]

35. Hi Forge!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Forge]

37. Thanks

Nice to be here...been lurking for a while.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

27. Order 37.

Coming to a country near you.

[milkyway]

29. bush calls it freedom, I call it rape. The best thing I've read in a long

time. This article reveals the tremendous depth of the neocons' failings. The worst thing about the neocons is that not only are they evil, they are also stupid, which makes them even more dangerous. No sooner did the U.S. conquer Baghdad than their grand plan started to go to hell. The big problem now is that if bush is able to steal a second term the neocons are stupid and "resolute" enough to march forward into the darkness, with no fucking idea how to get back out.

[LibertyorDeath]

30. It's unreal their arrogance is unfricken believable

This needs to be spread far & wide & keep it kicked.

[AuntPatsy]

31. One year later.....a must see...sometimes pictures are more

powerful than words..

http://www.bushflash.com/year.html

[bloom]

33. The photos

... are chilling - but too few people understand whats has been going on over there and why... and too many stilll think that our soldiers are "defending" us and that all those people dying is all about our safety.

I suggest that people send out the article to whoever might read it.

[Pluvious]

34. Original thread - some good comments...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=74054

Some insightful comments on this piece posted here too.

(this thread is - afaik - the third one for this piece by Klein)

BTW - EVERYONE should read this whole story, it answers so many questions - like wtf are they all so mad about, and why all the violence.

Just too damn bad the public will never come to know all this...

[incapsulated]

38. Everyone needs to read this

I'm posting it everywhere I go. :hi:

[LibertyorDeath]

39. Kick

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: