Neues Deutschland, Germany

Cynical Congratulations

By Olaf Standke

Translated by David Vickrey

February 12, 2008

Germany – Neues Deutschland - Original Article (German)

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made a surprise side visit to Baghdad in order to congratulate Iraqi leaders for the improved security situation in the country.  That can be considered as cynical, when the guest was greeted by exploding car bombs that killed dozens of people.  His commander in Iraq had recently already patted himself on the back that everything in Mesopotamia was going so well.  President Bush put forward the notion of a turnaround in Iraq in his recent State of the Union Address.  This was intended not only to set the tone for appraising the upcoming fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion.  The supposed progress in Iraq will also be used as a pretext for redeploying military forces in the direction of southern Afghanistan.  There, even the step-up in attacks attributed to al-Qaeda is explained as a sign of desperation for the terror network, as its macabre death throes.

Depending on which yardstick is used, it is possible to see some improvements in the security situation in Iraq, but the country is still far from seeing any viable stability or sustainable development. Human Rights Watch has just released a report where it was charged that the human rights situation has deteriorated in part due to the actions of US troops. The continued violence not just from terrorists or insurgents against civilian is contributing to the growing number of refugees. As Hans von Sponeck, former UN Human Rights Coordinator and deputy UN Assistant General Secretary responsible for the Iraq Oil for Food Program , said last weekend at the Munich Peace Conference: “You have to be either crazy or cold-hearted to see Iraq as a success.”.