Larvatus Prodeo

Writing in The Guardian, Simon Jenkins wonders whether anyone still reads Barbara Tuchman on the folly of war. It seems that the only remaining argument - in Australia and the UK (in the US the Bush administration doesn’t proceed by way of argument) - for staying in Iraq is that things would get worse if occupying forces left. We no longer hear about spreading freedom and democracy. We’re not told Iraq will be a shining beacon for peace and civilisation in the Middle East. No one can remember Iraqis showering troops with flowers. And no politician dares mention the fact that the only clauses in the Iraqi constitution that are respected are those that enshrine Sharia Law in the South, and that the effective authorities there are Shi’ite theocrats. And that the invasion has massively improved Iran’s strategic position. And that women don’t dare go out on the streets. And the massacres of Christians and Jews. And the fact that the oil isn’t flowing. And that the US is paying $186 million a day to stay there. And that almost 3 years on, water and electricity in Baghdad haven’t been properly restored. And that millions in reconstruction money is embezzled and siphoned off by cronies of the Interim Government into Swiss bank accounts. There are so many dead since the mission was proclaimed accomplished. Even “cutting and running” is no longer mentioned as a cardinal sin.

Jenkins writes:

Signalling withdrawal would, it is said, give a green light to the gangs and private militias, to revenge attacks, ethnic cleansing and even partition. That threat is no longer meaningful since these are all happening anyway. The militias have reportedly infiltrated at least half the police and internal security forces in each area. Barely a tenth of the army is considered loyal to the central authority. That a Basra police station should be vulnerable to al-Sadr irregulars is appalling.

The 150,000 foreign troops on Iraqi soil are overwhelmingly committed to self-protection. They do not do law and order any more. Power is finding its new locus, in the mafias, sheikhdoms, militias and warlords that flourish amid anarchy. Where there is no security, the gunman is always king.

The alleged reason for occupying Iraq was to build security and democracy. We have dismantled the first and failed to construct the second. Iraq is a fiasco without parallel in recent British policy. Now we are told that we must “stay the course” or worse will befall. This is code for ministers refusing to admit a mistake and hoping someone else will after they are gone. By then the Kurds will be more detached, the Sunnis more enraged and the Shias more fundamentalist.

You can sniff the changes in the rhetoric on the winds blowing in from the desert. Tony Blair will soon depart into history. The British will leave. And - if Australia doesn’t cut and run first, we won’t be far behind.

And the sound of scurrying, and the silence of forgetting, will be ramped up to top volume to try to obscure the responsibility of those who ruined Iraq and the lives of ordinary Iraqis. And who heightened the real and present danger of political Islamist terrorism blowing up in our faces. But some of us will be watching and waiting, and those who are responsible will not escape that responsibility. And nor should they.

Continue reading ‘The Folly of War’

One of the justifications for Howard’s workplace relations changes in the area of unfair dismissal is supposed to be speculative actions encouraged by ambulance chasing lawyers to the great cost of employers.

Responding to community concern about the removal of unfair dismissal protections, Howard now plans to give dismissed employees $4000 worth of legal advice to take their employers to the AIRC.

And, as one would expect from this champion of choice and free markets, you won’t be able to pick your own lawyer or advocate. No:

Legal advice will come from a panel of legal firms selected by the Government under an annual tender process.

As of now. It’s really interesting to see prominent conservative labour economist Mark Wooden come out on the side of truth rather than politics:

Continue reading ‘0% of Labour Economists Support Howard IR Reforms’