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Iraq
UN chief warns of anti-American backlash in Iraq
2003-05-27
The UN's most senior humanitarian official in Iraq warned yesterday that US attempts to rebuild the country were overly dominated by "ideology" and risked triggering a violent backlash. Ramiro Lopes da Silva said the sudden decision last week to demobilise 400,000 Iraqi soldiers without any re-employment programme could generate a "low-intensity conflict" in the countryside.
Leaving 400,000 guys with rifles around could cause a high-intensity conflict.
"The reconstruction of minds is as important. We cannot force through an ideological process too much," said Mr Lopes da Silva, 54, a Portuguese UN official who served in Angola and Afghanistan before becoming the humanitarian coordinator in Iraq last year.
Um, Ramiro, having lots of defeated soldiers with guns is bad. It's sorta how things work — the victors disarm the losers.
In unusually idiotic frank comments, he said the first three weeks after the collapse of the Iraqi regime were characterised by "talk about security, humanitarian aid and finishing off the bad guys grandiose plans and a lot of promises but there were no decisions". Since Jay Garner, the retired general appointed to lead postwar Iraq, was replaced this month by Paul Bremer, a former ambassador, decisions have begun to be made. But Mr Lopes da Silva echoed the silliness concerns of international aid agencies and a few disgrunted Baathists the Iraqi people when he said poor security remained the overwhelming problem holding back the restoration of power, water and health services as well as the political process. "The situation is improving but law and order is still the key," he said.
So it's okay with you if we shoot looters, run the Baathists out and demobilize the army, right? Thank you Mr. Obvious.
If you don't have any suggestions, shut your fudge up and stay out of the way...
It is clear many UN officials are frustrated to have been excluded from the running of postwar Iraq and losing their cut in the Oil-for-Palaces program. Most of the decisions taken at the US authority's headquarters in Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace in Baghdad are made by Pentagon appointees who report to Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary.
da Silva is one of these disappointed mopes.
Arab specialists from the state department have been largely excluded and while British diplomats have had some influence on decision-making, the UN has hardly been consulted.
So State is on the sidelines, the Brits have influence and the UN is not in the building? Good.
Mr Lopes da Silva said the UN "whined" "disagreed" with some of the decisions made by the US-led authority in Baghdad. He was surprised the decision to disband the Iraqi military had not been accompanied by an attempt to reintegrate soldiers into society.
So it would be better to leave them armed and dangerous?
"The way the decision was taken leaves them demobilized and ready to re-build their country in a vacuum," he said. "Our concern is that if there is nothing for them out there soon this will be a potential source of additional destabilisation."
"And we're very angry at the UN that the US hasn't completely fixed the problems of Iraq in a month!"
Even US generals admitted at the time they feared the decision could worsen the lawlessness and looting. Mr Lopes da Silva said the demobilisation, along with tightened security in the capital, could force looters into the less well-guarded countryside. "What you are potentially going to create is more banditry and a low-intensity conflict in the rural areas," he said. "These edicts are seen very much just as ideological statements."
No, it's part of security. We're not going to leave an Iraqi army around to cause trouble.
Mr Lopes da Silva also questioned the authority's de-Ba'athification programme, under which up to 30,000 Ba'ath party officials are automatically excluded from office. "Many bureaucrats who have important experience that would help the new government were only Baath party members on paper," he said.
"They were only following orders!"
On Sunday, the UN started its own re-employment programme which it hopes will provide 250,000 jobs in the next six months. Officials will now see if it can be expanded to include some Iraqi soldiers.
The UN ??? is going to employ a quarter-million people? Sounds like an enormous Palestinian refugee camp in the making.
Posted by:Steve White

#8  
UN chief warns of anti-American backlash in Iraq

**yawn**
Faster please...
Posted by: Celissa   2003-05-27 20:20:48  

#7  Sad to say, but we didn't kill enough bad people in the war. Iraq doesn't realize it has been defeated.
Too many thugs are still running around there spreading rhetorical poison; soon maybe real poison.
Posted by: eric   2003-05-27 11:52:07  

#6  Miffed that their gold booty was confiscated before its arrival at the 'Iranian Bribe Office' militant religious members, using a sharia eddict, triggered a violent backlash. Firing from a mosque known as a pious place of whoreship
Posted by: Lucky   2003-05-27 10:59:05  

#5  Having the UN hire ex Baathists to 'help rebuild Iraq' would be poet.
Posted by: mhw   2003-05-27 10:21:41  

#4  UPDATED REPORT ON ATTACK AT AL FALLUJAH

CAMP DOHA, Kuwait -- An updated report confirmed that another soldier was killed and two more injured following the attack on a U.S. Army unit in Al Fallujah early this morning.

An initial report indicated only one soldier was killed and seven others wounded. This brings the total to two soldiers killed and nine wounded.

The attack began when a hostile force of unknown size attacked a U.S. Army unit in Al Fallujah earlier this morning with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

U.S. Army soldiers responded decisively with concentrated fire from Bradley Fighting Vehicles, crew-served weapons and small arms. They killed two attackers and captured six others.

Initial reports indicate the attackers fired from a mosque in the city.

The wounded soldiers were evacuated by both ground and air to military aid stations in the area.
Posted by: Chuck   2003-05-27 10:12:31  

#3  Nice to see the Religion of Peace™ followers used a mosque to fire RPGs in the latest attack - 2 dead U.S. soldiers...bastards
Posted by: Frank G   2003-05-27 09:35:07  

#2   The UN's most senior humanitarian official in Iraq warned yesterday that US attempts to rebuild the country were overly dominated by "ideology" and risked triggering a violent backlash.

Is there any particular reason why yet another UN official should be listened to??
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2003-05-27 09:04:21  

#1  One of the neat things that I've found is that Central Command issues daily press releases. Of course, we never see them in the media, but they are on the Net.

Central Command

Police Blotter May 27

Aid Progress May 27

I've been putting them up on my blog because I don't think they're getting seen enough. I got a kick out of the raid on the "chop shop" on today's blotter.
Posted by: Chuck   2003-05-27 08:12:41  

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