liberation

Iraq update

A retired British army general has recently argued that the US and its allies should ‘admit defeat’ and leave Iraq. He also says that Iraq's insurgents are justified in opposing the occupation. Save the Children’s annual State of the World’s Mothers Report [PDF] says Iraq was once ‘the envy of the Arab world’ for its health statistics and low child mortality, but thanks to sanctions and invasion is now on a par with sub-Saharan Africa, with very high child mortality. As NoRightTurn sarcastically replies, But hey, at least those babies died free, right? Meanwhile, Alternet has pointed out that a Majority of Iraqi Lawmakers Now Reject Occupation. It was hardly reported in the west, but recently 144 Iraqi MPs (out of 275) signed a legislative petition calling on the United States to leave their country.

Iraqi pessimism, despair and defiance

A new widespread opinion poll of Iraqis presents a damning judgment on the occupation of their country. When the poll was last carried out two years ago, 71% said things were good in their lives, but this has nearly halved to only 40%. Less than a fifth of the population has any confidence in the US and coalition occupation forces, with a small majority saying that attacks on the occupation forces are justified. Many more Iraqis think the situation is worse in their country than those that think things have improved since the US-led invasion. Two-thirds believe the reconstruction efforts have been ineffective. Read more at the BBC or Independent newspaper.

Eroding US legitimacy

Perceptions of the US's global role continue to decline according to a BBC World Service global survey. Over the last two years of the survey, the percentage of people who think the US is having a positive influence on the world has dropped from 40% to 36% to 29%. Furthermore, three out of four respondents disapprove of how the US has dealt with Iraq, and 68% think the US presence in the Middle East 'provokes more conflict than it prevents'.

Related to this, the Guardian has recently published an opinion piece that argues that because the US has had to drop it's failed "freedom agenda" in the marketing of its presence in the Middle East, they have taken up a marketing ploy of 'compulsively repeat[ing] the word "moderates" to describe their allies in the region' who are actually anything but moderate and are extremely dictatorial and reactionary. The author, Mai Yamani, argues that these states are politically useful to the US because they are not able to act independently - however, the more these regimes are sheltered by the US, the more their legitimacy erodes, and the more explosive the Middle East becomes.

Also, for an explanation of the deep-lying roots of the turmoil between Sunni and Shia Muslims, see this New Statesmen backgrounder and history of the conflict.