Did conservatives ever say mea culpa re:nationbuilding?

re: positives
I think Iraq may soon be an alcohol free state. This will be due, unfortunately, to Muslim extremists killing all the liquor store owners.
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/06/03062003165741.asp
also covered in Christian Science Monitor with a slightly different slant last month.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A2879-2003Jun2

Leave Iraq, Tribesmen and Sacked Troops Tell U.S.
Reuters
Monday, June 2, 2003; 10:10 AM
By Andrew Marshall

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thousands of sacked Iraqi soldiers threatened Monday to launch suicide attacks against U.S. troops as leaders of the country's squabbling tribes told the Americans they could face war if they did not leave soon.

"The entire Iraqi people is a time bomb that will blow up in the Americans' face if they don't end their occupation. We refuse to deal with the occupation," tribal leader Riyadh al- Asadi told Reuters after meeting a senior U.S. official for talks on the future of Iraq after Saddam Hussein.

"The Iraqi people did not fight the Americans during the war, only Saddam's people did. But if the people decide to fight them now, they are in big trouble."

As tribal leaders were meeting Ambassador Hume Horan of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), more than 3,000 sacked soldiers marched on the U.S-led administration's headquarters vowing violence unless they were paid wages and compensation.

"All of us will become suicide bombers," said Khairi Jassim, a former warrant officer. "I will turn my six daughters into bombs to kill the Americans."

Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator for Iraq, dissolved Saddam's armed forces, several security bodies and the defense ministry last month, firing 400,000 people. Many protesters said they could no longer feed their families.

"I have only 750 dinars (60 U.S. cents) in my pocket. How can I feed my family? I have a crippled child who needs medicine," said Sabah Abdullah, also a former warrant officer.

The protesters dispersed after they were promised talks on Tuesday to try to resolve their grievances.

DISGRUNTLED TRIBES

U.S. plans to appoint a political council of Iraqi leaders, rather than have it selected by a national conference as previously expected, also fueled anger among some Iraqis.

Bremer unveiled the plan Sunday to leaders of seven major Iraqi political groups, many of which opposed Saddam from exile during his rule. The groups met Monday to discuss the U.S.- British ideas and are due to see Bremer Friday.

Hamid al-Bayati of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq said the seven groups still wanted a national conference to pick the council.

"A national conference should decide the mechanism for choosing this council," he told Reuters. "The country is without government and we realize the urgency. We propose that Iraqis should choose it and the Americans approve it."

As part of the effort to win over skeptical Iraqis, the U.S.-led administration arranged a meeting with leaders of the country's disparate tribes Monday. Tempers soon frayed.

The tribal chieftains, members of a council of clans they say represents 80 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, criticized the United States for failing to restore law and order and essential services to Iraqis after the war.

Leaders of the heavily armed clans also disagreed with a recent U.S. decision to strip Iraqis of heavy weapons.

"We thank the coalition for liberating Iraq...but are we occupied or liberated? I swear to God, if this is occupation, all our children, women and men, young and old, will die rather than accept occupation," Sheikh Fsal al-Kaoud told Horan.

Horan provoked angry outbursts by acknowledging that the U.S. and British forces were occupying Iraq.

"Occupation is not a nice word, but yes, what we have now is occupation," Horan told the tribesmen in perfect Arabic.

"But the objective of this occupation by the coalition is the establishment of a new, free Iraq."

The first distribution of food rations since the war also drew complaints from Iraqis Monday. Many said they had expected much more food and were bitterly disappointed.

"I was expecting more and better things. Where is all this aid they are talking about? I will still have to go out into the market and buy food so we don't go hungry," said Nuralhuda Mohammed, heaving a sack of 21 kg (46 pounds) of rice.

Antonia Paradela of the U.N. World Food Program said damaged infrastructure and insecurity, which has persisted nearly eight weeks after Saddam's overthrow, had disrupted food distribution, but Iraqis would not be going hungry.

 

My point about Woofer is just that his posts are pretty much like Johnheath's these days. If he wants people to read them they should be more fair-minded.

As far as saying that the "democracy" justification is convenient politically. Well, yes it is, considering Bush was using that argument since the beginning.

I am not entirely comfortable with the WMD justifications and trying to tie Iraq to 9/11. I think it was Bush playing "smart" politics to some extent. (Which isn't so smart now that it's backfiring somewhat). I also think he really believed a lot of it (along with Powell and Blair). And I believe the need to convince the United Nations, which could ONLY be convinced by the WMD argument, played a role.

But to say he is a liar and compare this situation to Bill Clinton scandals or Watergate (as Krugman wrote in his last column) is going way too far.

 

It's pretty hard nowadays to find a positive article on this. This week, this is the closest one and it's about Afghanistan (Karzai doesn't resign and the federal government of Afghanistan gets some tax revenue.):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2956826.stm


Afghan soldiers' wages paid


President Karzai needs a strong army to forge national unity
The Afghan Government says it has finally paid about 100,000 Afghan soldiers their full salaries after it managed to collect customs dues from a key province.
Ismail Khan, the powerful governor of the western province of Herat, transferred $20m (£12.3m) in taxes to the central government last week.

It was the largest single transfer of funds to Afghanistan's state coffers in 18 months, raising hopes that a tense stand-off between the federal government and local leaders over tax revenues may be coming to an end.

The payment is seen as a major victory for President Hamid Karzai who had threatened to resign over the matter.

"I'd like to inform you that this morning all the salaries and wages of 100,000 officers and men belonging to the Ministry of Defence have been paid," Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani told journalists in Kabul.

"The flow of revenue will continue because that's the will of the people of Afghanistan and the decision of the government."

Mr Ghani said the provincial leaders had no option but to pay their dues.

"This is non-negotiable and it is not subject to discussion. Governors are not autonomous agents," the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

Breakthrough?

Afghanistan's US-backed interim government, led by President Hamid Karzai, has struggled to establish its authority over the country's powerful local governors since being installed in June last year.

The transfer of revenues to Kabul has been a major sticking point, with many local chiefs handing over only a fraction of the taxes raised on their territory.

The Afghan finance ministry reckons that it received only $80m of the country's total $500m tax take last year.

Earlier this year, Mr Karzai threatened to resign if provincial governors did not agree to pay taxes to the central government.

Herat, situated on a key trading route between Afghanistan and neighbouring Iran, is one of the country's wealthiest regions, collecting up to $800,000 a day in customs duties.

Mr Karzai's government will be hoping that other regional leaders follow suit, helping it finance the gigantic reconstruction effort needed to restore the country's infrastructure after 23 years of war.

Other powerful regional governors include General Adbul Rashid Dostum, who controls a swathe of territory bordering Uzbekistan in the north, and Gul Agha Sherzai, who is in charge of Kandahar province on the Pakistani border.