What next for Iraq?
Apr 26, 2003
SHOULD we call this bit, “Man’s Terrible Ingratitude To His Saviourâ€, or, “Biting The Hand That Fed Youâ€, or, “My God, What is Secretary Rumsfeld Supposed To Feelâ€?
ONE MAN’S WEEK
By John Nagenda
SHOULD we call this bit, “Man’s Terrible Ingratitude To His Saviourâ€, or, “Biting The Hand That Fed Youâ€, or, “My God, What is Secretary Rumsfeld Supposed To Feelâ€?
Take your pick. But the truth of the matter is that no sooner had Rumsfeld's coalition forces brought Iraq to its knees in the dust, by the most intensive bombing in the history of man, than those for whom it had all been done, namely the “good†Iraqis, said, “We are grateful. Thanks so much and goodbye. Go back whence you came and let us take care of our business. We don’t want to replace one kind of dictatorship with another.â€
Others said, “If you think we stayed here suffering under Saddam all these years only to hand over to your Iraqis who've been feasting overseas, better think again!†Where that left Mr Chalabi (still facing a 22-year prison sentence in Jordan on bank charges) only he and his principal backer, the aforesaid Mr Rumsfeld, knew. To show they meant business, the recalcitrant Iraqis started choosing their own intended leaders. They had possibly been rehearsing this in whispers during Saddam's worst excesses. In Uganda we are now world authorities on how to choose those who will lead us, from the lowest strata upwards; warming to know fellow humans from far away are taking the same road.
Is it imaginable that the coalition forces in their pomp will somehow stand between such Iraqis and their dreams? Surely it will be easier, more democratic, to muck along with what the majority Iraqis want? But is there a quick way to judge precisely what that is?
Counting heads? Which particular heads? Records seem to have gone up in smoke even as the coalition winners watched. In any event, the biggest leader "chosen" so far, for governor of Baghdad, Mohsen al-Zubaidi, has been turned down by the US, although a long-time Saddam opponent.
Scratch your head and ponder the American role here. Fundamentally, too, Americans are not well trained in colonial power playing. One of them, years ago in the Far East, promised his budding empire in a stirring sentence: “I go but I shall return!†He never did. Stubborn Mr Hans “Blitz†Blix poses a different type of threat. He wants to return to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; the original reason for the war.
He and his team were wantonly derided by Washington when Blix wanted more time before the fighting. As a Swede he must share a drop of blood with the fearsome ancient Norsemen who in their time chewed everything in their way, as modern day Washington might still find out.
France is only too happy to lend a hand to his plans. For this Secretary Colin Powell reminded France that, although the US and France now stand intriguingly shoulder to shoulder over the immediate dropping of sanctions against Iraq, France still stands to be punished. for its earlier moves to delay the war; by offering weapons inspectors more time for their searches. You thought the Third World is weird?!
* * *
Earlier in the week news came that Africa's biggest giant, Nigeria, had re-elected Olusegun Obasanjo as president. The margin was a reasonably modest 60 something %. Cat among the pigeons, though, not least from overseas media people, including the UK! But when their own then-tyro Blair won with a parliamentary majority just short of 200, none of these reporters raised the slightest possibility of a fix!
Most observers judged that the margin of victory showed that, even with flaws, Obasanjo would have won in any case. My main interest was to the Nigerian response. The loser, Muhammadu Buhari, true to African tradition, didn't let us down, announcing that
he had been well and truly robbed.
He named the constituencies in which he said no voting of any kind had taken place. He averred that these were the most flawed elections in Nigerian history. (Not that there have been that many elections there, and certainly not in Buhari's time!) More than this, he announced he wouldn't take it lying down.
He is a military man, one moreover with an iron grip. President Obasanjo, equally, is a strong general, although with some reputation for being more democratic than his opponent.
Nigerians are known for their strongly passionate feelings for anything and everything, with politics to the fore. I tremble somewhat for Nigeria, and each one of its 36 (thirty-six!) states.
* * *
More Onion Bhaji, which you can't make without peeling onions until the eyes weep! We left our "investor" in the High Court of Kenya last week. Stopping just long enough to take a peep at his Kenyan registered fleet of cars now resting (and I hear with good reason; Interpol might tell us soon) in our capital city, it is back to Nairobi to discover the reason for the gentleman's other dive into the soup.
Have you read about the Television Scam of three years ago? You will next week! Could these investigations be a basis for a book scoop on the life of sleazy “investors� What about a movie? Reader, I need a glass of water!
Meantime, I got the following message in an unacknowledged e-mail: “John, you right (sic) very personal and very stupid articles…How stupid of an old man…to start vendettas using your stupid and silly column that will die when this regime of yours is over!†It was a great birthday present and I celebrated appropriately yesterday. The age? A dawdle, so far!
Ends
By John Nagenda
SHOULD we call this bit, “Man’s Terrible Ingratitude To His Saviourâ€, or, “Biting The Hand That Fed Youâ€, or, “My God, What is Secretary Rumsfeld Supposed To Feelâ€?
Take your pick. But the truth of the matter is that no sooner had Rumsfeld's coalition forces brought Iraq to its knees in the dust, by the most intensive bombing in the history of man, than those for whom it had all been done, namely the “good†Iraqis, said, “We are grateful. Thanks so much and goodbye. Go back whence you came and let us take care of our business. We don’t want to replace one kind of dictatorship with another.â€
Others said, “If you think we stayed here suffering under Saddam all these years only to hand over to your Iraqis who've been feasting overseas, better think again!†Where that left Mr Chalabi (still facing a 22-year prison sentence in Jordan on bank charges) only he and his principal backer, the aforesaid Mr Rumsfeld, knew. To show they meant business, the recalcitrant Iraqis started choosing their own intended leaders. They had possibly been rehearsing this in whispers during Saddam's worst excesses. In Uganda we are now world authorities on how to choose those who will lead us, from the lowest strata upwards; warming to know fellow humans from far away are taking the same road.
Is it imaginable that the coalition forces in their pomp will somehow stand between such Iraqis and their dreams? Surely it will be easier, more democratic, to muck along with what the majority Iraqis want? But is there a quick way to judge precisely what that is?
Counting heads? Which particular heads? Records seem to have gone up in smoke even as the coalition winners watched. In any event, the biggest leader "chosen" so far, for governor of Baghdad, Mohsen al-Zubaidi, has been turned down by the US, although a long-time Saddam opponent.
Scratch your head and ponder the American role here. Fundamentally, too, Americans are not well trained in colonial power playing. One of them, years ago in the Far East, promised his budding empire in a stirring sentence: “I go but I shall return!†He never did. Stubborn Mr Hans “Blitz†Blix poses a different type of threat. He wants to return to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; the original reason for the war.
He and his team were wantonly derided by Washington when Blix wanted more time before the fighting. As a Swede he must share a drop of blood with the fearsome ancient Norsemen who in their time chewed everything in their way, as modern day Washington might still find out.
France is only too happy to lend a hand to his plans. For this Secretary Colin Powell reminded France that, although the US and France now stand intriguingly shoulder to shoulder over the immediate dropping of sanctions against Iraq, France still stands to be punished. for its earlier moves to delay the war; by offering weapons inspectors more time for their searches. You thought the Third World is weird?!
* * *
Earlier in the week news came that Africa's biggest giant, Nigeria, had re-elected Olusegun Obasanjo as president. The margin was a reasonably modest 60 something %. Cat among the pigeons, though, not least from overseas media people, including the UK! But when their own then-tyro Blair won with a parliamentary majority just short of 200, none of these reporters raised the slightest possibility of a fix!
Most observers judged that the margin of victory showed that, even with flaws, Obasanjo would have won in any case. My main interest was to the Nigerian response. The loser, Muhammadu Buhari, true to African tradition, didn't let us down, announcing that
he had been well and truly robbed.
He named the constituencies in which he said no voting of any kind had taken place. He averred that these were the most flawed elections in Nigerian history. (Not that there have been that many elections there, and certainly not in Buhari's time!) More than this, he announced he wouldn't take it lying down.
He is a military man, one moreover with an iron grip. President Obasanjo, equally, is a strong general, although with some reputation for being more democratic than his opponent.
Nigerians are known for their strongly passionate feelings for anything and everything, with politics to the fore. I tremble somewhat for Nigeria, and each one of its 36 (thirty-six!) states.
* * *
More Onion Bhaji, which you can't make without peeling onions until the eyes weep! We left our "investor" in the High Court of Kenya last week. Stopping just long enough to take a peep at his Kenyan registered fleet of cars now resting (and I hear with good reason; Interpol might tell us soon) in our capital city, it is back to Nairobi to discover the reason for the gentleman's other dive into the soup.
Have you read about the Television Scam of three years ago? You will next week! Could these investigations be a basis for a book scoop on the life of sleazy “investors� What about a movie? Reader, I need a glass of water!
Meantime, I got the following message in an unacknowledged e-mail: “John, you right (sic) very personal and very stupid articles…How stupid of an old man…to start vendettas using your stupid and silly column that will die when this regime of yours is over!†It was a great birthday present and I celebrated appropriately yesterday. The age? A dawdle, so far!
Ends