Who Said This?

“The government is continuing with its arrogance, refusing to change its stand, and has slammed shut the door to any meaningful reforms necessary for saving Iraq...We had hoped that the government would respond to these demands or at least acknowledge the failure of its policies, which led Iraq to a level of misery it had not seen in modern history. But its stand did not surprise us at all.” A quote from a diehard anti-war Democrat? No, That’s a quote from Rafaa al-Issawi, a member of the Sunni bloc in Iraq (the Iraqi Consensus Front) who railed against the Iraqi government yesterday. Pissed off and angry, Rafaa al-Issawi said that Prime Minister Maliki’s government refused to involve the Sunni bloc on important decisions and had even refused to show up for crisis talks. That is why, Issawi said, the bloc’s six cabinet ministers resigned yesterday. The six resignations included Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie. Although a spokesman for the Sunni bloc said the Iraqi Parliament’s 44 Sunni members would continue to participate. With regard to charges by Sunnis against Shiites and vice versa, Maliki said, "The policy of threats and blackmail is an unrewarding policy." No kidding! But it goes to show that Bush & Co. has exactly what it wanted in Iraq--a government just like ours. That is to say, a dysfunctional grid-locked government led by a bunch of politically motivated hacks. And, let it be noted, a bunch of politically motivated hacks who are going off to the seashore for a month of R&R: A government EXACTLY like ours. And more importantly, the Bush administration has a perfect scapegoat for why Iraq is in the mess it’s in: It’s Maliki’s fault. In addition, the Bush administration has bought and paid for high-level experts and officials who will repeat the Bush administration's cant, like: General David Petraeus, the current talking head who is so far up Bush’s ass his words come out of Bush’s mouth; Admiral Michael G. Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman nominee; Ryan C. Crocker, ambassador to Iraq. It is said, Petraeus is the President of the United States now, not Richard Cheney. But who knows? And does it make any difference who is calling the shots from the White House? The current batch of idiots in Congress are willing to support the Bush administration’s malfeasance and fascist modus operandi, and that is what is important. At any given moment, Congress could put a stop to the dictatorship passing as government in the United States and it has chosen not to. We, the people, are to blame for the government we the people have.