Next time you think this war isn't political...

[12SecondT-Bird]

Just read this article.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14868608/

[line-em-up]

Thanks for the link. And people wonder why I have had such a distrust for w all these years.

[GT Dan]

"Adapted from "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, copyright Knopf 2006"

Doesn't that make the article fiction?

[line-em-up]

"Adapted from "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, copyright Knopf 2006"

Doesn't that make the article fiction?

It's listed under "cuurent affairs"

ABOUT THIS BOOK

An unprecedented account of life in Baghdad’s Green Zone, a walled-off enclave of towering plants, posh villas, and sparkling swimming pools that was the headquarters for the American occupation of Iraq.

The Washington Post’s former Baghdad bureau chief Rajiv Chandrasekaran takes us with him into the Zone: into a bubble, cut off from wartime realities, where the task of reconstructing a devastated nation competed with the distractions of a Little America—a half-dozen bars stocked with cold beer, a disco where women showed up in hot pants, a movie theater that screened shoot-’em-up films, an all-you-could-eat buffet piled high with pork, a shopping mall that sold pornographic movies, a parking lot filled with shiny new SUVs, and a snappy dry-cleaning service—much of it run by Halliburton. Most Iraqis were barred from entering the Emerald City for fear they would blow it up.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews and internal documents, Chandrasekaran tells the story of the people and ideas that inhabited the Green Zone during the occupation, from the imperial viceroy L. Paul Bremer III to the fleet of twentysomethings hired to implement the idea that Americans could build a Jeffersonian democracy in an embattled Middle Eastern country.

In the vacuum of postwar planning, Bremer ignores what Iraqis tell him they want or need and instead pursues irrelevant neoconservative solutions—a flat tax, a sell-off of Iraqi government assets, and an end to food rationing. His underlings spend their days drawing up pie-in-the-sky policies, among them a new traffic code and a law protecting microchip designs, instead of rebuilding looted buildings and restoring electricity production. His almost comic initiatives anger the locals and help fuel the insurgency.

Chandrasekaran details Bernard Kerik’s ludicrous attempt to train the Iraqi police and brings to light lesser known but typical travesties: the case of the twenty-four-year-old who had never worked in finance put in charge of reestablishing Baghdad’s stock exchange; a contractor with no previous experience paid millions to guard a closed airport; a State Department employee forced to bribe Americans to enlist their help in preventing Iraqi weapons scientists from defecting to Iran; Americans willing to serve in Iraq screened by White House officials for their views on Roe v. Wade; people with prior expertise in the Middle East excluded in favor of lesser-qualified Republican Party loyalists. Finally, he describes Bremer’s ignominious departure in 2004, fleeing secretly in a helicopter two days ahead of schedule.

This is a startling portrait of an Oz-like place where a vital aspect of our government’s folly in Iraq played out. It is a book certain to be talked about for years to come.

[12SecondT-Bird]

"Adapted from "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, copyright Knopf 2006"

Doesn't that make the article fiction?

Not since the article was adapted from something Non Fiction.

[GT Dan]

I'm just f'in with you guys... unfortunately, every decision made in DC is based on political impact instead of real world impact...

regardless of which side one is on, the country is falling apart and the parties are playing the political blame game rather than fixing the problems.

Its really sad...

[HobieF3]

What war isn't politically motivated? :confused:

[Denny]

What war isn't politically motivated? :confused:
No shit. I just hope they're not implying that this war wasn't needed, because it was.

[AL P]

I'll bet that book is not biased at all. LOL

My favorite part of the article is where they use that tired old scare tactic of a "conservative agenda".

Run for you lives, liberal idiots, there is a "conservative agenda" coming to eat your town!!! It almosts sounds like one of those 50s monster movies.

[Pro Trash]

Wow I am so shocked "NOT", Korea, Vietnam, Communism, politics, every war we have ever been in since WWII was politically screwed up by the gang of back stabbers known as our Government. I believe some politicians would let our soldiers die if they felt it would add to their election points. I am not partisan on this one, I feel this way about anyone in D.C., and I am not saying they would but I am not saying they wouldn't. I can imagine a right winger saying see our dead troops we need to do more for the war effort vote for me and you'll help save lives. Then a democrat saying see look at our dead troops vote for me and we'll get our troops home which will save lives. The Independent saying vote for me I will do anything to get into office this will save my life, LOL.

[32VfromHell]

LOL at all of you who think politics and war are a new concept.

[01WhiteCobra]

Ummm... most wars are politically motivated.

[Fobra]

Ummm... most wars are politically motivated.
lol @ your sig :D

[eastsidetorino]

well, considering that both the nations forces fight for countries that are run for politicians...I never would have guessed any war was politically motivated????


What kind of fucktard thinks war isnt political?

[46Tbird]

What kind of fucktard thinks war isnt political?A fucktard like this one..

[talisman]

A fucktard like this one.




Damn retarded TBird drivers.