SubscribeReuters Finds 1 Iraqi Who Won’t Miss Rumsfeld
From Reuters:
Iraqis won’t miss Rumsfeld
Thu 9 Nov 2006
By Mussab Al-Khairalla
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The resignation of one of the main architects of the U.S.-led invasion, Donald Rumsfeld, brought some satisfaction to Iraqis on Thursday but did little to inspire confidence that a slide into chaos can be halted.
A string of car bombs in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen people on Thursday was a reminder of the daily hazards of life that preoccupy most Iraqis more than distant politics.
Stung by losing control of Congress, U.S. President George W. Bush said U.S. Defence Secretary Rumsfeld had resigned because there was need for "fresh perspective" on Iraq. He also conceded his Iraq policy was "not working well enough, fast enough."
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Rumsfeld’s departure was an "internal issue" for the United States.
"We are dealing with an administration, not persons. We are committed to an understanding with the administration," he said.
Dabbagh said the Iraqi government agreed that progress was not fast enough, three-and-a-half years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, who was sentenced to death on Sunday.
"We feel the same, that things are not going fast enough on the security level," Dabbagh said.
"There should be more coordination, there should be more say for Iraqis," Dabbagh said, noting this would be a matter for a joint committee on security activated last week as part of efforts to boost Iraqi security forces and move responsibility for security from U.S. forces to Iraqis.
"We think it’s possible to have an improvement in Iraq," said Dabbagh, spokesman for the Shi’ite- and Kurdish-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has been in power for a little under six months.
FRICTION WITH WASHINGTON
Insurgent attacks and sectarian violence kill hundreds of civilians a week and the government is under growing pressure over delays in taking concrete steps to counter the violence because of internal divisions between the coalition partners.
Last month friction with Washington burst into the open over perceived U.S. pressure to set "timelines" for progress on issues such as cracking down on militias linked to Maliki’s political allies and establishing a fair division of oil.
Many Iraqis expressed satisfaction after Bush’s Republicans losing control of Congress amid a wave of public dismay at the course of the war in Iraq. But their reactions were tinged with general weariness of the war.
Rumsfeld’s departure sparked similar feelings.
"I’m very happy because he’s the defence secretary who invaded us and made our lives miserable," said Ahmed Jasim, 31, who works in a Baghdad photocopy shop.
Saadoun Jasim, 30, in the southern holy Shi’ite city of Najaf, was more concerned with daily problems such as a lack of basic services. "Where is the electricity to watch the changes in the American government?" he said.
Democrat control of House of Representatives could boost pressure for a change of course in Iraq, including a gradual withdrawal of troops. Democrats also looked set to capture the Senate, pending confirmation of a victory in Virginia.
Yahya Idan, 50, a health ministry worker in Diwaniya south of Baghdad, said he did not expect the Democrat victory to change much. "Their policy is one of enmity towards Iraq. They have a special interest in Iraq and they are occupying it on that basis, not for the interest of Iraq as they claim."
Yassir Jabar, a 48-year-old labourer in Falluja in the restive western province of Anbar, said he followed the election closely. "I vowed to slaughter a goat if the Democrats win because they will put pressure on Bush, and he could fall and not complete the term of his presidency," he said.
Please note that there is only one quote in this whole lengthy article that would support the headline. And it is from someone who is probably a terrorist and who probably doesn’t have any idea who Mr. Rumsfeld even is. Yet Reuters anoints him to speak for the Iraqi people.
(And never mind that a Democrat forced early pullout of American forces will almost certainly guarantee a bloodbath for Messieurs Jasim and Jabar.)
But of course it isn’t just Reuters. Here is a small sampling of the photographs the wire services are running for Rumsfeld at the moment:
And just like in Iraq, our objective media find a "spokesman" for the American people to say exactly what they want said:
Willa Johnson of Boulder, Colo., talks about the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld from his post as secretary of defense in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006. The winds of change swept from the ballot box into the Pentagon on Wednesday and Americans greeted the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with delight, sadness, and a sense it was long overdue.
This is the kind of raw propaganda that the hate-America media pumps out twenty times a day, every day of the week.