The New Iraq

With Saddam's Ba'ath party set to gain political power in Iraq, and the new Iraqi PM's far reaching martial law legislation, just exactly how free and democratic are we expecting the new Iraq to be? One can't help but suspect that it will be a case of 'here's the new boss, same as the old boss'... perhaps with a little less obvious repression (in the short term) while the international community is watching, but with little substantial change in the real character of the government.

Of course, as soon as the US/UK objectives have been achieved, we can expect the same kind of success story as we have seen in Afghanistan... the new PM virtually powerless, the gradual resurgence of the Taliban (at a time when they're even being courted by the US), women still being subject to violence and denied their fundamental human rights.

The upbeat official story regarding the reconstruction of Afghanistan seems to be at odds with the reality of the situation on the ground - mainly because the pledged aid is far from enough to meet the needs of the devastated country. Karzai has virtually no power outside of the capital - the country is still ruled by the warlords, many of whom are friendly with the Taliban.

Why the sudden US disinterest in rebuilding a country they systematically brought to its knees? It's a mystery, that's for sure.