America is a force for good …

W.J. Astore

A friend sent along the following statement from the U.S. State Department:

IMG_0921

My Commentary:

Sovereignty is just fine, Iraqi people — as long as you do exactly what America says.  By the way, I thought ISIS was 100% eliminated, according to President Trump.

I’m sure the Iraqi government can’t wait to have this “conversation” with the U.S. government.  Note, however, that any “conversation” about withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq is already forbidden.  So much for sovereignty!

36 thoughts on “America is a force for good …”

  1. A statement like that could only make any Iraqi’s blood boil.  As PM Abdul-Mahdi said, the US just “attacked the Iraqi armed forces,” which it claims to be in Iraq to support.  Trump and Pompeo would just be a joke if they weren’t costing so many people their lives on all sides. Peace!Nicolas J S DaviesAuthor of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. If it wasn’t sad, I’d find it humorous that the first sentence in a statement from the US State Department uses the word “force”. That rings oddly against the concept of diplomacy it would seem.

    Liked by 3 people

  3. You sure this didn’t appear in something like The Onion? Looks like State has already done an Orwellian rewrite of history: Iraq never requested that US personnel withdraw, eh?

    Like

      1. And most of the rest of the world understands this. Seems to be a bit of a “disconnect” here on US soil, though. Ignorance is bliss? But if we’re a blissful society, why all the suicides by opioids??

        Like

  4. I personally like the language of our “financial, economic, and diplomatic partnership.” Myself, I am currently running out of coherent thought given the constant barrage of BS. As to the lack of understanding by many folks in the US, I remember one saying that applies; “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullsh*t.”

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Clearly, now is the time to post this quote from thinker/prolific author Hannah Arendt, from “Origins of Totalitarianism,” 1958. I only encountered this last night, and have barely scratched the surface of this amazing woman’s output. “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.” Oh my god, have you seen a better description of current US politics than that?!?

      Liked by 2 people

      1. WOW, what i superb description of America. At least in my lifetime beginning with the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the Wall Street -Security-Military-Industrial Complex has worked hand and glove with the McMega-Media. There were some brave reporters and writers who emerged to tell the truth about Vietnam, their patriotism always seemed to be called into question.

        By the time of Bush the Younger’s Gulf War 2, the McMega-Media was fully on board with attacking Iraq.

        Today, we have FOX, CNN and MSDNC, spinning like tops to present their versions of the truth. They operate more like competing advertising companies trying to convince us their respective reporting is accurate and truthful.

        The social media can be used to propagate all sorts of phony stories. At least for the followers of President Agent Orange and Pastor Pence, AOC and the other members of the squad are constantly vilified and photo-shopped.

        Like

        1. Without a doubt, the rise to prominence of “social media” has been the biggest boon to disseminators of mis- and dis-information since…well, a certain Herr Gutenberg did his thing, I guess. Why did I skip over radio and TV broadcasting? Because, in my personal experience, the major networks were semi-respectable, let’s say, in the early years. People like Edward R. Murrow actually challenged The Establishment from time to time and shook things up. For a while. Case in point: I’m too “young” to have seen and absorbed the original broadcast of “Harvest of Shame,” the expose on conditions under which migrant farmworkers labor. And guess what? That situation is STILL a national scandal! But at least the effort was made. Nowadays, they send ICE agents to raid poultry-processing plants and call it a victory!

          Like

  5. Spoken like a TRUE Secretary of State…exactly a year ago!!
    “It is a truth that isn’t often spoken in this part of the world, but I’m a military man by training, so I’ll put it bluntly,” Mr. Pompeo said. “America is a force for good in the Middle East. Period.”

    Like

    1. Ha!! In his wildest dreams, Mr. Pompeo doesn’t have as much credibility as the least-competent snake oil salesman in history!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. And the Great Satan…oops, the Great Force for Good…staggers from one military fiasco to another, as if blinded like Samson was. The very fundamental truth, of course, is that this fiasco is not at all amusing for the victims of US bombs, missiles, bullets and…white phosphorous?…Oh, I mean “good intentions”! Of course.

      Like

  7. Wasn’t it Hillary and McCain that armed Isis? And weren’t we financially supporting two of the three sides of the war in Syria? Isis were our storm-troopers to oust Assad, while Obama pretended Isis was a menace, which it did become, similar to Al Queda – all while the taxpayer gets bilked.

    Like

    1. It may take a Seymour Hersh, if he lives long enuf, to ferret out the real origins of “ISIS” (an absurd acronym). Perhaps someday we’ll get the real lowdown on murder of JFK and the events of 9/11?? Likely not in my lifetime, though.

      Like

  8. I’ve never heard of this obvious ‘Society Boy’ Morgan Ortagus, though I’m sure well dressed, with an expensive watch. Too bad he doesn’t know what time it is, nor travels. Europe’s working slobs (deplorables), are marching in the streets and burning storefronts to save their pensions. The LAST thing these overtaxed citizens want is to pay more to Nato, to bail out US & UK’s enormous mistake of invading Iraq. In fact, they don’t like the current costs, protecting them from a false enemy – Russia.
    The recent shoot down by Iran of a Ukrainian passenger jet is tragic indeed, but they’re intelligent enough to realise US started it, by assassinating their top General. If the EU officials dare to send troops to Iraq, they’ll learn – the hard way – what the phrase “Fog of War” means.

    Like

    1. Morgan Ortagus is a female spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State. She has held several other government roles, is a U.S. Navel Reserve Officer and, are you ready for this…………a former national security contributor to Fox News. Not sure if she has an expensive watch but I doubt it is man’s Rolex.

      I enjoy reading Bracing Views everyday. I agree with your comments BMCKS, just want you to know he is a she.

      Like

      1. Haha! Thanks William Goucher. I’m just not with it with some of these new transgender names. ‘Morgan’ was always a guys name in my day; 1st or last. So Morgan Ortagus is a ‘Debutante’! Fox News a good place for her….

        Like

        1. Just a passing note from Wikipedia on prominent names from Arthurian Legend (or Broadway musicals like “Camelot”):

          Morgan le Fay (/ˈmɔːrɡən lə ˈfeɪ/, meaning “Morgan the Fairy”), alternatively known as Morgan[n]a, Morgain[a/e], Morg[a]ne, Morgant[e], Morge[i]n, and Morgue[in] among other names and spellings, is a powerful enchantress in the Arthurian legend. Early appearances of Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a goddess, a fay, a witch, or a sorceress, generally benevolent and related to King Arthur as his magical saviour and protector. Her prominence increased over time, as did her moral ambivalence, and in some texts there is an evolutionary transformation of her to an antagonist, particularly as portrayed in cyclical prose such as the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. A significant aspect in many of Morgan’s medieval and later iterations is the unpredictable duality of her nature, with potential for both good and evil.

          Not that this particular name in an official U.S. government spokesperson has any bearing on anything of importance, just saying …

          Like

          1. There’s that magical/mystical/fantasist element again.

            “We’re on a mission from God — so we can do no wrong.” That seems to be the belief.

            Like

          2. AuRight, AuRight, AuRight, MM. You treat me like an intellectual, which I’m not, but very greedy, so I always think of ‘JP’, you know the rest. In fact, I have a good biography on him, and found out he also had a sense of humour. American Banksters & Industrialists of his time found a Warhol: a French guy known for trees, Jean Baptiste Carot. (I always forget his name, old age, so looked up ‘French tree painters’), and presto! JP bought a humongous one, for his foyer. A few years past, and it disappeared. Guests asked where it was. “In the attic” he replied. Then: “I did some research on Mr. Carot. He painted about 600 paintings in his lifetime, and 6000 are in the United States”.

            Like

          3. When this particular Morgan flips over to the Good Side of The Force, somebody send me an alert! She obviously wasn’t hired for her writing skills. (But who says she even wrote this drivel personally? It just went out under her name.)

            Like

    2. Trump claims the US is holding $X billions of Iraqi assets (exact figure already slipped my mind–35? 135 billions??) and if Iraqi regime doesn’t “compensate” US for its expenses in creating the dreadful mess its “good intentions” over there wrought, the US will simply keep those funds! Uh, where I come from, that’s called Grand Larceny!! Very Grand!

      Like

      1. Yeah Greglaxer. That’s what I was saying in last post on Iranian assets frozen after “Revolution” in 1979. Trump gave the SAME figures previous administrations have given. It’s highway robbery, using US$ and Military Force to insist. I was born in 1945, end of a horrific war. In my old age,I don’t want another. That’s why I want the future generations to live better in peace, and why I HATE WARMONGERS LIKE CLINTON, BUSH, OBAMA, NOW TRUMP. I want them to live in peace & prosperity. Some of us old guys will win emotionally, but it’s time for a youth, starved of a future, to react actually. BEAT UP TRUMP & BILLARY “election” frauds: nobody young wants either of them. TIME TO RESPECT THEMSELVES! Because what’s happend to them is a tragedy.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I’m not that far “behind you” in age. I have publicly declared my willingness to fall in, as a footsoldier, behind the leadership of young people like Greta Thunberg. But we have to recognize the immensity of what stands in the way of actual progress for humankind. That said, the sooner we get to work the better!

          Like

  10. This official U.S. government statement isn’t a matter of truth or facts or even of policy. It’s a matter of religion, of belief, of fantasy. You simply imagine it to be real and go with it. Anyone who criticizes you is a heretic, i.e. un-American. That’s how the Pompeo Gang operates.

    Like

  11. Someone with a stronger stomach for unadulterated, brown-nosing bullshit than I can muster will have to take on this latest “contribution” by the “ass-kissing little chickenshit,” David Petraeus (as Admiral William Fallon, former CENTCOM commander memorably described him.) Perhaps Bill Astore would like to give it a go. See: Petraeus Says Trump May Have Helped ‘Reestablish Deterrence’ by Killing Suleimani –
    The former U.S. commander and CIA director says Iran’s “very fragile” situation may limit its response.    , by Lara Seligman, Foreign Policy (January 3, 2020).

    If I believed in a “High Heaven,” I would say that this approved-narrative drivel stinks right up to its front gates.

    Like

    1. “Iran’s very fragile condition”: It appears that demonstrators are in the streets calling for the Grand Ayatollah to STEP DOWN! (Unless I misunderstood, and it’s the country’s president they’re criticizing.) Trump is tweeting his support for these demonstrators. Hmmm. Now, you don’t suppose the CIA has a hand in fomenting this stuff? Why would Iranians be outraged that a foreign airliner was accidentally shot down in the war hysteria the Great Satan generated? Seems likelier to me they’d be protesting Iran’s official very tepid (thus far!) military response to the US actions.

      Like

  12. The U.S. military must stay in Iraq to fight the evil ISIS… which the U.S. invasion of Iraq brought into existence in the first place.

    Sounds about right. Self-licking ice cream cones all round!

    Like

    1. Yes, the argument (and we probably shouldn’t give it that much credit) is about as solid as the US claim that a “north” Vietnam was committing aggression against a “south” Vietnam.

      Like

Comments are closed.