The comments of retired Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, former US commander in Iraq, are remarkable for two reasons. Firstly, they are the only observations by a senior US figure which appear to be founded in the same real world the rest of us see. Secondly, and more remarkably, the comments have been headlined in the mainstream media throughout the world, including the US.
This is a signal not only that the Iraqi project is to be abandoned by the US/UK political and economic establishment, but that Bush is to be abandoned too. While it is entirely just that Bush bears shame and dishonour for the failures of his administration, the public should not be satisfied with that great fall. We should remember that the war on Iraq would not have occurred without the active participation of the mainstream media as propagandists.
Bush may have told the lies, but the media sold them. Similarly, the US economic crisis affecting the whole world is only partly due to Bush’s military expenditures. The ongoing collapse of the US$ and the loss of its status as world reserve currency are the work of the international bankers.
Here in Australia, Prime Minister John Howard is expected to call an election this weekend. The sudden collapse of media support for his great friend and ally George Bush Jr does not bode well for his campaign … but the signs were not good anyway, even with the unswerving loyalty of the Murdoch media empire. Let’s see if The Australian follows its stablemate The New York Times in tergivisating (that’s a parliamentary term meaning ‘to cross the house’).
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