Paradigm Shift is probably an overused term, although it is usually apropos for the context in which it is being used. It signifies a dramatic change in thinking, or opinion, or the manner in which one views any number of things or events. I have arrived at a point to which the term applies.
In December of last year I wrote an article about the US Embassy which was then being constructed in Baghdad, Iraq. The Project was fraught with error, shoddy construction, cost overruns, thievery and what appeared to me to be outright carpet-bagging, with construction contractors under the supervision, or lack thereof, of KBR (Kellogg Brown & Root) lining their pockets with ill gotten gain by providing sub-standard labor, material and management.
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Several American soldiers had been killed by electrocution due to faulty installation of electrical equipment. The grounding system, consisting of copper wiring, had either been stolen or never installed as per contractual and safety requirements.
Yesterday I read an article in the Dallas Morning News which revealed that American military personnel, in other facilities, are still being injured or killed from being shocked by faulty installation of electrical work by civilian contractors working for KBR. The article told of two soldiers who were killed after being caught in water, one in a shower, the other in a swimming pool when they were suddenly electrified after poorly grounded electrical wiring short circuited. *
Not a small number of American electricians, who worked for KBR told of repeatedly warning the company of the hazards that were being built into the construction projects. Some sent e-mails documenting the concerns. And one individual provided evidence of his e-mail messages which were not only ignored but for which government logs were altered to indicate that non-existent safety systems were working properly. *
From: the Dallas Morning News article.
The corruption appears to be pandemic, almost like a feeding frenzy, and greed seems to be the prime mover. It reminds me of the LA riots, although perhaps more subtle, with everyone involved trying feverishly to get their free TV before the cops finally decide to clamp down and end the gravy train. My opinion, at this point, is that the cops are not going to clamp down because the cops have been paid to look the other way.
So what have we wrought in Iraq, other than a democracy built on corruption, incompetence, greed, and the lesson that Americans are on the take, out to get whatever they can off the labor and sweat of someone else, with no regard for the long term effect.
In a culture in which the individual has learned to get by with his wits, lying, stealing and cheating, with no sense of the greater good, America has confirmed the Iraqi way of doing business….That is, grab, take, whatever is not nailed down and damn the country’s future, for Americans have come there and stolen it from them and from the American people as well. The Ugly American is uglier than ever.
And what of the American military personnel who are fighting for freedom and democracy in Iraq? We are told daily that these individuals are the finest people America has to offer. We are told that they are honorable, brave, courageous, and that they exemplify the very heart and soul of all that is good about the United States. I have to wonder about this. Is it true?
I see examples of abuses committed by American troops upon the very people they were sent to defend. <link>
This is one of many, many videos which show American troops laughing and taunting Iraqi children, in one manner or another, holding water and food out to them as they speed away, in one example. The children keep running and running, hoping to get the food and water, but the soldiers never give it to them. What a striking contrast to the images we see of American troops in World War II giving food and candy to children after the European invasion.
Has the systemic corruption infected the military as well? Do the American soldiers and Marines, fighting in Iraq, realize that it is all for nothing, or that it is a lost cause which is not worthy of our finest effort? Some questions must be asked.
1. Why is it taking so long to train an Iraqi army capable of doing the job the Americans are now doing?
The Iraqi army is no less corrupt than are the Americans and the individual Iraqi soldier is not fully invested in the future of his country. He may be tough and courageous but does he believe in the cause? The Iraqis are not stupid. They see the example we have set.
2. Where is the oversight? Who is in charge? Is anyone in charge? How could all this have happened? How could we spend billons of dollars on building projects in Iraq and end up with slums?
It begins, and ends I believe, with an administration which is so irrevocably in the pocket of corporate criminals that it has become ineffective and incapable, at this point, of reversing the trend. Responsibility must be laid at the feet of a president who has chosen to serve the corporation rather than the American people.
3. What has happened to our vaunted military, those brave Soldiers and Marines who have fought and destroyed Al Qaeda in great numbers and risen above the politics of division and agenda to bring freedom to an oppressed people?
I see in the videos teen-age boys, dressed in military uniforms, giggling like hyenas while they engage in high school pranks. Their actions are not unlike some kids’ toilet papering a friend’s house or turning over trash cans on Halloween. They are obnoxious and repugnant and their conduct is appalling.
I have to ask….Where are the officers? Where are the Top Sergeants? Where is discipline and command? Are one or two videos of abuses indicative of widespread hooliganism or are these isolated events? Does anyone know or care?
If the corruption and greed and riot mentality of the gang of Americans engaged in the rape of Iraq has so disillusioned and distracted our military that our soldiers have lost all sense of right and wrong then it matters not what the politicians do, diplomatically. The hearts and minds of the Iraqi people cannot be won if those in direct contact with them are destroying those hearts and minds for fun and games.
4. Can we win this war?
Sadly, I do not believe we can and even more disconcerting is that I am no longer sure that those in charge of waging the war really want to win it. It may be, it just may be, that there is simply too much money being made by corporate hooligans for it to ever end, until someone is elected president who has the courage to pull the plug. I don’t know if that person exists or not but I am afraid that he/she is not running for president at this time.
This administration is guilty of either being in collusion with corporate interests and is purposely turning a blind eye to the abuse while the American people, and the Iraqis, are being cheated and robbed, or it is so incompetent that it tests the limits of credulity.
I am reminded of the line from Pogo: We have met the enemy and it is us.
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Jack Dallas
