inside the glass house

Bungling Bush faces more bad news from battlefront
NEW YORK-- President George W. Bush, leader of the free world, gets heckled by MP's in the Australian parliament and is roundly denounced by hundreds of demonstrators in the streets of Canberra and Jakarta.

On the other side of the continent, the outspoken Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad, who thrashes the virulently pro-Israeli US policy in the Middle East, gets a standing ovation by world Muslim leaders at a summit meeting of the 56-nation Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Kuala Lumpur.

The editorial writers in the mainstream American media were in a dilemma over Mahathir: which was more reprehensible in their eyes?

Was it Mahathir's attack on the powerful Jewish lobby in the US, or was it the heroic acclamation he received from Islamic leaders, including President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, described as an American puppet living under a protective US defence umbrella. When Bush visits London next month, he is expected to be badgered once again by hundreds and thousands of anti-war protesters who, having failed to stop the war, are now demanding an end to the US military occupation of Iraq.

In a scene reminiscent of the toppling of the massive Saddam Hussein statue in the streets of Baghdad following the US invasion of Iraq last March, the 'Stop the War' coalition in Britain is planning to erect a giant staue of Bush in London's Trafalgar Square-- and ceremoniously bring it down when the president is in town.

But these are not the best of times for President Bush who is being politically crucified by his critics for his military misadventure in Iraq. Last week, he apparently "misspoke" once again when he put a political spin on the wanton killings and carnage in Iraq. "The more successful we are on the ground, the more these killers will react," he told reporters.

Wayne Smith, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Policy, was outraged by Bush's comment. "In other words," he said, "the larger and bloodier the attacks against us, the better we must be doing."

By that logic, Smith argued, "if we'd lost twice as many men in these latest attacks, it would mean that we were doing even better. That is perverse!." On the battlefront in Iraq, there was more bad news. Since May 1, when the US president declared that major combat in Iraq was over, 117 American soldiers have been killed in guerrilla attacks in various part of Iraq. This figure is over and above the 114 US servicemen killed during the US military invasion of Iraq March through end of April this year.

The "unkindest cut" came from the United Nations when Secretary-General Kofi Annan decided last week that Baghdad was too dangerous a place to risk his staffers. Annan's decision to "temporarily relocate" his staff-- over US objections-- dealt another body blow to the American military occupation of the increasingly deadly, war-ravaged nation. Since the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in August, the UN has reduced its international staff from about 300-500 to 60, of which 20 are now in Baghdad and 40 in northern Iraq.

Although the staff was "temporarily relocated" to Jordan after that bombing, they were never returned to Baghdad. It has usually been a one-way trip. The present "relocation" is going to be no different. Annan has been under pressure both from in and outside the UN to ensure the safety of staffers and defend the credibility of an Organisation dismissed by some as a political mouthpiece of the United States.

The Washington Post reported last week that US Secretary of State Colin Powell, in a series of phone conversations, had pleaded with Annan to continue to maintain a UN presence in Iraq. Rightly so, Powell expressed fears that a pullout by the UN would trigger an exodus of the remaining humanitarian workers representing organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Medicins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) and Oxfam. "They are needed. Their work is needed. And if they are driven out, then the terrorists win," Powell told reporters last week.

The UN compound in Baghdad has been attacked twice, with the first suicide bombing on August 19 claiming the lives of 22 staffers, including Under-Secretary-General Sergio Vieira de Mello, who headed the UN operations in Iraq. At least 150 were injured in attack, many severely. A second attack on the UN compound took place on September 22 unnerving UN staffers further. The ICRC attack last week claimed the lives of over 20, mostly Iraqis.

Meanwhile, much to Bush's disappointment, no country has volunteered to send the thousands of troops the US so desperately needs to relieve the pressure on the 130,000 American soldiers under attack-- as much as 15 to 20 times a day, according to reports out of Iraq. Asked whether the suicide bombings and the attacks on US forces would deter foreign nations, Bush told reporters: "I hope not."

And he added: "That's what terrorists want. They want countries to say, 'Oh gosh, we better not send anybody there because someone might get hurt.''' Perhaps Bush may have rightly read the minds of world leaders who are holding back their troops despite a unanimous Security Council resolution asking the 191 member states to cooperate with the US.

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