What a novel idea.
The significance of the interview lies as much in what it says about the American occupation of Iraq as it what it illustrates about the American media. In the American media’s discussions of Iraq, when are the perspectives expressed here about our ongoing occupation — views extremely common among Iraqis of all types and grounded in clear, indisputable facts — ever heard by the average American news consumer? The answer is: “virtually never.”
This is an incredible video clip. Glenn Greenwald posted some dialogue and has much more about this most important issue:
ROSE: And obviously, what we want to accomplish on this fifth anniversary of the American invasion, or the coalition invasion of Iraq, is how they see it as Iraqis, five years later. Give me an assessment.
ALI FADHIL: That’s a big question, assessment. Well, basically, probably, I`ll kind of sum it in a few words.
It’s — we have a country where the government is not functioning after five years. We have too many internal problems. And we have the violence increasing day after day.
We have a huge crisis of refugees inside and outside Iraq. We have a total failure of the — of the civilian — the civilian structure and what’s happening inside. We have the sectarian divisions increasing. We didn’t have that before. Now we have it. So, basically, my assessment is we have a whole nation called Iraq, now it’s wiped out.
CHARLIE ROSE: And Iraq is worse off because the United States came?
ALI FADHIL: It’s worse off because the United States came to Iraq, definitely, and because the United States did all these mistakes in Iraq. read on
No Trackbacks To “Rose: Hearing from Iraqis about the invasion of Iraq: 5th Year“
I have a problem with the phrase, “the average American news consumer”. Is it possible to stop viewing news as a product?
Link to video does not respond.
Glenn Greenwald has an excellent post up about this on his Salon blog. Glad C&L posted the video!
Anyone who wants to know why this happened should go to Greg Palast’s website and read about what Bremer and the CPA did, BEFORE the violence against US troops began. The attempts (current as well) to privatize Iraq’s oil (even though virtually every Iraqi is against it), the “free market” corporate looting of the country the ensued (against the wishes of the Iraqis), the “orders” that Bremer gave that he claims are binding to future governments, the handling of Iraq’s debt by Baker (especially in regards to his clients the Saudis), the cancelling of elections and the installing of US puppets into government, etc.
To call what we’ve done spreading “democracy” is either astonishing ignorance, an outright lie or a extremely distorted view of what democracy is.
What the hell we doing over there?
Whats the god damn point?
Who put the beat down on Charlie Rose?
L.A. Confidential @ 5:
Oil?
Liberal Jer @ 6:
Charlie Rose Bravely Smashes His Face To Save MacBook Air
It seems the vast majority of Americans receive their information from the Corporate Media.
That Corporate media which has nothing to tell and lots to sell.
Blood and tooth paste don’t mix.
Turn your freakin’ TVs off.
ConcernedCanuck @ 7:
Well where is it then?
How do you say “Duh” in Arabic?
Thanks for posting this link. I watched it and was so glad to hear what’s really going on being spoken about (albeit way, way after the fact and with not many people really listening anyway).
I went onto read on Salon about the looting of the museum in Baghdad. What a monstrous act! (Well, the entire thing is a monstrous act, there’s too many to list or even think about). However, it is blatantly obvious even to Blind Freddie that the neocons orchestrated the looting of the museum. Those artifacts worth untold billions of dollars - those artifacts have probably largely gone to private collections of the buddies or, at least, those complicit of the looting.
What a filthy act this whole debacle has been. I went to Iraq in 1976 - beautiful country. Beautiful people; kind, gracious, giving, welcoming, proud. They had problems, yes, horrible problems, but how worse than Bush was Saddam? How worse than Cheney? How worse than any of these filth?
Monsters all.
The looting of the museum is just a token of what’s happened, but along with everything else these scum have perpetrated, this is a loss to humanity. Well, the whole thing is a loss to humanity.
Millions marched around the world to say NO to invading Iraq. Democracy I hear? What freaking democracy? And where exactly is this grand thing supposed to be operating? I didn’t and don’t see much evidence of it. In Australia, we had record numbers turn up to march… our horrid government - part of the Coalition of the Damned - joined forces and crushed this once wonderful nation (and crushed us at the same time - being complicit as we are)
IRK. It makes me feel sick.
L.A. Confidential @ 10:
Apparently it is the only thing working in Iraq so far.
Saddam paid for lawmakers’ Iraq trip
WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors say Saddam Hussein’s intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion.
An indictment in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam’s regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary.
In exchange, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil.
The lawmakers are not mentioned but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California. There was no indication the three lawmakers knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam.
Hahahahahaha………man oh man…..what a twisted world.
“Well where is it then?”
Increasingly under control of Western oil companies, for no logical reason. Society needs, at least for the time being, oil to function. The profit motive, a weak excuse anyway, doesn’t apply here, the corporate involvement is in no way justified. We should, but won’t, nationalize the oil corporations and allow the leaders to be tried for the inhumane governments and policies they’ve backed. They have “limited liability” though, since the corporate form is an outdated institution that’s ill suited for the world we live in, so nothing will happen there either.
Maybe Charlie should look up the name April Glaspie to realize the setting up of Iraq in the Kuwait beatback. There has been a longstanding plan to lock up the Iraq oil with the sanctions being the impediment. Another reason to keep the Clintons out of the White House because they were part and parcel to the decade long affront to the Iraqi people. Do you want a little depleted uranium with your dates?
WOW !!
How do you say “Up Your’s George” in Arabic ?
Oh, you weren’t kidding about the Macbook:
http://www.metafilter.com/7007.....-Saves-Air
That’s hilarious. I wonder if his face is insured?
Important line left out though, might not be true though:
“U.S. officials familiar with the case stressed that no member of Congress had any knowledge al-Hanooti was spying for Iraq or was complicit with illegal activity.”
Pepper @ 18:
I never read that line in the AP article
ConcernedCanuck @ 14:
Wing Nuts getting that desperate now to bring this one back up?
Johnny2Bad @ 11:
“Bush”
The mess that Iraq is in is exactly what the neocons want. The more despair and hardship there is the more they can justify keeping our troops there and spending our tax dollars in the name of oil. Besdes, neocons just love it when people are suffering…
Iraqis? So?
— Dick Cheney
Wasting hundreds of billions in Iraq helps our economy how?
Republicans are brain dead.
Leslie @ 3:
Whoops, correction: Glad C&L posted Greenwald’s post. :)
I think most people dont realize just how bad the situation is in Iraq. They just hear violence is down, and see McCain on TV and go “Oh good, things are going great. No need to worry.” The surge has made the situation even worse.
Here’s a clip of the ruined city of Baghdad. The journalist is Iraqi, and used to live in Bagdhad but he still cant move freely
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....y.of.walls
Blue Lensman @ 1:
Uniformed and lazy people also assume ‘news’ should be balanced and or nice, this is diametrically opposed to what news is all about.
Important NEWS is all about the bad things and this is the only sane approach, as a survival trait its vital to know what is bad and what might be coming down the road.
Real news aka bad stuff while a tad depressing allows us to plan ahead and avoid suffering the fate of others.
McCain the Liar @ 24:
Republican stock holders in ‘contractor’ and MIC companies QED
Now tell me. After all this, is the surge working yet?
I don’t really know how America could ever apologize to the Iraqi people for what they’ve done to their country. There’s really no way. :(
L.A. Confidential @ 10:
The Oil is in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.
So very, very sad. So, subtracting the 1% of the greediest people in the U.S., the remaining votes for McCain will tell us how many people in America are stupid, ill-informed or insane.
L.A. Confidential @ 21:
Apparently somebody at AP is. Twisted. And somehow this is news, eh?
ConcernedCanuck @ 33:
It’s going to get worse. I will not be surprised if this Country plunges into compete insanity this year.
ConcernedCanuck @ 33:
Oh wait, there are better stories LA
Man arrested near Capitol faces WMD charge
Explosives allegedly found in suspect’s vehicle were undetected for weeks
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23803125/
ConcernedCanuck @ 14:
So? So the fuck what?
It may not help your economy, but it helps the upper class economy. More specifically it helps the vp’s at Blackwater ,Haliburton, Raytheon and any defense contractor really, especially any connected defense contractor.
miss_kitty Hussein @ 36:
Why are you swearing? It’s news, isn’t it?
B- b- bu- but but… the surge….. It’s working, This liberation of Iraq, it’s a good thing, McCain and Cheney says so… We’re almost there! Jussst another six months and we’ll turn the corner for sure this time… We know where the peace is… It’s north and south and east and west of Baghdad somewhat… err no?? Not even close????…. Well then, there it is, on Charlie Rose from the mouths of two Iraqies.. Although, Charlie, I like you, but it seemed like you were interrupting a bit more than I thought necessary almost everytime one of them was about to say something I wanted to hear…..Made it look like you weren’t really listening, which is part of OUR problem in this nation regarding Iraq and the mess we’ve made there.. Juust a bit ironic Chuck, given the point of the interview..
All in all, pretty damning verdicts from two of the locals.. Damning and embarassing… I really can’t say anything they didn’t already say…. We just need to get out. Haul our asses up off the firing line and go home…. We just aren’t helping anymore if we ever were, (I say no on that), no matter how many Hajis we kill in the name of… of what exactly??? Yes, exactly! That’s it! This far down the road and this many excuses later, we ain’t got no good reason to be there anymore regardless of whatever bullshit propaganda talking points Bushco wants to feed us….And we need to take responsibility for what we have done to the Iraqie people.. And it wasn’t bringing them democracy… More like a ruined nation and society, along with a festering ill will towards us that will probably linger for generations.
What these two men spoke of are probably, all other mendacity and greed driven domestic criminal behavior aside… what these two mens simple truth spoken actually means and amounts to are the primary reasons why we as a nation needs to see our legislative branch of this government get off their asses, stop being cowards and impeach and then imprison the entire Bush administrations principle leaders and try and jail all the conservative think tank wonks who put them up to this international crime against humanity and supported their efforts, even to this day, ehh Bill Kristol, ehh Rush Scumbaugh, ehh all the rest of you fox mouthpieces….
Jesus, I am ashamed of my nation, sad and ashamed in every fiber of my being.. And I am beet red angry at what these sonsofbitches have done… both to Iraq specifically, my nation as well, and the world in general.. This is not a stable planet now and George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are the two most visible but certainly not the only purps responsible for this sad soul destroying situation…. I want them to pay for all this shit! The bastards!! May they both, along with all their alcolytes, rot in hell for an eternity of eternities…………JD
Its about time we had real iraqi’s speaking about the occupation and not lil george; telling us how much they love it. And you don’t even have to be a scholar to realize that citizens don’t like to be occupied or killed. Apparently this failure of an administration was not able to figure that out.
The Iraqis were great. They were passionate and articulate.
Charlie Rose is so goddam dumb it is hard to stomach watching him.
He is steeped in administration bullshit.
I remember him saying, on a program with Norman Mailer, that we would be greeted as liberators - flowers strewn in our path etc.
How does an idiot like this come to have this kind of program on National Educational Television?
The answer can be found if you follow the money sponsoring him.
galmud @ 27:
my friend take no notice of the concrete barariers they are just highway deviders for trafic safty!!!!
ConcernedCanuck @ 38:
it’s news, but not big news….those 2 lawmakers were irrelevant knuckleheads that didn’t get much respect then, and they’re irrelevant knuckleheads now, longsince forgotten by the country and history…
it’s about as newsworthy, shocking and surprising as McCain’s hot lobbyist…
they are all up there in DC writing laws for sex and money……when they get caught, no big shock but to frauds or fools…
same thing with sadamms trip
Just out of curiosity, why do people keep using the word “mistake” in this context?
Is there any evidence that the current outcome was not intended (see Cheney predicting these precise results post-Desert Storm)?
Is there any evidence that the plans resulting in the current outcome were not deliberate (see Rumsfeld rejecting the Pentagon’s war plans repeatedly and against advice)?
Is it not vastly more probably that the actual goals were and are completely unrelated to both the official ones (WMD) and “officially unofficial” ones (see Leno, “Operation Iraqi Liberation” joke, circa 2003)?
There’s a section of the right wing that cannot understand why the Administration is pursuing Empire so “incompetently”. I am reminded of the time Mark Twain raised hell over the worst cup of coffee he’d ever had, only to find out that it was tea…