Reappraising the Iraq War

The New York Times reports Blackwater Worldwide authorized $1 million in bribes to Iraqi officials in order to silence criticism after Blackwater mercenaries killed 17 Iraqi civilians. However, Noah Pollak at Commentary questions the paper’s reporting accuracy on the story.

But the Times’ reporting on another potential bombshell is not in question. They report that Peter Galbraith ”stands to earn perhaps a hundred million or more dollars as a result of his closeness to the Kurds, his relations with a Norwegian oil company and constitutional provisions he helped the Kurds extract.” During Iraq’s constitutional negotiations after the invasion, Galbraith helped push for a deal that gave Kurdistan, not the central government, sole authority over new oil finds in the region. Galbraith asserts he acted in good faith and did nothing wrong, but some officials are questioning the integrity of the constitutional negotiations in light of this revelation.

Writing further about the NY Times, Rory O’Connor applauds the paper’s Alissa Rubin for her candid reappraisal of the war in Iraq, in which she writes, “Americans wanted to believe that their version of democracy was just waiting to spring to life in Iraq – a peaceful multiethnic, multireligious society adhering to the rule of law. That longing to find in another country a mirror of ourselves trumped cold analysis and led to years of denial that came to an end only when the mutilated bodies of Baghdad morgue mounted each day.”

Razzaq Al-Saiedi at the New York Times‘ At War blog highlights the importance of the upcoming election that will put “in place a political infrastructure that, in theory, will outlast the American presence in the country.” Al-Saiedi expresses concern over how much influence ethnicity and religion will play in the elections and its potential to plunge the country into violence. The next big challenge after the election will be actually forming a government, as the strongest coalition will likely only garner 20 percent of the vote total. Iraq Pundit expresses his appreciation that “Iraq’s politicians recognize the importance of the people and their votes. For the first time, they are competing to prove who is best for the country. That might well sound ordinary to everyone else, but to Iraqis it really is a first.”

Michael Rubin at Commentary reports on the Kurdish government’s crackdown on independent journalism: “The Kurdish people cannot always assumed to be natural U.S. allies if Washington continues to ignore the region’s increasing corruption, repression, and violence.” Meanwhile, an Iraqi court ordered the Guardian to pay £52,000 after the British paper purportedly defamed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The article in question “described fears inside Iraq that the prime minister was ruling in an increasingly autocratic manner.” According to the paper’s editorial staff, “The Iraqi people were promised freedom after the fall of Saddam. They deserve a free press and fair courts, robust enough to stand up to government.”