Statecraft Informer

Talk about a continuing failure in Iraq!

In case you needed to be convinced the U.S. has been unable to install an American-style democracy in Iraq, look no further than recent news from the Iraqi Board of Supreme Audit.

(Doesn’t that sound more impressive than the Congressional Budget Office?)

Anyway, according to Abdulbasit Turki Saeed, president of the board, the government has spent only about a 15% of the oil revenues allocated for 2006.

Nationwide, a mere 20% of the entire capital budget has been expended. 20%!

This is NOT even an effective American puppet government at work.

It’s nearly 2007, and the pitiful Iraqi bureaucracy is falling asleep on the job! What kind of example are they setting for future U.S. occupied nations?

Heck, here in the good old U.S.A., we pride ourselves on spending every available penny BEFORE the revenue even comes in. In fact, we spend money every day that will NEVER come in unless we raise taxes or cut benefits.

Year-end “emergency” resolutions and spending bills are time-honored American legislative events.

You would think the U.S.-approved government in Iraq would have already incorporated some of our more venerated traditions into their own so-called democracy!

Why, according to the Iraq Study Group’s bipartisan report of last week, many ministries can do little more than pay salaries, let alone actually fund any necessary projects.

Well, at least that sounds American.

Hussain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi oil minister, claimed he could spend substantially more of this year’s budget if he could resolve administrative bottlenecks, citing Finance Ministry delays in authorizing payments.

I am happy to see that a few Iraqis, if they haven’t yet mastered the art of spending it, have become somewhat proficient in passing the buck.

The problem apparently stems from an unwillingness on the part of officials in the Iraqi Finance Ministry to actually put their names on documents authorizing any but the most basic payments.

You see, following a tremendously corrupt period (more or less since the U.S. arrived), which saw many government bureaucrats arrested and jailed, sweeping anti-corruption laws were adopted.

Now their old colleagues-in-crime, who remain in place throughout the government, are not wont to take any chances – like signing their names to contracts for food, water, electricity, or other bothersome needs.

Once again, the Iraqis have missed the boat on proper “nation building.”

When problems of corruption arise in the U.S. government, the general rule is to investigate thoroughly and at length, decide whether or not laws, rules or regulations have been violated, and then changes the laws, rules and regulations post-haste, or simply announce the officials in question were exempt from prosecution or legal recourse.

Once in a while, if the American public is sufficiently piqued, an official “rebuke” is in order.

Once in an even greater while, if the crimes are so blatant, the scapegoat so obvious, and the stars and election cycles are aligned just so, a politician may receive a short term in a pleasant, not particularly secure, facility.

Even so, the miscreant will undoubtedly be re-elected to some other office once penance is paid, or sufficient campaign contributions are made, perhaps even while still incarcerated.

Rathi al-Rathi, the head of Iraq’s Commission on Public Integrity, has been privately accused by Western and Iraqi officials of zealotry, political bias and other failings.

Mr. Rathi actually wants to try to insure his country is governed on the up-and-up. He obviously has been unduly influenced by an over-active conscience, and any radical, unrealistic fantasies perpetuated by the likes of Frank Capra, a well-known communist sympathizer.

Thankfully, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, appears ready put an end to this Rathi/Integrity nonsense, by accusing him and the commission of mishandling or misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars. The prime minister obviously has been paying some attention to U.S. tactics and strategies.

That bright spot aside, I can’t help but be frustrated by our inability to spread genuine American values around the globe, especially in these troubling times, and in countries we occupy!

I am somewhat mollified, however, by the Iraqis’ appreciation for well-armed militias. At least they’ve gotten that much right.

But until they start spending the billions of dollars just gathering dust in some “lock-box” somewhere, it appears we will need to maintain our presence in Iraq until such time as those stubborn people abandon their backward ways.

Amazing news!

When the 110th Congress convenes in January, members will be back to working a Monday - Friday schedule.

That’s right. A regular work week. Kinda like most people, without the bribes.

The current representatives, often recalling Truman’s “Do-Nothing” congress of 1948, worked a grand total of 103 days in 2006. And I’m pretty sure there’s a significant war going on, and a platter full of scandal, corruption, and general misbehavior, too.

You’d figure they’d need more time to be so accomplished.

Come to think of it, maybe a longer congressional work week isn’t such a good thing, after all.

Well, at least this should cut their lobbying and fundraising time from seven to only six days a week.

Speaking of a hard working U.S. Congress, here’s a thought:

Since the new plan is to meet in Washington, D.C. Monday - Friday in the coming year, why not spend the extra two days (see above) UN-WRITING some of the federal code.

Have you seen that monstrosity lately?

I’m not talking about the new compilation book nearing publication, but the entirety of legislation upon which it is based. It’s huge.

There are more pages of legalese in the U.S. Code than from a Google search of “Britney Spears’ panties.” That’s a lot of pages.

And about as informative and/or relevant.

Therefore let us designate the incoming legislature “The Un-Congress.” Let’s encourage them all to un-legislate and un-mandate.

Call your congressperson, and demand they do less for a change!

Maybe then, the 111th Congress can focus on all those nasty regulations, decisions, treaties, etc., issued through the executive branch, or enacted by State or local governments.

After that… the Tax code!

Wheeeeeeee!

Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain, far and away U.S. President George Bush’s most steadfast ally in the invasion, and ongoing occupation of Iraq, comes to the White House for a chat and some photos.

Blair and Bush announce their continued mutual support, admiration and good will.

The president takes the opportunity to once again link the attacks of September 11, 2001 to our country’s actions in Iraq. The prime minister nods in agreement.

Meanwhile, a freak tornado strikes a London street (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061207/ap_on_re_eu/britain_tornado).

Coincidence?

You be the judge.

I’ve done a lot of landscaping in my life, both professionally and because I enjoy helping things grow.

Often while preparing the ground for a tree or shrub, shovel in hand, pile of dirt rising, a passerby will stop and ask, “Digging a hole?”

Of course, wise guy that I am, I invariably reply, “Nope. Can’t dig a hole.”

Waiting the appropriate three beats, I say, “I’m digging the dirt. Leaving the hole.”

Okay, so it’s pretty dumb. I only claim to be a genius. :-p

As such, it occurred to me how much like planting a shrub – or say, a bush – is our invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The goal (after the previous four or five goals didn’t pan out), was planting the bush, or tree, of democracy in that country.

Experience has taught me a couple of things about successful landscaping. If a particular shrub has been called for (assuming there is a landscape designer’s plan from which to work), you must insure the location is suitable for that plant stock. Often, the soil must be carefully prepared and amended prior to planting.

One of the old adages of landscape gardening is, “Don’t put a $100 plant in a ten cent hole.”

And so the ground for democracy must be ever so much more carefully prepared.

It would appear what’s currently planted in Iraq is not so much a tree of democracy as it is an invasive bush of thorns.

Although the ground has already been dug, and the shrubbery planted, we continue to dig and dig and dig.

In the meantime, the thorny bush spreads, winding its way across the land, drawing blood as it grows, cutting through the thickest gloves, impervious to the strongest herbicides. Making matters worse, competing landscape firms, promising new fruit in abundance, have encouraged the thorny bush’s growth, planting the seeds of even more poisonous plant material.

This week, a landscape review of the Iraq cultivation has revealed a number of mistakes the early gardeners made, and offered a 79 step program for amending the soil, pruning back the thorns and grafting new branches of uninfected stock onto the struggling democratic sapling’s narrow trunk.

Upon initial review, the head landscaper thanked the team of agricultural inspectors for their advice, and reiterated his desire to help democracy come to flower in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. He insisted that, for now, the best course of action is to keep on digging.

Which brings us back to holes.

Landscaping notwithstanding, what’s the first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole?

That’s right. Stop digging.

Either way, the thorny bush we planted is alive, and for the immediate future, at least, will continue spreading throughout the region.

We may yet be able to salvage and ultimately nurture a tree of democracy in Iraq. Unfortunately, some plants that thrive in one area often wither in others. So, perhaps a hybrid variety, more suited to the ground there, will be what effectively takes root.

A good gardener, although patient, will not continue a course of action which perpetuates poor, or dangerous, growth.

However, a good gardener will not give up on a quality specimen without considering, and employing whatever methods might lead to the successful, independent establishment of plant material.

In this case, the plant is priceless and comes from good stock, and although it sits atop a wealth of fossil fuel, the hole it’s in is more valuable still.

We have dug down deep into the Iraqi soil, at a tremendous cost in lost unity, gold and blood.

If we don’t stop digging now, we may find ourselves in a hole whose price is also beyond measure, and from which we cannot climb out for a long, long time.

I’m feeling somewhat less than political today.

Many wonderful and miserable things are happening all over the world; many right here in the U.S.

Perhaps tomorrow, or maybe later, I’ll find it in me to be more informative.

But for right now, the posting below will have to suffice.

The Carolina twilight gleams
Late January ending
The new world fades as if a dream
The ancient now transcending

Eternity can yet be found
In mystic moonlight flowing
Upon this newly shrouded ground
Its driven carpet glowing

A sacred psalm plays on the pines
In solitude I listen
Adrift upon these whispered rhymes
These melodies long missing

I stand beneath majestic arms
Lush canopies surround me
And somehow keep me safe and warm
No winter chill has found me

This holy and secluded glen
Is waiting now as ever
To guide a troubled soul to mend
And steal a heart forever

Somewhere beyond this place I fear
The world is growing smaller
Please stay it from encroaching here
And let the trees grow taller

Then some years hence someone may stand
Alone and torn asunder
And find new peace upon this land
Within this world of wonder

The Carolina twilight falls
My troubles too are fading
So I will bide and heed its call
Eternity is waiting

© 1996,2006 TS Tyler All Rights Reserved

Did I mention…

It’s a hybrid!

Yes.

Get to work.

All right.

It’s time to get serious about this third party business.

As any dedicated statecraftinformer reader knows (and surely you two DO know), we’re trying to get an actual, viable, working, third “independent” U.S. political party going.

We believe Republicans and Democrats have become dysfunctional institutions, like the Dayton Buggy Whip Company and Ahab’s Whale Oil, Inc.

The main problem with the elephants and donkeys is… although they are nearing practical obsolesence, there isn’t a popular alternative currently poised to take their place.

This is where you come in.

A quick search through the SI archives will reacquaint you with the Third Party Mascot Hunt, and the fabulous prizes announced so far.

Well, I’m going to be honest. I enjoy telling the truth; even to power. So, truth be told, none has yet entered.

Not one.

Zip. Zed. Gotz. Nada. Zero, Diddly and Squat.

None.

I mean, other than me (err, my wife).

Perhaps you like the idea of a Meerkat representing the last best hope for political change in the United States of America.
Perhaps we can call this great new party United Meerkats of America.

Some may refer to it as UMA.

In anticipation, I have been trying to interest Ms. Thurman in participating in a national third party promotional tour. I was told she likes meerkats. She demurred.

Unfortunately, she also had no interest in being included on a list a prizes.

Considering the response we’ve received to this Third Party Mascot Hunt so far, I tried selling her on the low risk and high visibility aspects of becoming an SI prize, but I was repeatedly rebuffed. I didn’t care.

I enjoy a good buffing.

Anyway, I’m beginning to think dedicated SI readers (can I use those initials?) don’t really care about political change, after all.

“Nonsense!” I said to myself. The whole “meerkat” debate is probably raging behind the scenes. Perhaps you think there’s no point trying to compete with genius.

I’m beginning to understand the enormity of the task at hand.

Because this effort is too important to wither before even taking root in the popular American consciousness, I’ve made some managerial decisions.

First, I decided I was going to be the manager.

Second, I decided to boycott Uma Thurman movies.

Third, I’ve taken the meerkat off the table. (He was happy to return to his South African homeland.) That’s right, we’re starting from scratch, and no SI operative or family member will again muddy the waters with unwanted ingenuity.

And D), I’ve decided to offer a great NEW incentive to the winner of the SI Third Party Mascot Hunt!

Better than a real wood and glass framed black & white portrait. Better than socks. Better than Ezra.

I have been authorized (by the manager) to announce that in addition to those and other wonderful prizes, the contest winner will also receive a NEW CAR!

That’s right. Like Oprah.

You enter. You win. You get a car!

Thinking about political change, aren’t you?

My mother-in-law had a massive stroke several weeks ago.

Through the years, and as more of them they go by, I become a bit more used to the aftermath of these traumatic events. From grandparents to parents, old friends to new, the effects I’ve witnessed have all run more or less parallel, depending on the severity, and number of “strokes.”

A stroke refers to a bleeding in the brain, or a blockage of normal blood flow to the brain. Either way, the result is a death of vital brain cells.

One or more of the following usually accompany the onset of a stroke (which may continue for a period of hours):

▪ Sudden weakness or numbness in your face, arm or leg on one side of your body
▪ Sudden dimness, blurring or loss of vision, particularly in one eye
▪ Loss of speech or trouble talking or understanding speech
▪ Sudden, severe headache — a bolt out of the blue — with no apparent cause
▪ Unexplained dizziness, unsteadiness or a sudden fall, especially if accompanied by any of the other symptoms

And strokes come with this caveat: Remember, the longer a stroke goes untreated, the greater the damage and potential disability. Success of treatment may depend on how soon you receive care.

The above list offers an historically accurate palette of stroke symptoms, unless you consider my mother-in-law.

Already long-troubled by diabetes, and a number of other chronic ills, she had, nevertheless, been quite able to take care of herself, her modest needs, and her three bedroom, one bath ranch house she has occupied alone since the death of her husband more than twenty-five years ago.

Oh, she moved a little more slowly, and never having learned to drive, welcomed an occasional (brief) outing and regular grocery delivery. As with most people, her memory had become a little less trustworthy, but not alarmingly so.

Referring back to the list above, she had been experiencing the fourth and fifth items on a somewhat regular basis for several years. My wife and I were naturally concerned, but the usual exploratory investigations of physicians could never pinpoint a cause for these events. In time, they became part of the fabric of her life.

We were not overly surprised, or concerned, when she phoned one day in October, and told me she was having a one of her headaches. This one was a doozy – even making it hard to focus – and she was looking forward to her upcoming doctor’s appointment, to see if he might adjust her medications.

When my wife discovered her mother had fallen the following day, she paid her a visit as soon as possible, and later on, expressed some concern about the after-effects. It was good the doctor was on tap the next day.

Without further belaboring the story, within approximately 48 hours, following a variety of hurriedly scheduled tests (whose results have since been conclusively confirmed), it turns out my mother-in-law had a somewhat less common sort of stroke.

Instead of immobilizing one or the other side of her body, or one or the other eye, her body, with the exception of both eyes (a kind of colorless, tunnel vision provides her new window on the world), her body was not compromised.

What is permanently affected, in fact, according to physicians, forever lost, is her ability to retain much of anything which has recently transpired.

She and I have since had a number of very clear and bright converstaions, some lasting up to two or three hours, and all of which recalled earlier times. Her memory of life from the thirties through late summer of this year remain as fresh as ever.

Of course, she cannot easily or at all, reach back into the converstaions we’ve recently had concerning the more distant past. For the most part, each recollection is a new recollection. As with any number of movies on the subject, each day is a kind of “Groundhog Day,” or “Deja Vu” experience.

She is a tough lady, and continues to cling to the independence which remains within her grasp.

We’ve been informed the section of brain affected by the stroke is permanently “off.” Her short-term memory will never return, or be effectively “re-trained.” This is just one more “thing she is learning to live with.”

Over these past weeks, I’ve spent considerable time thinking (and worrying) about my mother-in-law. In a peculiar way, I’ve come to see her new condition as a reflection of our nation’s current struggles.

Although we have a wealth of history from which to learn, we seem to be habitually making similar mistakes. No society of which I am aware has ever compiled as complete, and detailed an exploration of past events as has the U.S.

If you added all the lectures, TV and radio programs, books, movies, and general converstaions about historical events together, the result would no doubt be a never-ending stream of information with no visible conclusion. We do enjoy recollecting.

And yet the conclusions we seem to draw which guide our day-to-day world appear somehow disconnected from this vast storehouse of wisdom.

It seems to me that America has developed a kind of chronic short-term memory loss. We appear to actively engage in the pursuit of concepts, ideas and agendas today, forgetting they were already recently tried… and failed.

I would like to provide the leaders, the decision-makers in this country, with a great big legal pad; the kind my mother-in-law now uses to write down the time and date an action was taken, and noting the results.

Naturally, there’d be no fudging allowed. “Just the facts, and nothing but the facts” are to be noted. In that way, perhaps, a simple, written record would help guide us as we slip further into a future no more certain today than perhaps, it ever was.

Unlike my mother-in-law, America, as far as I know, can not only recall the past, but still apply its lessons every day. I don’t believe too much time has passed for us to heal much of the damage that has already been done.

If there seems to be some discrepancy regarding which lessons the past has actually taught us, I recommend checking the new, mandatory, government issue, legal pads, which should contain the recent results of out latest actions.

If those actions are not bringing about the desired results, then let’s consider them the wrong lessons learned, and move on. After a while, I’m sure we’ll hit on the appropraite course of action, and in the process, perhaps, rediscover the path which can lead to harmony.

Long term and short, that would be a memory we should never forget.

I should have known.

Earlier today I posted about secrets, and mentioned visiting a site called “HollywoodHotties.com.

I hadn’t, but just for fun, I decided to type in the address and see what happened.

Naturally, hollywoodhotties does exist, and now I HAVE been there for real. Seems appropriately sleazy.

Just didn’t want there to be any secrets between us.

;-p

P.S.sst! Don’t tell anyone!! You know my options!

This topic calls for a return to one of my favorite places, the “Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.”

Vis-a-vis its singular form, we find:

Main Entry: 1se·cret
Pronunciation: ’sE-kr&t
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French secré, secret, from Latin secretus, from past participle of secernere to separate, distinguish, from se- apart + cernere to sift — more at SECEDE, CERTAIN
1 a : kept from knowledge or view : HIDDEN b : marked by the habit of discretion : CLOSEMOUTHED c : working with hidden aims or methods : UNDERCOVER d : not acknowledged : UNAVOWED e : conducted in secret
2 : remote from human frequentation or notice : SECLUDED
3 : revealed only to the initiated : ESOTERIC
4 : designed to elude observation or detection
5 : containing information whose unauthorized disclosure could endanger national security — compare CONFIDENTIAL, TOP SECRET
- se·cret·ly adverb
synonyms SECRET, COVERT, STEALTHY, FURTIVE, CLANDESTINE, SURREPTITIOUS, UNDERHANDED mean done without attracting observation. SECRET implies concealment on any grounds for any motive . COVERT stresses the fact of not being open or declared . STEALTHY suggests taking pains to avoid being seen or heard especially in some misdoing . FURTIVE implies a sly or cautious stealthiness . CLANDESTINE implies secrecy usually for an evil, illicit, or unauthorized purpose and often emphasizes the fear of being discovered . SURREPTITIOUS applies to action or behavior done secretly often with skillful avoidance of detection and in violation of custom, law, or authority . UNDERHANDED stresses fraud or deception .

What if the only way to start making a lasting difference in this dirty world of ours is to come clean.