December 21, 2005
Turning the Corner in Iraq – Yet Again
by Leon Hadar
For several months – actually, since the U.S. invasion of Iraq – neoconservative propagandists have been trying to counter-spin the depressing reality in Mesopotamia that we've been watching on television by celebrating several "tipping points" that were supposed to mark the victory of freedom in Baghdad: The bringing down of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad; the capture of the Iraqi dictator (remember the intrusive examination of his mouth and beard?) and the killing of his sons; the "handover of sovereignty" to a provisional Iraqi government; the parliamentary election on Jan. 30 and the voters happily waving their purple fingers; the recent adoption of an Iraqi constitution and the start of Saddam's trial.
In a way, each image of a "turning point" should have affirmed the broader story of what American leaders promised would be a war of liberation to unseat a brutal dictator and free his imprisoned people, who would respond with gratitude and friendship, allowing American troops to return very quickly home (well, let's forget about those missing weapons of mass destruction).
But each time, the celebrated turning-the-corner image dissolved into thin air. As reality started biting, it became difficult to fit the "pseudo-events" into the storyline promoted by the neocons.
But not to worry. We may be turning the corner in Iraq, once again. Indeed, the Bush administration's spin-meisters are already marketing last week's parliamentary election in Iraq – and in particular, the large turn out by the Arab Sunnis – as another "defining moment" in Iraq's march toward democracy and the spread of freedom all over the Middle East. They are promising us that in the aftermath of the election, a – Yes! Yes! Yes! – "tipping point" will be reached at any moment in Baghdad, and that it will mark the defeat of the anti-American insurgency and the triumph of American values and interests in Iraq.
