The “Not-So-Ugly” American
Those who demonize Americans (in keeping with the personification in Graham Greene’s “The Ugly American”) for the ills of the entire world tend to forget that US government policies do not accurately reflect either the character and/or wishes of the American public. US citizens tend to go along with the policies of their incumbent government even when they do not agree with them, the international perception responds by taking Americans to be either indifferent or insensitive to the problems of the world in pursuing policies which may not be good for the rest of the world. The disconnect between the average US citizen and international geo-politics is not because the ordinary American does not care, he simply knows very little of the world-at-large, an ignorance tailor-made for vested interest to exploit.
The ‘Second’ Cold War?
The fall of the Berlin wall marked the end of the “first” cold war, heralding the demise of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the “iron curtain” the communist collosus had thrown around the East Europe. With the US emerging as the only Superpower in a unipolar world over the last 15 years or so, almost all former Warsaw Pact countries, freed of the Soviet yoke, have been lining up to join NATO and/or the European Union (EU). On the other hand, long-term allies of the US have increasingly lost the capacity, accentuated by the attitude of the neo-cons in the Bush administration and Britain’s blind support for all US initiatives, for the positive consultation once respected by the US. Bogged down in Iraq after its go-it-alone strategy, the US has been trying to obtain consensus from its traditional allies for further pre-emptive actions, impatient with those not immediately supportive. Under Angela Markel Germany is expected to fall in line, till (and if) conservative Sarkozy comes to power the French will probably still exercise some independence. With Russia in economic and military shambles over the last two decades, the only credible opposition of sorts was left to the Chinese, and even the Chinese tread carefully given the military and economic might of the US.
Shock and Woe
Propagated across the electronic and print media of the world, Donald Rumsfeld’s blatant psy-war term “Shock and Awe” projected an overwhelming and cataclysmic high-tech strike, its precise and surgical nature meant (1) to take out the regime’s leaders (2) drive raw fear into the psyche of the masses and (3) thus destroy the Iraqi will to fight. Psy-ops is a legitimate weapon of war, if successful the Coalition could have won the war without firing a shot. While the whereabouts of Saddam and his sons Qusay and Uday are still unknown after the one-off surgical hit marking the start of Gulf War-2, the Iraqi regime did not disintegrate like a house of cards as programmed by the Pentagon’s computers. The rapid (and spectacular) Coalition ground offensive reached Najaf and Karbala 80 kms on the approaches to Baghdad before being slowed down by determined Iraqi conventional resistance in key urban areas all along the route of advance as well as harassing “hit and run” tactics on the lines of communication (L of Cs). With food, water, fuel and ammunition getting through in far less quantities than the required optimum, US Central Command seemed to opt for reinforcements (130000 more US troops) and for shoring up the L of C protection before investing Baghdad. But the Coalition did not pause, there was no “operational pause” as suggested by all and sundry. After capturing Karbala and Najaf, elements of the 3rd Infantry captured the “Saddam International Airport”, 18 kms from the city center of Baghdad and renamed it “Baghdad International Airport”. All of Baghdad is now within artillery range. The “real surprise” will probably come from the west i.e. along the Amman-Baghdad road, probably a major armoured thrust. After all, those who seized H-2 and H-3 airfields are not out on a picnic.