Michael Schwartz on the US-Iraq security pact
Michael Schwartz is Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of the Undergraduate College of Global Studies at Stony Brook University. He's written a series of wonderfully illuminating articles on the US occupation of Iraq for the Tomdispatch website, and now a book entitled "War Without End: The Iraq War in Context"
Here Schwartz and Pepe Escobar discuss the new "Status of Forces Agreement" (SOFA) between the Iraqi and US governments, which sets out the terms under which the US military will retain its presence in Iraq and the deadline for that presence to end. To what extent has Iraq exerted a modicum of independence through the negotiation process, and to what extent will the US continue to be able to promote its imperial ambitions?
Other good Michael Schwartz articles on Iraq include:
- this, exploding the myth of recent US success in Iraq
- this on the almost biblical tragedy of Iraq's massive refugee crisis
- this on how the US occupation has been the primary destructive force in Iraq since 2003; and
- this analysis of the role US-imposed "free-market" economic shock-therapy played in creating the conditions for the huge upsurge in violence post-invasion.
Labels: Economics, Iraq, Oil, US Imperialism
posted by David Wearing at 6:56 AM
2 Comments:
i've also found these recent interviews on iraq interesting
http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=74&jumival=Sabah+al-Nasseri&search=search
david, how long has it taken you to do a blog? ive been having withdrawal symptoms...
one thing that was not dealt with indepth in this interview, but has been in others, is the enormous pressure being put upon the al-maliki government from a mobilised public opposition to occupation--albeit largely orchestrated by people like al-sadr
this is one of the most significant omissions from the mainstream media. barely a week goes by when i don't hear a headline or story about a major march, or nonviolent protest in iraq against the occupation/security deal/oil contracts from stations like the real news, democracynow etc and yet i have never heard anything of this being reported by established news stations.
the idea that there could be an articulate and serious opposition to us occupation is just not allowed. we can however hear plenty of (often it turns out fabricated)stories about "terrorists" strapping bombs around people with down syndrome and sending them into market places.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/02/iraq.international1
of course these kinds of stories justfy the occupation
david, how long has it taken you to do a blog? ive been having withdrawal symptoms...
yeah, I know. Sorry. I've never had the time to post daily/most days as I'd like to do, and I'm especially busy with other stuff at the moment, hence the unusually long 3 week break since the last post. But thanks for staying tuned, as it were. There'll be more soon.
Actually, some very interesting stuff is coming out of my PhD research so I might start posting some of that up. Bit different from my usual blog posts but it could be a worthwhile diversion.
You're right of course about Iraqi public opinion and the fact that opposition to the occupation is mobilised and ever-present. This is without doubt a major factor in the frustration of US ambitions. Far more needs to be said (not least by people like me) about the extensive non-violent resistance to the US that has been seen in Iraq.
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