Wednesday, November 07, 2007
And It Looks Like We Might Have Made It
In the course of commenting on my post about Maliki's declaration of victory and national reconciliation on al-Arabiya, Eric Martin writes:
Yeah, I'd say the only thing Maliki's declaration of victory needs is some pageantry. Does Iraq have any aircraft carriers?
What, you think Maliki didn't take full-spectrum notes? Yesterday, Maliki took a John McCain vintage victory tour of Baghdad to push his message of victory. In what all news accounts describe as a rare appearance in the streets of the capital city, Maliki ventured out for a full half-hour, ringed by heavily armed security while the entire neighborhood was sealed off.
Well, give Maliki his due. Like Bush's infamous photo op, however, Maliki's recent media stunt was less than, how should we say, steeped in authenticity.
Lynch also explains how compliant the Western media was in preserving the illsuion. But hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. With that in mind, I'm gonna go ahead and consider this gesture to be a belated gift of flowers and candies. See, Glenn Reynolds was right after all!He declared victory over the "terrorist organizations and militias": "we have achieved victory against terrorist groups and militias. Things will not return to the way they were." Because nothing says "life has returned to normal" better than a heavily armed security detail and a totally sealed off neighborhood.
