Iraq War 5th anniversary potpourri

Do people still use "potpourri"? I hope it hasn't turned into some kind of dirty word or something. Anyway, here are a number of links to articles, both on the five-year anniversary of the invasion and on related subjects.

The invaluable Juan Cole writes on Five years of Iraq lies Salon 03/19/08. He suggests that the Cheney-Bush administration has used a thematic lie for each year of the war:

Year 1's big lie was that the rising violence in Iraq was nothing out of the ordinary. ...

In Year 2 the falsehood was that Iraq was becoming a shining model of democracy under America's caring ministrations. ...

In Year 3, the Bush administration blamed almost everything that was going wrong on one shadowy figure: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. ...

In Year 4, as major sectors of Iraq descended into hell, Bush's big lie consisted of denying that the country had fallen into civil war. ...

Year 5, the past year, has been one of troop escalation, or the "surge." (Calling the policy a "surge" rather than an "escalation" is emblematic of the administration's propganda.) The big lie is that Iraq is now calm, that the surge has worked, and that victory is within reach.

Here's the Dark Lord himself, still scamming after all these years: Cheney again links Iraq invasion to 9/11 attacks by Hannah Allam and Laith Hammoudi, McClatchy Newspapers 03/18/08

Iraq reconciliation talks hit by walkouts Reuters 03/19/08

Reviving Vietnam War Tactics by Tom Hayden The Nation Online 03/13/08

I've discussed this article before: New Challenges and Old Concepts: Understanding 21st Century Insurgency by Steven Metz Parameters Winter 2007-8

The Iraq War After Five Years: The Surge, Current Status, and Military Lessons (Center for Strategic and International Studies) by Anthony Cordesman 03/18/08

The only lesson we ever learn is that we never learn by Robert Fisk The Independent 03/19/08

The Emerging "Neocon" Alibi on Iraq by AntoniusBlock, Strategy and National Security Policy blog 03/16/08

The Role of Airpower in the Iraq and Afghan Wars (Center for Strategic and International Studies) by Anthony Cordesman 03/19/08

The War That Never Ends by Jacob Wheeler In These Times Online 03/17/08

This is the war that started with lies, and continues with lie after lie after lie by Patrick Cockburn The Independent 03/19/08

Over Here: Iraq the Place vs. Iraq the Abstraction by George Packer World Affairs Journal Winter 2008

Is life for Iraqis improving? by Sam Dagher The Christian Science Monitor 03/19/08

Iraq's "Hidden" Conflict by Raed Jarrar, Foreign Policy in Focus 03/18/08

The Fifth Anniversary of the Iraq War by Jessica Matthews (videos) 03/17/08

Why Did the U.S. Invade Iraq? by Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service 03/18/08

The Role of Targeted Killing in the Campaign Against Terror by Col. Peter Cullen Joint Force Quarterly 1st Quarter 2008

Iraq’s Civil War, the Sadrists and the Surge International Crisis Group 02/07/08

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