Of the 100,000 guerrillas in Iraq,

2% could be categorized in some vague way as "al-Qaeda"

if you take that term as referring to a franchise

They are mainly foreign fighters

and if the US left Iraq, the local Sunni Arabs

would slit their throats

It must be easier to cite 'al-Qaeda'

as the bogeyman in the country or region

if only because all of the other factions

and tribes and various divisions within the country

become too complex and confusing

for the average person to learn and understand

It is often a question as to how much the people in charge want (others) to understand.

This might be likened to comparing the mechanical features of cars (displacement, transmission, steering, and so on) when the majority just want to have some sort of reliable transportation.

While the salesmen might have the facts and figures down, the simple fact of the matter is the buyers would prefer to have the illusions of something special about their purchase rather than anything too technical.

No exploded views or engineering specifications; just six wheels that are functional.

This holds true for Iraq, as well. It must be easier to cite 'al-Qaeda' as the bogeyman in the country or region if only because all of the other factions and tribes and various divisions within the country become too complex and confusing for the average person to learn and understand, much less diagram.

Therefore, it is easiest for the 'leadership' to use tried and true familiar terminology that will not cause any dismay in those who might then want to ask any more 'in-depth' questions and not get any qualitative answers.

Simplistic sloganeering and easy catch words provide the means by which the vapours can fog the porous ponderings of the vacuous populace.

Nothing can be well-described as there is little that can be seen as distinguishable and definable, like hot lava rocks hit with water in a sauna.

Just as with the 'WMD' and tyranny of Saddam Hussein, there are too many uncertainties.

The weapons proved to be nonexistent and the conditions in Iraq are much worse now when than under the strongman's grip.

But 'mushroom clouds' and 'Arab Hitler' are emotionally charged, conjuring all sorts of imaginary situations, ignoring the facts of what the intervention has wrought.

'Al-Qaeda' comes into focus in the same nonsensical way, inspiring fear and uncertainty while simultaneously allowing conditions in which definition can never be achieved, if only to distract people from the Iraqi threats.

When in Doubt, Blame al-Qaeda

Bush was out there again on Wednesday trying to link Iraq to al-Qaeda and maintaining that the US was mainly fighting it in that country.

In fact, No Mahdi Army Shiites are al-Qaeda. Almost all Sunni Arab guerrilla cells are Baathist or Salafi rather than al-Qaeda.

Probably of 100,000 guerrillas fighting in Iraq, perhaps 2% could be categorized in some vague way as "al-Qaeda" if you take that term as referring to a franchise.

They are mainly foreign fighters and if the US left Iraq, the local Sunni Arabs would slit their throats.

Some slitting is going on even now, and the Bushies celebrate that while not seeming to recognize the implication that "al-Qaeda" doesn't amount to anything as an Iraqi political force.

But this making up things out of thin air is typical of W.'s Propaganda Presidency, or what Chris Floyd calls the "powerful odor of mendacity."

And all along the Bushies have invoked al-Qaeda with regard to Iraq. It doesn't matter what the real situation in Iraq is.

Is it ruled by secular Sunni Arab nationalist Baathists who are afraid of al-Qaeda according to documents Bush himself captured and released? Nevertheless, Bushies find al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Is Iraq dominated by Shiites allied to Iran? Bushies find an alliance with al-Qaeda. Like tax cuts, it is the answer to every problem.

On 25 July 2002, Doug Feith's Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSDP) issued a statement linking al-Qaeda to Saddam Hussein through a Dutch company named Vlemmo NV.

This sort of allegation was typical of Feith, who had been asked in January of 2002 to come up with material on the [imaginary] relationship of Bin Laden and Iraq by his superior (who had hired him apparently for this sort of purpose), Paul Wolfowitz.

Feith had been investigated by the FBI earlier in his career as a possible Israeli intelligence asset and was raised in a fringe, far-rightwing Zionist family.

His father was a member of Betar, the organization devoted to teachings of fascist Zionist thinker Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky and to "Greater Israel" expansionism. Persons in this tradition often believe that Israel extends into Iraq itself.

Now it turns out that Feith just made up the Vlemmo firm. According to the Netherlands Foreign Minister, it does not exist...Just as virtually none of the things Feith peddled to us has has any reality.

Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz put Feith in a position to lie our troops into harm's way, as the number three man in the Pentagon. Feith bears responsibility for his lies and fabrications. His superiors are even more culpable.Juan Cole