history about to repeat itself...

[acroyear]

Op-Ed Contributor - The U.S. and Iraq Are Repeating the Errors of a Disastrous 1930 Treaty - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com:

WITH only perfunctory debate, the Bush administration is pressuring a divided Iraqi government to approve a security agreement that could haunt Washington’s relations with Baghdad for years to come. The “strategic alliance” that President Bush is proposing eerily resembles, in spirit and in letter, a failed 1930 treaty between Britain and Iraq that prompted a nationalist eruption in Baghdad, a pro-Nazi military coup and a pogrom that foreshadowed the elimination of Baghdad’s ancient Jewish community.

This part bothers me the most:

While not formally a treaty (having been carefully crafted to avoid the requirement of Senate ratification), the wide-ranging pact that the United States proposes nearly replicates the 1930 accord.

Not that the current Senate would actually fight Bush on this (or pay attention to history themselves), but this is yet again a case where the executive branch is asserting unilateral control over everything, violating the spirit of the Constitution, through inscrutable legalese.  The contempt this administration holds for the Constitution, to deny the process of Senate approval even when it's got near-guaranteed support, is just insane.

Comments

For some additional background on why we're there (and repeating history),

[fiona64.livejournal.com]

I recommend this DVD (available on Netflix). One of the subject matter experts is a friend and former colleague. We're repeating all kinds of mistakes, as the commentator wrote above.

http://www.civilwarweekly.com/products/consumer/bloodandoil/