"The myth of the reluctant occupier"

www.theage.com.au

Now a new orthodoxy is shaping comment and analysis about events in Iraq. Let's call it the "reluctant occupier myth".

Having removed Saddam and his cohorts from power and set Iraq on a path towards democracy, the US is now preparing to leave - the "Vietnamisation" of Iraq. It will find a smooth way out by returning sovereignty to a new Iraqi administration, initially on July 1 through the auspices of the UN and then early next year through democratic elections. Coalition forces, which don't want to be in Iraq a day longer than is necessary to "finish the job", will stay on for a time to "maintain" security, but only at the pleasure of a new interim government in Baghdad.

Like the earlier myths, this one is also a fabrication.

It is difficult to see what could be more obvious than that the US is desperately trying to stay in Iraq - and specifically, in charge in Iraq.

Despite disingenuous claims that coalition troops would leave if asked to by a new Iraqi authority after July 1, US Secretary of State Colin Powell got closer to the truth when he stated on April 26 that "I hope they (the Iraqi people) will understand that in order for this government to get up and running - to be effective - some of its sovereignty will have to be given back (to Washington)".

So, coalition troops will stay on regardless. After all, what was the point of invading in the first place if they were going to get out? www.theage.com.au