Food for Thought: NPR on what June 30th will mean for Iraqis
"Some political power."
This is how NPR's All Things Considered referred to what Iraqis are supposed to get on June 30, 2004, the date of the so-called "handover of sovereignty".
The phrase "some political power" cropped up twice during the short time I had been tuned to National Public Radio in my car Monday evening (May 17). The use of the phrase was concious and, frankly, pretty conspicuous. NPR's on-air personalities pronounced it deliberately, with emphasis on the word "some", so as to make clear to its listeners that the word "sovereignty" is no longer in vogue.
What is interesting is that cynics have long said what NPR now seems to be conceding: that true representative democracy in Iraq is a pipe-dream so long as there are foreign troops occupying the country. But NPR is likely unaware of the implications of its phraseology: They are shifting the goal posts, but probably on the assumption that anything more than "some political power" is unfeasible for the foreseeable future. Sovereignty, NPR's talking heads might say, is just not possible at this time. The truth, however, may be that "sovereignty" for Iraqis was never in the cards at all. Under this reading, "some political power" is the best the Iraqis can hope for. And maybe this, too, is more than the U.S. wants to give them.
The crux of the matter is this: If Iraqis are sovereign in their own country, as they should be, then any other would-be powers are necessarily excluded. But since the U.S. does not plan on leaving Iraq - its new embassy there will be the largest diplomatic outpost in the world -"sovereignty" for the people of Iraq is meaningless, just a word for which any number of equally meaningless words and phrases can be substituted.
Tired of NPR? Tune in to Democracy Now!, hosted by award-winning independent journalist Amy Goodman. Check out her newly published book, The Exception to the Rulers.
This is how NPR's All Things Considered referred to what Iraqis are supposed to get on June 30, 2004, the date of the so-called "handover of sovereignty".
The phrase "some political power" cropped up twice during the short time I had been tuned to National Public Radio in my car Monday evening (May 17). The use of the phrase was concious and, frankly, pretty conspicuous. NPR's on-air personalities pronounced it deliberately, with emphasis on the word "some", so as to make clear to its listeners that the word "sovereignty" is no longer in vogue.
What is interesting is that cynics have long said what NPR now seems to be conceding: that true representative democracy in Iraq is a pipe-dream so long as there are foreign troops occupying the country. But NPR is likely unaware of the implications of its phraseology: They are shifting the goal posts, but probably on the assumption that anything more than "some political power" is unfeasible for the foreseeable future. Sovereignty, NPR's talking heads might say, is just not possible at this time. The truth, however, may be that "sovereignty" for Iraqis was never in the cards at all. Under this reading, "some political power" is the best the Iraqis can hope for. And maybe this, too, is more than the U.S. wants to give them.
The crux of the matter is this: If Iraqis are sovereign in their own country, as they should be, then any other would-be powers are necessarily excluded. But since the U.S. does not plan on leaving Iraq - its new embassy there will be the largest diplomatic outpost in the world -"sovereignty" for the people of Iraq is meaningless, just a word for which any number of equally meaningless words and phrases can be substituted.
Tired of NPR? Tune in to Democracy Now!, hosted by award-winning independent journalist Amy Goodman. Check out her newly published book, The Exception to the Rulers.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home