HELIOLITH

Thank you to the people of Italy…

…for crying out against the bogus war on Iraq. Finally, we hear a commitment to bring your soldiers home, even though it may be too little, too late. My condolences for all of the deaths you’ve suffered because of being put in harm’s way for a needless war. I wish to remind you I didn’t vote for this war.

The BBC and the New York Times have reported that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is finally heeding the increasingly undeniable public outcry against the war in Iraq. Here he’s quoted in the Times:

“I’ve spoken about it with Tony Blair, and it’s the public opinion of our countries that expects this decision,” Mr. Berlusconi said in the talk show “Porta a Porta,” referring to the British prime minister, who faces similar public disenchantment for his support of the Iraq war. “We have to build an exit strategy.”

The NYT piece mentions that Sgrena’s escort Calipari being “shot to death” (my entry on that here) played role (although unclear as to how big this “last straw” effect was weighted overall) in public opinion and Berlusconi’s decision. I also thought it a tad odd that they left reference to Calipari’s name out of the article.

The BBC mentions that U.S. public relations official (is that not his official title?) Scott McClellan “rejected suggestions that Italy’s decision was due to strained relations after secret service agent Nicola Calipari was shot dead by US troops in Baghdad on 4 March.” This, reportedly, because although Berlusconi has demanded the US take reponsibility for Caprini’s death neither he nor his administration’s officials have flatly stated that this is a significant factor in their complete about-face in their wildly unpopular foreign policy. Does it not seem painfully ironic that on the same television program Berlusconi actually announced his planned candidacy for next year’s P.M. election?

According to the BBC, the Netherlands and the Ukraine are also phasing out their military presence in Iraq. We (the USA) have never had the broad coalition of troops that the administration has claimed, and now our forces are even further out on a limb of unsustainability. Italy is currently the fourth largest group of foreign soldiers occupying Iraq (after the US, England, and Korea). Of course the numbers rather speak for themselves: (via Yahoo/AP)

The scramble to get out has taken the multinational force from a high of about 300,000 soldiers in the region early in 2003 to 172,750 and falling. About 150,000 U.S. troops shoulder the bulk of the responsibility and suffer the most casualties.

Nonetheless, military optimists like the Pentagon has working for it couldn’t speak more confidently, as Lt. Col. Barry Venable states, “The coalition is strong.” I wonder, what’s the minimum US/ally ratio for the Pentagon’s P.R. department to keep that facade going with a straight face?

What would it take for the same uprising in domestic outcry here at home? Many may surmise that the US citizenry is far from catching up with the Italians in their aversion to this war and promotion of peace.

What would it take? Our politics seem so thoroughly isolated from the “public disenchantment” that is the critical element in other nations’ departure. Could it be that with Berlusconi’s 2006 election coming up next year, he’s far more likely to face an antiwar opponent than Bush faced in 2004? Which reminds me in retrospect that my single greatest disillusionment with last year’s US elections was Kerry’s failure to reject the wholly unjustified war on Iraq. I really hope we don’t have to wait until 2008 (or longer) for a candidate who’s not afraid to promote peace for this ceaseless warmaking (with my tax dollars) to end.

A.P., BBC, NYT