Word: civilian
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Officers at the Defense Ministry have been instructed to wear civilian dress to work lest they become easy targets in a surprise attack, according to Western diplomats. Beyond that, there are few signs that the country has gone on a war footing. The front entrance to Saddam's main palace on the Tigris is fortified with concrete blocks, but it appeared to have been temporarily deserted by famished troops one evening last week at the time of the iftar. There have been no runs on the banks, no reports of hoarding of food. Iraqis are even relatively calm...
...said he agreed with the general idea of close presidential control of the military, but said that generals had valid reasons to be wary of too much civilian interference...
...British planes patrolling the zone, hoping to bring one down in the belief that this would force Washington to back down. (These days, of course, it would likely have the opposite effect.) Provoking the U.S. and Britain to drop bombs in Iraq also runs the constant risk of inflicting civilian casualties, which play well for Baghdad's propaganda effort to win Arab support against the U.S. Coalition pilots fly under rules of engagement that allow them to bomb any Iraqi air-defense facilities as soon as those facilities begin targeting the warplanes with radar. Lately, their list of targets...
...United States could impose a civilian government, as in Afghanistan, if only we could find anyone capable of leading a representative government. Political dissidents foolhardy enough to remain inside Iraq have a short shelf life. The Iraqi National Congress, an umbrella organization of exiled dissidents, is eager to return to Iraq but lacks any credibility inside the country. The president, Ahmad Chalabi, is widely seen as a corrupt show-off, and the organization’s last attempt to start an uprising against Saddam was an embarrassing failure. We will not find the next leader of Iraq chatting with Western...
...time, civilian leadership will grow into its proper role. Someday we will hear Iraqis protest for democracy, and someday the military will fade into the political background. But in the short term, Iraq needs a dictator—just...