How "Democracy" Will Flourish in a Post-Saddam Iraq

"As this gets nearer, the enormity of the prospect of the United States running an Arab country sinks in more and more," said one official from outside the Pentagon, who added that the administration wants to "make sure we do not get tagged as the ultimate neo-colonialist."

This quote is from a story in Friday's Washington Post on the United States' preparations for a post-Saddam Iraq. If the plan outlined isn't neocolonialism, then I don't know what is.

Amongst other details, the story emphasizes that Iraqis would be "relegated to advisory roles in the immediate postwar period [and] would gradually be given a greater role [after one year]." It also asserts that "Members of the [Iraqi] opposition community would be given chances to prove themselves as part of a prospective Iraqi leadership."

Given chances? What this really means is that power will be assigned in direct proportion to a group's willingness to cede to American ambitions within Iraq, most notably towards the oil reserves and the establishment of military bases.

Update: The WSWS has more on the "blueprint for a US colonial regime in Baghdad."