The Responsibilization of Iraq

Bill Petti posted 'Blame America Last' on the Duck of Minerva blog spot. It inverts the all too often used, 'Blame America Last' phrase. As Pettie sees it:

Those who subscribe to [Blame America Last] this view go to great lengths to deny any responsibility when it comes to American action or inaction. American policy makers are seen as consistently noble and capable, doing what they can in a selfless attempt to make the world a better place—any negative outcomes cannot be assigned to our policy makers since a) their motives were noble and who, after all, can blame a noble man for trying, and b) the outcome was destined to be bad; the situation was determined by forces outside the control of American capabilities.

I would suggest that 'Blame America Last' is part of the responsibilization of Iraq, or the process of shifting responsibility for the mess in Iraq away from the Bush administration and toward the weak, unstable and hardly sovereign government of Iraq. Locating responsibility is a subject-crafting exercise that allows the Bush administration to constitute America as innocent of blame and at the same time, constitute Iraq as somehow a responsible and coherent actor.