DUBAI, UAE, 5 December 2004 — The commander of the United States armed forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and Middle East, Gen. John Abizaid, made an astonishing hint last week to the possible use of nuclear weapons against Iran or anyone meddling with his occupation troops in Iraq.

In an interview published Monday on the front page of the daily newspaper USA Today, Gen. Abizaid who heads the US Army Central Command stated that “If you ever even contemplate our nuclear capability, it should give everybody the clear understanding that there is no power that can match the United States militarily’’.

All of this was delivered in a menacing tone which, given the circumstances, smacked more of panic than confidence.

Where is this coming from? Could it be a veiled threat by a general in the twilight of his military career or, more ominously, the words of his boss, President George W. Bush? Either way those are the wrong words, at the wrong time in the wrong place in this part of the world or any other part of the globe.

America has never been more stretched logistically, militarily, and politically since the end of the Vietnam conflict in the 1970s. It is deeply mired in an Iraqi quagmire of its own making, deplorably mismanaged by Gen. Abizaid and his commanders, who are destroying Iraqi city after Iraqi city, but controlling none.

At best, American young men and women, soldiers in Iraq, are facing an uphill battle which may very well turn into a humiliating defeat, in the Vietnam style of winning the battles but losing the war, through no fault of their own. If, as already evident, this war cannot be won by conventional weapons, their generals are not going to secure it by blasting neighbors, such as Iran or Syria, with atom bombs. But this kind of nihilistic thinking is a patter of the neoconservatives who inhabit the Pentagon and the White House, that we should pay attention.

Many suggested to Gen. Abizaid, an Arab American, he should have addressed Iraqis and Arabs in Arabic immediately after the torture of Iraqi prisoner scandal to apologize for the abuses committed by his commanders and soldiers at the Abu Ghraib jail, or for that matter those they continue to perpetrate against civilians in Fallujah, in Baghdad, in Mosul and elsewhere. Had he listened he might have gone a long way to win goodwill, which, in the end, is what this battle is all about. Instead of reclaiming Iraq, American forces have turned the country into a mess of thievery, insecurity and chaos. It is not therefore surprising much of the Iraqi population is ambivalent about their “liberators’’, and that insurgents, domestic and foreign, are far from defeated with a civil war brewing. What’s next?

Americans have hardly gained control of Afghanistan where the plantation of opium- and heroin-producing poppies tripled under the watchful gaze of Gen. Abizaid’s soldiers.

Elsewhere, America is facing a military power in North Korea which does not plan to abandon its nuclear options in the face of American threats. And, more important, Iran which was the subject of the intimidating remarks by Abizaid, has made it crystal clear that, come hell of high water, it will pursue a nuclear weapons option of some sort. All this at a time when the US has the least amount of international support ever since the end of World War II.

If anything, America needs more friends around the world more troops in Iraq and, definitely, bridges of dialogue with the two countries that are sharing long borders with its occupation forces in there — Iran and Syria. This is not a good time to threaten them with sanctions, nuclear weapons and other forms of menace.

Indeed the US had better look internally at the draining consequences of self-inflicted wounds. The occupation of Iraq is financially debilitating, with no rescue in sight. Unlike the good old days of the first Gulf War in 1990-1991, when the US had some real allies more than willing to foot the bill to liberate Kuwait, this time nobody is paying. As every day passes, Bush and his neoconservative mignons are adding a financial quagmire to the military one.

Ever since the United States invaded Iraq in March of 2003, America is spending every week an average of $1.8 billion on this war — yes that is $60 million every day, which is why the dollar is dropping in value and American debts increasing every day. And think of how many schools and hospitals we could have put in American cities with that kind of money.

Gen. Abizaid, you need to get your troops out of Iraq, not spread a nuclear cloud or rumor of it over the region. Remember what an American president once said “speak softly but carry a big stick’’. You, dear general, are speaking loudly as you carry a pretty small stick.

— Youssef M. Ibrahim is managing director of Strategic Energy Investment Group, a political risk consultancy based in Dubai.