The War is Going Well

Or so we are repeatedly told in spite of worsening violence and little real improvements in the situation for Iraqis. The oft repeated mantras of endless civil war and hatreds, eg, "they've been killing each other or centuries" along with the warnings that chaos would result if only our noble heroes weren't there to keep order and introduce the ideas of civilization while (re)building schools and handing out candy, reflects the racist hubris of the Imperial white man's burden. You can bet this comes replete with missionaries to spread the word of the obviously more civilized god of those who destroy countries.

We are told that many Iraqis are grateful for our presence and fear that we could abandon them to -- well, themselves. But the Association of Muslim Ulemas, the supreme religious Sunni authority in Iraq, made the following statement on the occasion of the fifth anniversary: “The occupier has entered our lands by force and he is not going to leave unless we use force. Any call made by politicians who acquiesce to working under the umbrella of occupation should be considered an invitation to surrender and capitulation. The occupation forces have turned Iraq into the world’s most dangerous zone. The era of occupation will soon end.” And the Shias under Muktada al Sadr seem none too pleased with the occupation as the Mahdi Army fights it in the streets.

Another aspect of civil life in occupied Iraq that goes unreported is the organized civil resistance led in large part by the Iraq Freedom Congress which seeks a unified secular nation. It's no surprise that this organization is repressed by our puppet regime and banned from the media of the occupying Empire. A truly independent, secular, and united Iraq would not be in the political/economic interest of US Oil or the corporations that run our country. The rejection of our noble occupation and the continued Iraqi ownership of all that oil would surely be an insult and all of our heroes will certainly have died (and killed) in vain! And so, McCain wanders the world with his travel companion Leiberman to support an endless occupation and expansion of our "noble cause" into neighboring Iran where heathens await our benevolent civilized influence while the Democratic (not very)hopefuls hem and haw and poke each other in another charade "election" in which one thing is obvious. Nothing has been learned about the insidious nature of a deadly and unsustainable system or its grossest crimes in which no one can ever be charged or brought to justice and nothing significant can change.

Gawd's Candidate

While Obama is getting bad press because his preacher had the audacity to say the obvious about this country, Hillary Clinton's religious connections are really creepy! Her connection to a proto-fascist cult shows our worst thoughts about her to be, if anything, underestimates. Heck, she's every bit as bad, if not worse than McCain!

So?!

That one word adequately reflects the cynical hubris of this criminal administration regarding the massive dissent to their disastrous policies. You can count on a Clinton of McCain adminstration to continue that attitude along with the worst aspects of an extreme right corporate dictatorship whereas, there is room for hope that an Obama administration might be different. On this fifth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, corporate media are doing their best to promote the misbegotten mantra of "success" in Iraq along with the glorification of "Heroes" lost in this ignoble venture. In response, I sent the following letter to my local rag:

No matter how you spin it, the war was sold on lies and the promulgation of known
misinformation. There was never any connection between Iraq and al qaeda nor any
WMDs. Many of us knew it and many knowledgeable people like Hans Blix and Scott Ritter pointed this out but the administration played on the opportunism of Democratic leaders by falsely portraying Iraq as a dire threat while linking a policy of aggression to "patriotism" and demanding action on short notice. Lying to Congress
is a crime. Fomenting war based on known misinformation is the ultimate crime and has cost well over a million lives. Had the press done it's job we wouldn't be in this situation today and many lives would not be ended or in ruin. Instead, dissent was suppressed and administration lies were parroted. The Pilot still wrongly refers to the occupation of Iraq as "the war on terror." The complicity of the press in aiding and abetting the crimes of this administration is a crime as well.

Unfortunately that pattern continues.We see no coverage of the "Winter Soldier" hearings in which Iraq vets describe the reality if their experience and no coverage
of the large and well supported local anti-war rallies marking this sad anniversary.
Instead only the reverential memorial to "heroes" whose lives have been squandered in this neocon debacle.

We who have objected to this illegal and unjustified aggression from the beginning
also mourn the many lives wasted. Had the press listened to what we were saying then, many of these soldiers would not be gracing the pages of a memorial spread.
Would that the press begin to cover the realities and, like the majority of citizens,
demand an end to this tragedy and the application of the rule of law in holding
our leaders accountable for their crimes, maybe there wouldn't be a new batch
of missed faces in the paper next year.

and this is what they printed:

No matter how you spin it, the Iraq war was sold on lies and misinformation. Had the press done its job, we wouldn't be in this situation today and many lives would not be ended or in ruin.

The Pilot still wrongly refers to the occupation of Iraq as 'the war on terror.' The complicity of the press in aiding and abetting the crimes of this administration is a crime as well.

Unfortunately, that pattern continues. We see no coverage of the large and well-supported local anti-war rallies marking this sad anniversary. Instead, we see only the reverential memorial to heroes whose lives have been squandered in this neocon debacle.

My point being that the cynicism, hubris, and criminality of this administration would not be effective or even practicable without the vital abetting of the corporate press. While they are glad to print an extremely edited version of my letter to show how "fair and balanced" they are, their edition along with the quality of news presented shows just the opposite. What they failed to report adminst the supplementary pages lauding a failed war and it's dead "heroes" was any of the local actions against the war taking place which were received with overwhelming support in this conservative military town.

Bush Connected to Child Prostitution!

Though the facts may be pieced together creatively, the truth of the matter is that George W. Bush is connected to a massive child prostitution ring along with, and as a result of the crimes against humanity he has perpetrated without possible justification against Iraq.

Another Milestone on the Road to Serfdom

The Prison of our police state continues to be constructed brick by legal brick. The corporate candidates offer nothing but platitudes as the last vestiges of democracy and privacy are legislated away.

"The curtain continues to fall over American democracy. Americans understandably are sickened by the tragi-comedy that spreads itself across this stage. But their faith in another presidential election and another leader is misplaced. They need to reserve their faith not for the new, but for the old: for the constitutional model that the Founders left. It needs to be forced to work. And all those who undermine it must be held to account. That includes the should-be watchdogs, who slobbering at the prospect of a few drug-drenched sirloins hurled their way, are failing in their duty to protect their true masters: the American people.

We live in the age of the Great Betrayal, in an age in which too few are willing to state the obvious. There is still time to check the progress of tyrannical power, but the hour grows late, and the sounds of alarm no longer seem to register with a somnolent populace."

The Truth Emerges from the Mouths of Soldiers

Winter Soldier's tell us first hand that what we told them all along was true. Yes, the activists were right and the Administration and media lied. Now, a million dead Iraqis, a destroyed country, and hundreds of thousands of US dead and wounded later, they are willing to speak out about the terrible things they saw and did. Hopefully they and others could learn who to believe next time . . .

Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan