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By David Swanson (about the author)
Become a Fan (60 fans) -- Page 2 of 5 page(s)
There's a parallel to the destruction of New Orleans in Iraq. Even if you believe it was justifiable to invade a foreign nation, even if you believe the documented lies were well-intended blunders, even if you suppose that Bush had no possible way of knowing the Iraqis would fight back (and you ignore the fact that he ended the careers of those, like General Shinseki and Larry Lindsey who warned him), how can you defend the past five years of taking a disaster and intentionally making it ever worse? How can we look at that one act alone and not impeach the president? This one act, the occupation of Iraq, more than all the others combined, has contributed to giving Bush and Cheney the all-time records for presidential and vice presidential unpopularity.
But of course there's one thing in Washington that's even more unpopular than Bush and Cheney. If the opposite of pro is con, then the opposite of progress is....
The occupation of Iraq does not belong exclusively to the White House. Congress has allowed it and funded it for over five years, and if WE don't do something, by this time next month we'll be able to say they've funded it for over SIX years.
Well, sure, you might say, Congress is responsible too, but everything is run by parties now, and the Republican party is to blame for everything. Except that the Senate was in the hands of the Democrats when it gave Bush and Cheney the green light to attack Iraq. And both the Senate and House have been in the hands of Democrats for the worst of the occupation, which has occurred since January 2007.
Well over a million Iraqis have died as a result of the occupation of Iraq, well over 4 million more have been made refugees, and Iraq has no more been reconstructed than New Orleans. Most of the money appropriated for reconstruction has been spent on killing instead. Is there anything more shameful than the bipartisan demand that the Iraqis start paying the bill for our destruction, occupation, and reconstruction of their country? That's the tough talk coming out of the Democrats in Washington. I saw Hillary Clinton roundly booed for blaming the Iraqis at a conference in DC a year and a half ago, but that is the Democrats' strategy today.
The one thing we know about Iraq is that each year is worse than the one before it. At least 80 percent of Iraqis have always said that the violence would go down if the United States got out. And here Bush and Cheney are not alone in their arrogance. A great many Americans assume that the Iraqis must be wrong about their own country. And why? Well, because the same lying chicken hawks who told us about the stockpiles of WMDs and ties to 9-11 and robot planes attacking us in 45 minutes and risks of mushroom clouds say the Iraqis are wrong. Who are you going to believe, the people who live there or the people whose own defense is that they have accidentally gotten everything catastrophically wrong so far?
General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were pretty open in their testimony earlier this month, not to mention last September, about having no plan and predicting no success. And listen to these words:
"Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle....Globally, U.S. standing among friends and allies has fallen. Our status as a moral leader has been damaged by the war, the subsequent occupation of a Muslim nation, and various issues concerning the treatment of detainees....[O]ur efforts there were designed to enhance U.S. national security, but they have become, at least temporarily, an incubator for terrorism and have emboldened Iran to expand its influence throughout the Middle East....[S]enior national security officials exhibited in many instances an imperious attitude, exerting power and pressure where diplomacy and bargaining might have had a better effect."
I've just been reading excerpts from a paper just released by the National Defense University, which is the Pentagon's premier educational institution. The New York Times this week published a shocking scoop of a story, reporting that retired generals who gab on television actually support the war machine. I'm shocked! Contrary to the New York Times' spin, generals who have not just been fed the latest line from the Pentagon are NOT the ideal objective commentators. And, whether or not the Times ever breaks the story, we can be sure that the paper I just quoted from would not have been released without support from inside the Pentagon.
In last week's Disney debate, Obama and Clinton were not asked about global warming or nuclear disarmament, but they WERE eventually asked about Iraq by debate moderators Pluto and Goofy. Specifically, they were asked whether they would dare to withdraw any troops from Iraq if military officials advised against it. Bush, of course, gets rid of anyone who won't do exactly what Cheney says, but publicly he claims to be taking his orders from his generals. To their credit, both Obama and Clinton pointed out that we are supposed to have civilian control of the military. But they were not asked what I would have asked them, what many of you might have asked them. I would have asked them how in the world they can go on claiming to oppose the occupation of Iraq while funding it? Do they plan to vote no on the next $178 billion, and if so, is that just theatrics or will they lobby Harry Reid not to bring it up and lead a filibuster to block it?
The occupation has gone from bad to worse to a disaster of biblical proportions. We've driven far more people out of the Garden of Eden than God ever did. We've borrowed every dime to do so, and our grandchildren will have to pay China back so heavily that they'll be lucky if they can shop at Wal-Mart, which will of course mean paying China back with interest plus some. Remember how horrible it was when the US death count reached 2,000 and then 3,000 and then 4,000? Well, the US death count since the Democrats took control is well over 1,000 and likely to far surpass 2,000 during the time frame they are about to fund, if we don't stop them. The Iraqi death count is not only many times higher, it's also rising more sharply. Our dramatic increase, of late, in the use of air power in Iraq is one reason that Iraqis' deaths do not always parallel Americans'. The little reported air surge is one reason U.S. deaths in Iraq are not higher. Other reasons for the temporary lull in our import of flag-draped coffins in late 2007 included purchased cease-fires and ethnic segregation. This could not possibly have made for, and did not make for, a lasting peace.
Hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and marines are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and/or from brain injuries from roadside bombs. Tens of thousands have more visible wounds. 4,039 in a recent count are dead, not counting those who return home and then kill themselves (officially 18 veterans per day). Of those 4,039, a full 3,900 have been killed since the Mission was Accomplished, 3,578 since Saddam Hussein was captured, 3,180 since power was transferred to the so-called Iraqi government, 2,602 since the Iraqis' so-called election, and 1,200 or so since a so-called opposition party took control of the first branch of our government in Washington, D.C. Two other things that do not parallel each other are the violence in Iraq and the U.S. media coverage of it. In fact, as things have gotten progressively worse, the media coverage has dwindled away.
Luckily, our representatives in Congress and our candidates for president listen to us rather than to the media, and are so opposed to the occupation of Iraq that, rather than funding a withdrawal, they are now proposing to fund the continuation of the occupation, as is, for the rest of Bush and Cheney's terms plus a big chunk of the next administration / Congress. Suddenly $102 billion is $178 billion, and no committee hearing is needed - they'll rush it straight to the floor. Except that, unlike that loaves and fishes routine, somebody will have to pay for this - pay China for this money we're borrowing - and that somebody will be our grandchildren.
This started me thinking about some of the things I strongly oppose and how I could better express my opposition. I've decided, in fact, to get a new mortgage on all the equity we've got in our house, and at the same time to max out three credit cards. I'm going to take all the money and donate it in equal shares to: Exxon, Halliburton, Blackwater, and four different health insurance companies. (I thought about giving some of it to cable and network news corporations, but then I realized that the fiercest opponents of those companies give them hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising whenever we have an election, so I already contribute by supporting progressive groups.)
Already I feel so much better! I may not have put an end to Exxon, but I've expressed my opposition to it in the clearest possible terms, by ruining my family for generations in order to give Exxon money. That ought to be worth something in my next campaign for head of household. And, in case I decide to oppose anything else in the future, I'm looking into the possibility of stealing a huge amount of money from a charity organization near my home.
The genius of our congressional leaders has inspired me. I wonder if you truly grasp the brilliant complexity of their latest maneuver. Not only can they guarantee the funding of more slaughter for more months this way, not only can they move the goal posts so that defunding the occupation by refusing to bring it up or voting No or filibustering is completely off the playing field, not only can they kiss up to the television networks and war profiteers in such an abject manner that they are guaranteed another masochistically thrilling ass-kicking, but - and this is the true genius of the move - they can boost the plausibility of an election theft by an insane senator from Arizona who will fund the occupation for 10,000 years without himself even realizing that he "opposes" it!
Become a Fan (60 fans) -- Page 2 of 5 page(s)
But of course there's one thing in Washington that's even more unpopular than Bush and Cheney. If the opposite of pro is con, then the opposite of progress is....
The occupation of Iraq does not belong exclusively to the White House. Congress has allowed it and funded it for over five years, and if WE don't do something, by this time next month we'll be able to say they've funded it for over SIX years.
Well, sure, you might say, Congress is responsible too, but everything is run by parties now, and the Republican party is to blame for everything. Except that the Senate was in the hands of the Democrats when it gave Bush and Cheney the green light to attack Iraq. And both the Senate and House have been in the hands of Democrats for the worst of the occupation, which has occurred since January 2007.
Well over a million Iraqis have died as a result of the occupation of Iraq, well over 4 million more have been made refugees, and Iraq has no more been reconstructed than New Orleans. Most of the money appropriated for reconstruction has been spent on killing instead. Is there anything more shameful than the bipartisan demand that the Iraqis start paying the bill for our destruction, occupation, and reconstruction of their country? That's the tough talk coming out of the Democrats in Washington. I saw Hillary Clinton roundly booed for blaming the Iraqis at a conference in DC a year and a half ago, but that is the Democrats' strategy today.
The one thing we know about Iraq is that each year is worse than the one before it. At least 80 percent of Iraqis have always said that the violence would go down if the United States got out. And here Bush and Cheney are not alone in their arrogance. A great many Americans assume that the Iraqis must be wrong about their own country. And why? Well, because the same lying chicken hawks who told us about the stockpiles of WMDs and ties to 9-11 and robot planes attacking us in 45 minutes and risks of mushroom clouds say the Iraqis are wrong. Who are you going to believe, the people who live there or the people whose own defense is that they have accidentally gotten everything catastrophically wrong so far?
General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were pretty open in their testimony earlier this month, not to mention last September, about having no plan and predicting no success. And listen to these words:
"Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle....Globally, U.S. standing among friends and allies has fallen. Our status as a moral leader has been damaged by the war, the subsequent occupation of a Muslim nation, and various issues concerning the treatment of detainees....[O]ur efforts there were designed to enhance U.S. national security, but they have become, at least temporarily, an incubator for terrorism and have emboldened Iran to expand its influence throughout the Middle East....[S]enior national security officials exhibited in many instances an imperious attitude, exerting power and pressure where diplomacy and bargaining might have had a better effect."
I've just been reading excerpts from a paper just released by the National Defense University, which is the Pentagon's premier educational institution. The New York Times this week published a shocking scoop of a story, reporting that retired generals who gab on television actually support the war machine. I'm shocked! Contrary to the New York Times' spin, generals who have not just been fed the latest line from the Pentagon are NOT the ideal objective commentators. And, whether or not the Times ever breaks the story, we can be sure that the paper I just quoted from would not have been released without support from inside the Pentagon.
In last week's Disney debate, Obama and Clinton were not asked about global warming or nuclear disarmament, but they WERE eventually asked about Iraq by debate moderators Pluto and Goofy. Specifically, they were asked whether they would dare to withdraw any troops from Iraq if military officials advised against it. Bush, of course, gets rid of anyone who won't do exactly what Cheney says, but publicly he claims to be taking his orders from his generals. To their credit, both Obama and Clinton pointed out that we are supposed to have civilian control of the military. But they were not asked what I would have asked them, what many of you might have asked them. I would have asked them how in the world they can go on claiming to oppose the occupation of Iraq while funding it? Do they plan to vote no on the next $178 billion, and if so, is that just theatrics or will they lobby Harry Reid not to bring it up and lead a filibuster to block it?
The occupation has gone from bad to worse to a disaster of biblical proportions. We've driven far more people out of the Garden of Eden than God ever did. We've borrowed every dime to do so, and our grandchildren will have to pay China back so heavily that they'll be lucky if they can shop at Wal-Mart, which will of course mean paying China back with interest plus some. Remember how horrible it was when the US death count reached 2,000 and then 3,000 and then 4,000? Well, the US death count since the Democrats took control is well over 1,000 and likely to far surpass 2,000 during the time frame they are about to fund, if we don't stop them. The Iraqi death count is not only many times higher, it's also rising more sharply. Our dramatic increase, of late, in the use of air power in Iraq is one reason that Iraqis' deaths do not always parallel Americans'. The little reported air surge is one reason U.S. deaths in Iraq are not higher. Other reasons for the temporary lull in our import of flag-draped coffins in late 2007 included purchased cease-fires and ethnic segregation. This could not possibly have made for, and did not make for, a lasting peace.
Hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and marines are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and/or from brain injuries from roadside bombs. Tens of thousands have more visible wounds. 4,039 in a recent count are dead, not counting those who return home and then kill themselves (officially 18 veterans per day). Of those 4,039, a full 3,900 have been killed since the Mission was Accomplished, 3,578 since Saddam Hussein was captured, 3,180 since power was transferred to the so-called Iraqi government, 2,602 since the Iraqis' so-called election, and 1,200 or so since a so-called opposition party took control of the first branch of our government in Washington, D.C. Two other things that do not parallel each other are the violence in Iraq and the U.S. media coverage of it. In fact, as things have gotten progressively worse, the media coverage has dwindled away.
Luckily, our representatives in Congress and our candidates for president listen to us rather than to the media, and are so opposed to the occupation of Iraq that, rather than funding a withdrawal, they are now proposing to fund the continuation of the occupation, as is, for the rest of Bush and Cheney's terms plus a big chunk of the next administration / Congress. Suddenly $102 billion is $178 billion, and no committee hearing is needed - they'll rush it straight to the floor. Except that, unlike that loaves and fishes routine, somebody will have to pay for this - pay China for this money we're borrowing - and that somebody will be our grandchildren.
This started me thinking about some of the things I strongly oppose and how I could better express my opposition. I've decided, in fact, to get a new mortgage on all the equity we've got in our house, and at the same time to max out three credit cards. I'm going to take all the money and donate it in equal shares to: Exxon, Halliburton, Blackwater, and four different health insurance companies. (I thought about giving some of it to cable and network news corporations, but then I realized that the fiercest opponents of those companies give them hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising whenever we have an election, so I already contribute by supporting progressive groups.)
Already I feel so much better! I may not have put an end to Exxon, but I've expressed my opposition to it in the clearest possible terms, by ruining my family for generations in order to give Exxon money. That ought to be worth something in my next campaign for head of household. And, in case I decide to oppose anything else in the future, I'm looking into the possibility of stealing a huge amount of money from a charity organization near my home.
The genius of our congressional leaders has inspired me. I wonder if you truly grasp the brilliant complexity of their latest maneuver. Not only can they guarantee the funding of more slaughter for more months this way, not only can they move the goal posts so that defunding the occupation by refusing to bring it up or voting No or filibustering is completely off the playing field, not only can they kiss up to the television networks and war profiteers in such an abject manner that they are guaranteed another masochistically thrilling ass-kicking, but - and this is the true genius of the move - they can boost the plausibility of an election theft by an insane senator from Arizona who will fund the occupation for 10,000 years without himself even realizing that he "opposes" it!
http://davidswanson.org
David Swanson is the author of "When the World Outlawed War," "War Is A Lie" and "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." He blogs at http://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works for the online (more...)
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STRIKE!!!
by chris rice on Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 2:22:22 AM
Yes, David they are, but you must change YOUR tactics
by ladybroadoak on Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 3:34:13 AM
Why No Impeachment
by Michael Cavlan on Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 8:10:07 AM
Enough -bastante
by Ramon Puga on Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 8:32:54 PM