Ron Suskind's Revelations: Just What Should Happen?

Something major happened in the long and horrific tale of American hubris and imperialism…something on the scale of…no wait, bigger than the Watergate scandal which forced Richard Nixon from the presidency. A book was published which could bring down the whole house of cards on the Bush Regime.

But I ask myself what will happen in light of it all when the Democratic-led Congress has failed to hold accountable those of the Bush Regime for what many in this country and around the world believe are war crimes and crimes against humanity?

The book is The Way of the World, by Ron Suskind. Suskind reveals that the Bush Regime ordered the CIA to create a document and then forge the name of an Iraqi intelligence chief that said al Qaeda was training inside Iraq and Saddam was acquiring yellow cake uranium with help from al Qaeda. Naturally, the White House adamantly denies this, as does the former head of the CIA, George Tenet. Ron Suskind stands by this revelation and says he has his sources on audio tape. The Huffington Post carried Suskind’s rebuttal, simply titled, The Forged Iraqi Letter: What Just Happened?, to the Bush Regime’s denouncements of his book. Here is the first paragraph of that post:

“What just happened? Evidence. A secret that has been judiciously kept for five years just spilled out. All of what follows is new, never reported in any way:

The Iraq Intelligence Chief, Tahir Jalil Habbush — a man still carrying a $1 million reward for capture, the Jack of Diamonds in Bush’s famous deck of wanted men — has been America’s secret source on Iraq. Starting in January of 2003, with Blair and Bush watching, his secret reports began to flow to officials on both sides of the Atlantic, saying that there were no WMD and that Hussein was acting so odd because of fear that the Iranians would find out he was a toothless tiger. The U.S. deep-sixed the intelligence report in February, “resettled” Habbush to a safe house in Jordan during the invasion and then paid him $5 million in what could only be considered hush money.”

In all it’s simplicity the title of the post The Forged Iraqi Letter: What Just Happened? holds a very pregnant question regarding this revelation. And it should give birth to this question: Just what should happen? The revelation in the book itself should give birth to the media being proactive in doing its own investigation.

But as we’ve seen in the last 7 years of the Bush Regime, the media dances along the edges of revelations like these and in a matter of days the music either abruptly stops or the media turns on the bearers of these revelations and begins kicking them with their tap shoes. This usually happens when the Bush Regime denies these revelations and denounces the bearer as a liar, just like what is happening with Suskind now.

The revelation itself should be drawing outrage and disgust among the Democratic leadership.

Suskind has appeared on the network news shows stating that the forging of this fake letter is an impeachable offense. But there has been silence from the Democratic leadership on this. It’s not surprising given that the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi has taken impeachment off the table...”unless there are facts” as she said in her interview with The Nation magazine editor, Katrina Vanden Heuvel. But, and I’m paraphrasing here, according to Pelosi you can’t get facts unless there is cooperation and the Bush Administration is not cooperating.

But do we need them to cooperate when there already are facts and evidence? After all, Suskind has audiotape of both CIA officials offering this revelation and each verifies the other’s account. But lest we forget, this is the same woman, who knew about the CIA torture tapes and did nothing.

So I ask again just what should happen? Is the answer to abdicate all your power and put all your hopes in the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama? After all he is the guy who has promised hope and change. To many he represents the opposite of Bush, where as John McCain is too much like Bush.

But Obama’s insistence that Iran should halt its uranium enrichment program because he believes Iran will use it to make nuclear weapons; his promises that he will do everything in his power to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons; and his insistence that Iran harbors terrorists does not sound all that different from McCain, and also eerily and startling similar to Bush himself did during the run up of what is now the criminal occupation of Iraq. Bush insisted, after all, that al Qaeda was in Iraq and that Iraq had WMD’s and would do everything in his power to protect America and it allies from this global threat.

Is this the hope and change people are looking for? Another criminal war in which this time millions would die. I do not believe it is. And here’s why. After reading Suskind’s rebuttal I read the readers’ comments. Almost all of them called for impeachment or a war crimes tribunal. And many of them called for a mass out pouring in the streets.

I read these with the understanding that there was probably Obama supporters among those posting comments. What I am left with is this to say to these readers: The majority of you in this country do have a moral compass and you know that what has been done in our names is horrific and tragic beyond words. And you want it to stop. But you’ve given up your compasses to the powers that be and you’re getting lost. You’re getting lost in this endless terrain of “politics as usual” of this election. You’re getting so tired, so hungry, and so thirsty that you will settle for the politics of the possible which could ultimately lead to consequences that would pale in comparison to the last 7 years.

So just what should happen here? First, we all need to reclaim our inner compasses. We need to recognize the power that a movement of people acting righteously and independently of this election can hold and the hope that it would bring to millions around the world. We must take on the responsibility to act beyond casting a ballot to bring to a halt the fascist trajectory we have been forced upon.

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