"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the state: " Joseph Goebbels / Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda
"Iraqis are suffering from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and sanitation, healthcare, education, and employment," the report says. "Of the four million Iraqis who are dependent on food assistance, only 60 percent currently have access to rations through the government-run Public Distribution System (PDS), down from 96 percent in 2004."
Nearly 10 million people depend on the fragile rationing system. In December, the Iraqi government announced it would cut the number of items in the food ration from ten to five due to "insufficient funds and spiralling inflation." The inflation rate is officially said to be around 70 percent.
This year has also been one of the bloodiest of the entire occupation. The group Just Foreign Policy, "an independent and non-partisan mass membership organisation dedicated to reforming U.S. foreign policy," estimates the total number of Iraqis killed so far due to the U.S.-led invasion and occupation to be 1,139,602.
This year 894 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, making 2007 the deadliest year of the entire occupation for the U.S. military, according to ICasualties.org.
To date, at least 3,896 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defence.
Remember these reported deaths are subject to question in that the Pentagon only reports combat deaths ~ not those who died in transit to hospitals or while under care. The actual count is probably close to 15,000.
As such, the big Iraq lie continues unabated and both Democrats and Republicans share complicity in this ongoing heinous crime against humanity.
Only John Edwards is calling for a quick pullout of troops training Iraq forces and all troops within 10 months of his election ~ Michael R. Gordon reports for The New York Times, "John Edwards says that if elected president he would withdraw the American troops who are training the Iraqi army and police as part of a broader plan to remove virtually all American forces within 10 months." http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010208N.shtml
Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2008/01/02.html
Freelance Online columnist Allen L Roland is available for comments , interviews and speaking engagements ( allen@allenroland.com )
