OpEdNews » WHO CAN WE TRUST TO OPPOSE THE OCCUPATION?

It's an old story in America. During the civil war the weapons corporations delivered inferior rifles to the soldiers of the Union army and they maximized their profits. We see the same thing happening today in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I was watching CNN this morning and they had one of their top reporters on a quiet and deserted avenue in Baghdad reporting how calm everything was. In the distance you could see military vehicles blocking traffic from entering the street. The reporter was dressed in green military fatigues and a green military hat with CNN's logo on it. There is no pretense now. The corporate reporters have essentially been inducted into the military. They are mouth pieces for the military industrial complex. Forget their role as monitors of power - the checks and balances have all been rubbed out.

CNN reported that as we now enter this 6th year of Iraq occupation up to 90,000 Iraqi people have been killed. Forget the numbers of 1.2 million Iraqi deaths that we hear from British medical sources. Forget similar numbers from Iraqi medical sources. We are seeing the white washing of the numbers by the corporate dominated media.

Just as I had feared, as the Winter Soldier hearings began, there was only spotty publicity about them in the corporate controlled media. There were a few stories here and there but not anything near the earth shattering coverage of Obama's "wayward" pastor who told the truth when he said 9-11 was the "chickens coming home to roost."

Fox News has just reported that "Sixteen Democratic members of the [Congressional] Out of Iraq Caucus stepped up to defend Hillary Clinton’s record on the Iraq war, issuing an open letter Tuesday asserting Clinton is the ideal candidate to bring the war to a 'responsible' end."

What the hell does "responsible" mean?

Names like Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, California Rep. Lynn Woolsey and California Rep. Maxine Waters are saying Hillary is going to best end the occupation. Don't believe it. Don't believe it for a minute.

I saw Hillary in Iraq a couple of years ago on Faze the Nation (CBS) with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) saying, "The American people need to relax. We've been in Korea for 50 years. We're going to be in Iraq for a long time." Sen. Graham turned to the cameras in that moment and said, "I don't often agree with Hillary on much, but on this I agree with her."

This same Sen. Lindsey Graham was just in Iraq with Sen. John McCain and Sen. Joe Lieberman. During this trip the three were saying we have to stay in Iraq, that Iran is a trouble maker and has to be dealt with, and that we need more money to keep the occupation going.

What is the difference here between these two war parties? Truthfully, what is the god-damned difference?

How can the Out of Iraq Caucus throw in with Hillary knowing her real position? How can we let the Out of Iraq Caucus betray the peace movement in this way and continue to look to them for leadership? Don't we know that the only leadership that will stop this cycle of endless war is those of us on the streets all across this worn out nation?

I know it all looks pretty damn bleak.....who can we trust and who can we turn to in these bad times?

Well the answer is us.....we need each other and we need to turn to people who we know have been there on the street with us and who will remain on the street with us. That is the answer, that is the litmus test.

Make a personal pledge, a personal promise as we wearily step into this 6th year of occupation. "I will not be fooled and led by these corrupt corporate controlled politicians. I will work and trust my peers who have shown their determination to end this madness by being there on the streets for the past five years. These are our leaders. These are our spokespersons."

We are a military totalitarian dictatorship dressed up in three-piece suits posing as the world's greatest democracy. It's all lies. It's "friendly fascism" pure and simple - a wedding of the corporations and the government.

The politicians in the war parties be damned.

Bruce Gagnon is the Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.

Between 1983–1998 Bruce was the State Coordinator of the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice.

He was the organizer of the Cancel Cassini Campaign (launched 72 pounds of plutonium into space in 1997) that was featured on the TV program 60 Minutes.

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