One
Down in Iraq – One To Go in America
By Doug Basham
OpEdNews.com
The
capture of Saddam Hussein. What a sad commentary it is on this country
how political correctness has replaced good old fashioned honesty. No
one seems to want to be the first to react to the capture of Saddam
Hussein in the manner I feel is not only appropriate but honest. What
the heck, I’m already anti-American, unpatriotic and unsupportive of
the troops for having dared question this illegitimate regime in
Washington for literally months now, so I guess I’ll just revisit the
script I used when Saddam’s statue was pulled down, and when Udai and
Qusay were “killed”.
With
the exception of the temporary boost Saddam’s capture will give our
drained and weary warriors, which to me is the only plus in this story,
so friggin’ what? The capture of Saddam Hussein does not change AT ALL
that this nation was lied into war and our soldiers died as a result.
When everybody was gushing over the sight of Iraqi citizens rejoicing
and dancing in the streets over the toppling of the statue, I went on
the air and said “So friggin’ what?” At the time I also said,
“Not collectively - not singularly - does the sight of one dancing
Iraqi or every dancing Iraqi in the entire country – justify to me the
death of even one American soldier." Nor was their “dancing”
the reason we were given for the war.
When
Udai and Qusay were “killed”, again I said “So friggin’ what?”
I said the Iraqi people were not killing our soldiers because Udai and
Qusay were still alive. I also said at the time that our boys were not
being killed because Saddam Hussein was still alive, or at least, still
unaccounted for.
When
the statue was toppled, people called me on the air and told me what a
BIG day it was. I told them at the time I didn’t see it as a big deal
at ALL, and that if toppling the statue or Saddam himself was the main
goal of our illegal invasion, we could’ve turned it over to the CIA
and let them depose him, just like they deposed the democratically
elected Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran in 1953. We didn’t have to attack
an entire country. That is not why we were told we could not let the
weapons inspectors have any more time, and why we had to go to war
immediately.
And
for those of you who are still clinging to the “gassed his own
people” or “mass graves” ruses as a justifications for this war,
just remember it was Ronald “I don’t swear and I love everyone who
has AIDS” Reagan and the first Bush liar who sold Saddam the dual
purpose technology and the precursors he needed to gas – not his own
people - just more spin and lies by the Bush thugs - but the Kurds –
AND – that Reagan gave them to him knowing full well he had already
gassed the Iranians. Reagan continued to supply Saddam with germs,
viruses and precursors even after he knew he had gassed the Kurds, in
fact, the Kurds were gassed using American made helicopters. And yes,
we’ve seen the film footage of SecDef Dumsfeld shaking Saddam’s
hand.
The
time to be self righteous and holier than thou was not in the latter
part of 2002 when this administration first started marketing this war
like a half-off sale at J.C. Penney’s; and it was not in 2003 when the
neo-cons coerced this uncurious, ignorant deserter in the White House to
send our boys to die in Iraq. Rather, the time to get your edible undies
in a wad was when the last generation of Republican thugs - namely
Reagan and Bush I - were giving Saddam the dope he needed to be an evil
bastard. That’s when you should have been concerned about the Kurds,
or “his own people”, as they are now disingenuously referred to.
I
think if anything, this “big headline” today serves only to prove
#1) how dumbed down this country has become, with over 70% of them
believing that Saddam has something to do with 9-11; #2) that his
capture in some way excuses this criminal Bush regime from the lies they
shoved down our throats for months to justify their cronyistic and
ideological war of choice; and #3) that those of us who do pay attention
and don’t feel any particular need to rubber stamp every one of this
administration’s lies - how much we desperately – DESPERATELY…
need to stay on topic.
And
I know we will. People who listen to my show and read my columns care
about their country. People who listen to “conservative” talk radio care
only about their party and the truth be DAMNED! We need to stay focused
on the big picture, namely, that Bush lied and our boys died and are
likely to keep dying due to our reluctance to give the Iraqi people what
the Bush regime keeps telling them, and us as well, is now the official
reason we went to war, namely, to bring the Iraqis “democracy.” By
the way, love the barbed wire around communities, George. Nice
democratic touch. Should we look forward to that here in America any
time soon? What’s that? I should check with Brother John Ashcroft on
that? Gotcha’.
Every
day we stay in Iraq proves the “democracy” premise to be just one
more Bush administration lie to be thrown on the heap they’ve already
foisted upon this nation with stunning rapidity and an even more
stunning lack of accountability from either the American media - that
would be the “liberal” media - or from the America people, with the
exception of course, of you and me.
And
while we’re discussing the “liberal media”, did you happen to
catch CNN media whore Judy Woodruff questioning General Wesley Clark?
She asked him “Does this take Iraq off the table as an issue in the
presidential campaign?” Excuse me, Judy? Are you saying the capture of
the leader of a country excuses the lies that took us to war in the
first place? She then asked the General “Last Tuesday in New
Hampshire, you called president Bush a reckless, radical and heartless
leader and you said the war in Iraq cast doubts on his competence to be
commander in chief. Do you stand by those statements?” General Clark,
to his credit, replied that he did indeed stand by them. And then
Woodruff, apparently left speechless by the General’s candor,
stuttered and stammered for a couple of seconds, and finally found it
within herself to ask with as much disdain and condemnation as she could
possibly muster “At a time like this?” The only thing missing from
her last comment was a well aimed hork in the General’s direction.
Fortunately for him, he was appearing via overseas camera. So much for
the "liberal" media.
Back
to your “At a time like this?” question. Yes Judy, especially
at a time like this. Jeez, you’re supposed to be a news reporter.
Instead, you’re acting like a little girl who’s all excited by the
attractive icing when you know full well the main ingredient of the cake
was Texas Bull Crap. And let me help you out Judy. The fact that we’ve
captured Saddam Hussein does not change the fact that Bush lied and 450
of our soldiers have died. What’s wrong with these reporters and
hosts? Just like Halliburton excuses their crime by saying “Well,
we didn’t profit from it,” I guess it’s also OK now to excuse the
lies that took us into this war with Iraq; the ensuing war crimes that
took place in Iraq; and the number of our boys who died in Iraq just by
saying but we caught the leader of Iraq. Welcome to hypocrisy and
stupidity run rampant in GOP Nation.
Howard
Dean took the safe route and opted for a PC answer. Dean said “This is
a great day for the administration. I think the president deserves a day
of celebration.” And he was right. Bush must be in cowpie heaven
knowing that once again, the focus has been taken off his unadulterated
lies that resulted in the deaths of 450 soldiers, none of whose funerals
he’s seen fit to attend thus far, whilst sending out “form
letters” of condolence to their families.
Joe
Lieberman weighed in and in so doing, all but solidified his
“capture” of the presidential nomination - for the republican party,
that is. Lieberman said “If Howard Dean had his way, Saddam Hussein
would still be in power today, not in prison.” Yeah Joe, but 450 of
our soldiers would be alive; the country wouldn’t be as badly in debt;
Iraq wouldn’t be a quagmire of resistance and suicide bombings; and
the entire world wouldn’t hate our guts. Oh yeah - and the first
amendment would also still be alive and well in this country, instead of
any questioning of our government being met with hatred, boycotts,
threats, attempts to destroy people’s right to make a living, and
ridiculous assertions that true patriots who exercise their right to
free speech are somehow anti-American, unpatriotic and unsupportive of
the troops.
So
spare me the fawning, gushing and slobbering over this latest “big
headline”. I’ll get excited when I read one that says “One Down in
Iraq – One to Go in America.” Welcome to GOP Nation, wherein the
daily task is to stay focused on what truly matters, namely that Bush
lied and our soldiers died. Period.
***Doug
Basham broadcasts every weekday morning on AM 1230 KLAV in Las Vegas
from 8 – 9 AM Pacific. The show is also simulcast on the internet. For
more show or guest information, to sign up for his free email
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Doug can be reached at bashamradio@yahoo.com,
or 1-866-DOUG-911.