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Con Job & Suspect Inquisitions
by William Hughes
OpEdNews.com
Something smelly is going on in Washington, D.C.! And it doesn’t have
anything to do with that badly polluted Anacostia River. It’s the War
Party that stinks! The truth is catching up with those Iraq
War-propaganda- distorting-wise guys (See, for more details, Retired, USAF
Col. Sam Gardiner’s shocking expose’, “Truth For These Podia,”
10/08/03).
What is happening, on a larger scale, is that the people who have been
overdosing on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and other mind-deforming TV
junk, have suddenly begun to notice that the Bush-Cheney Gang lied the
country into the Iraq War. Saddam didn’t have any WMD, nor any ties to
al Qaeda, no matter how many times Dick “Pinocchio” Cheney swears that
he did. The Iraq War also wasn’t the “cakewalk” promised by odious
Neocons, like Richard Perle, and media moguls, such as Mortimer B.
Zuckerman, (who cares more about Ariel “Bloody” Sharon than he ever
will our Republic).
The folks who will ultimately pay the $87 billion first installment bill
for the Iraq Occupation are also beginning to conclude that it was all a
big CON JOB! They are realizing that insiders connected to the War Hawk
elite, (like the Halliburton Co. is to its former CEO, Cheney), will
benefit, via fat contracts. Rebuilding Iraq will add tens of billions of
dollars in corporate profits to cronies of the War Party. However, it will
also result in a huge national deficit for their grandchildren to pay
down. The national debt now stands at a staggering $7 trillion and the
budget deficit at $500 billion!
Meanwhile, 135 brave Americans have died in Iraq since a haughty President
George W. Bush, Jr. declared, “Bring them on!” Overall, 340 Americans
have died in the Iraqi conflict and 1871 more have been seriously injured
(lunaville.org). Some of our military are recovering at Walter Reed
Hospital in D.C., which is beginning to look like a Civil War facility
from overcrowding, while others are, sadly, according to published
reports, “receiving substandard medical care” at Fort Stewart, GA.
Occupied Iraq is a horror story come true. It is the fruits of an arrogant
imperialist policy, sourced mostly by Neocons, linked to the Zionist
Cartel. It was endorsed by cowardly members of the Congress, and rubber
stamped by the Mass Media. It has also rewarded connivers associated with
“Big Oil,” and the “Military Industrial Complex.” But for the
innocent Iraqi people, it has meant only chaos, death and misery.
So, what is the War Party doing to draw attention away from itself? Well,
Plan A was to launch a massive PR offensive to lie even more about the
Iraqi Occupation. However, every time an American serviceman dies in Iraq,
or there is a televised riot in one of its larger cities, it trumps their
dubious arguments about, “The progress we are making in Iraq!”
So they have turned to Plan B! This involves John Ashcroft’s Justice
Department focusing its spotlight on the African-American mayor of
Philadelphia, John Street, a Democrat; and the black majority dominated
(and Democratic, too) City Council of Baltimore. Of course, the White
House will deny any involvement in orchestrating these highly suspect
criminal probes. Sure!
In Philadelphia, Ashcroft’s target, the popular Mayor Street, just
happens to be running for reelection against Republican candidate Sam
Katz. Oh, the timing of these fishy federal inquisitions! The FBI is
demanding to see tons of documents that deal with the city’s lucrative
bond business. Sometime ago, the FBI had planted “bugging devices” in
City Hall. (Oh yea, why don’t they plant a couple in Cheney’s office,
too, to find out how contractors are getting those Iraqi sweetheart deals?
Huh?)
Mayor Street believes that the FBI investigation is “part of a
Republican conspiracy aimed at ensuring the election of GOP candidate
Katz.” He insisted he will be vindicated (“Philadelphia Inquirer,”
10/16/03). Could this investigation have anything to do with the fact that
the Philadelphia City Council, on Dec. 19, 2002, passed a Resolution
opposing any U.S. led invasion of Iraq?The mayor signed that Resolution,
which had the strong support of the activist community, especially
students in the area, and Organized Labor.
On the Baltimore front, federal prosecutors have issued sweeping subpoenas
for records, dating back five years, to City Council members, that relate
to hiring practices, acceptance of gifts, (like free passes for a parking
lot), and other nickel and dime offenses. One of the main charges is that
the Council members have been hiring their relatives. Big deal! Who are
they suppose to hire, their enemies? And, how exactly did Bush Jr. get
into our White House, if “Daddy Bush” didn’t pave the way for him?
Please!
Some members of the Baltimore Council are calling the probe “a political
witch hunt.” Interestingly, the Baltimore City Council, too, passed a
gutsy Resolution, on Dec. 10, 2002, condemning any U.S. led invasion of
Iraq, as being contrary to the interest of the vast majority of its
citizens.
The War Party’s “Con Job” on Iraq is being exposed for the
contaminated thing that it is. Ashcroft’s dubious municipal corruption
probes will eventually suffer the same fate. The Attorney General also
stands accused of “selective prosecution” of anti-Iraq War protesters,
Greenpeace members, and peace and justice activists (Prof. Jonathan Turley’s
“Ashcroft Pulling Out all the Stops to Prosecute Protesters,”
10/17/03, “LA Times”).
Finally, this latest War Party gimmick won’t work. It is only a matter
of time before all of its henchmen are brought to the bar of justice.
© William Hughes 2003
William Hughes liamhughes@mindspring.com
is a semi-retired attorney living in Baltimore MD, and the author of “Saying
‘No’ to the War Party” (Iuniverse, Inc.), which is available online.
His website is http://liamhughes.home.mindspring.com/ |
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