We now know that the Bush-Cheney administration had detailed plans for the invasion of Iraq prior to 9-11 (do we?) Certainly they seemed to see 9-11 as an opportunity to invade Iraq which was a longstanding obsession. How long I don’t know but obviously the United States had been hostile to Saddam Hussein since he invaded Kuwait and perhaps before that as well. They thought they could rationalize the invasion of Iraq as part of a war on terror but this was just a non sequitor since Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was no friend or collaborator with Al Qaeda.
I believe the administration has already let it be known that there are U. S. plans for some sort of aerial assault on Iran. The way the French President talks maybe the French have aerial assault plans as well!
Perhaps we should be asking about the President what he plans when an attack on Iran leads to interruptions in Persian Gulf oil for potentially various periods of time. It could be weeks or years I suppose. A rosier scenario sounds like a sort of Russian roulette drunken stupor. I blew my brains out, it sounded good at the time. Will we be abandoned like the people of New Orleans as gasoline disappears from the pumps? How will gasoline and petroleum products be apportioned among our citizens? Certainly there will be some sort of rationing. What kinds of rationing is the Bush-Cheney administration planning for?
What will the effects be on the national and world economies? How will petroleum be apportioned among nations? Will economic activity slow down or even largely grind to a halt?
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Will the Markets Prevent an Attack Iran?
With the dollar falling and oil prices rising the President of the United States and his master, the Vice-President are threatening to and apparently planning to bomb Iran.
Could escalating oil prices put an end to this anti-Iranian war drive? Would 120 dollar a barrel oil or 180 dollar a barrel oil put enough stress on the world economy and the national economies of the imperialist center to cause Bush-Cheney to either back off or alternatively to be stopped?
Could escalating oil prices put an end to this anti-Iranian war drive? Would 120 dollar a barrel oil or 180 dollar a barrel oil put enough stress on the world economy and the national economies of the imperialist center to cause Bush-Cheney to either back off or alternatively to be stopped?
Letter to the United States Congress Warning Against Military Action Against Iran
I drafted the following letter,thinking at first of Representative Dennis Moore of Kansas. Then I decided that it would apply to a majority of elected officials, to the majority of Congress which has basically not acted as a separate branch of government and which has merely endorsed the crimes against peace, crimes against humanity and war crimes of the executive branch.
Dear elected official,
I hope you will skeptically scrutinize the rhetoric coming from the Bush administration about the so-called crisis with Iran. I remember how you parroted the lies propagated by the President and other government officials leading up to the invasion of Iraq. Back in 2003 you insisted that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. When I and numerous others informed you that the facts were otherwise you ignored us and refused to investigate for yourself. You didn’t do your homework.
You also went along with the administration assertion that the 9-11 terrorists had something to do with Saddam Hussein. Of course, all the terrorists were Saudi Arabian. Now you recognize these previous views were erroneous, but we need a person in office who can make rational decisions about the real world in real time. Elected officials who are not competent students of current affairs and history simply facilitate the blunders of others, in this case the invasion and occupation of Iraq orchestrated by the executive branch.
After this administration made countless lies about Iraq it doesn’t make any sense to trust so-called intelligence and allegations coming from the White House, the Vice President’s Office, or the State Department. I think the Defense Department is the only sane one of the four and it’s ironic how this administration, that is constantly bantering about its respect for the military, has ignored the DOD which reportedly opposes an air war on Iran.
It isn’t much help for elected officials to inform us years after damaging decisions are made that they were simply misinformed. There is no excuse for it. Certainly the work of the legislative branch is as weighty as that of the physician. No one would tolerate a surgeon who told an amputation patient, “Gee whiz! Sorry things are such a mess but just I just didn’t know which leg to cut off!” Of course no one would go back to such an uninformed physician and they would end up with a malpractice lawsuit.
We can’t sue politicians for malpractice so we write them letters.
Many elected officials seem to relish being uninformed, out of the loop, unaware or this or that, and otherwise out to lunch. They want the opportunity of being thought of as “misinformed” so their constituents will give them a free pass for not voting in an informed manner Of course such pretenses are more in the vein of political maneuvers than the actions of competent elected officials. It sounds like the royal road to incompetence to me, and the evidence shows that is precisely what we have, incompetent elected officials and catastrophic results to show for it!
The first responsibility of an elected official is to be informed !
Give me a member of Congress who isn’t an easily misled ignoramus at the time a decision actually has to be made.
I am fed up with elected officials who ignore the facts of this very real world and substitute for facts and reason a gullible belief in provocative lies.
Provocative lies that lead to war are, of course, reprehensible.
This administration is also suspected of having religious views that motivate them to initiate wars in what they regard as an area where they believe Biblical prophecy is being fulfilled today so the administration is suspect both in terms of its motives and the stories it tells to justify their next military objective.
Tragically, Iraq has become a laboratory for war against the United States and will probably be so as long as United States troops are there to fight. As a result of the occupation an entirely new way of fighting otherwise invincible United States military forces has developed in the crucible of Iraq. A remarkably effective resistance strategy includes the use of Improvised Explosive Devices, car bombs, suicide bombers and methods that destroy the heaviest United States armor. Of course there are also forms of bombardment and small unit actions. Now it is too late to prevent the dissemination of these methods and I suppose we mayl be cursed to see them elsewhere in the future. Without invading Iraq I doubt that such a situation would have come about. We would be considerably safer and could have diverted the military to real world security concerns.
While the White House likes to talk about the relatively tiny Al Qaeda in Iraq the fundamental struggle south of the Kurdish region involves a host of indigenous actors who are united by one common objective, the goal of driving out the American invaders. Somehow we are not getting that over here. Rarely do I hear politicians or televised commentators discuss the war as a national liberation struggle which is what it is. Maybe we can’t see that because the era of national liberation struggles is supposedly over but history refuses to comply with that notion. Just as in Vietnam the United States has overlooked that it has invaded a nation and engaged an enemy which is basically nationalistic in character. Nationalism is certainly the fundamental interest that binds otherwise diverse and divergent parties in a common struggle against a common enemy, the occupiers.
Southern Iraq is now controlled by competing armed militias. The British are simply biding time before they completely move out. It looks like the contradictions in the north of Iraq are about to boil over as well and that Turkey will may come into conflict with Iraqi Kurds when it eventually invades Iraq as it has done many times in decades past. Furthermore, the so-called central government in Baghdad may try to impose some sort of policies on the PKK. If so, a civil war between the Kurds and the rest of Iraq may ensue.
The middle of Iraq seems to have been largely ethnically cleansed by various terrorist militias. It is a catastrophe that dwarfs the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans some years ago. Our invasion, ultimately made the ethnic cleansing in Iraq possible on such a large scale. What was anyone thinking when we invaded Iraq? The Congress helped create this cacophony of catastrophes by working with Mr. President Bush, by supporting the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Well, I guess they were gullibly gobbling up administration fairy tales and lies and thinking what they were told to think. They never did their homework to understand the region, or verify the so-called facts.
You know or should know that this administration lied about all sorts of things to try to build support for the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq. If you still somehow cling to those lies then I guess I am wasting my time writing you.
I think you know that war with Iran would be more than a little likely to cause hardship and sacrifice here in the United States since world oil supplies are likely to be disrupted for an unknown period of time, possibly for years. Hardships could exceed those seen in several generations.
Would the world economy, or much of it, sputter to a halt as tankers stop arriving at thirsty ports full of Iranian, Iraqi, Persian Gulf or Saudi crude?
Recently I was over the state line in Kansas City, Missouri, and I saw a bus go by almost empty of passengers. My son was in the car with me and I told him that if the United States bombs Iraq it is likely that we will all be taking the bus. But will there be enough buses? Will we be rationing gasoline? Are you preparing for that? I really want to know.
I hate to think that your name and political career could suffer as the people you represent realize that you knew that fuel supplies would dry up and yet you embraced another set of administration concocted lies about another nation and rubber stamped another dysfunctional war.
Furthermore I believe the Bush administration is likely to use nuclear weapons against Iran. You are being told now. If the United States is at the bottom of polls throughout the world as a consequence of the invasion of and continuing effort to conquer Iraq there will be single digit support for this nation after another use of nuclear weapons.
I am hopeful that you will make every effort to look beyond the war propaganda of this administration which is once again matching its so-called intelligence to fit the war-plans. Remember the Downing Street memo and the whole Valerie Plame affair. If you don’t feel compelled to impeach this President then at least don’t become part of his plans to make war on Iran. The President’s duplicity on Iraq should have warned you to be skeptical and incredulous when you hear the him speak about foreign lands. I understand that he had no knowledge of even the differences between the Sh’ia and Sunni branches of Islam when he invaded Iraq! A President should know that! An educated person should know that! Now he is worried about Sh’ia influence!
Americans are a patient and largely apolitical people but even they may eventually rise up against fools in high places the tyrants who use them. I write you because I sincerely hope that the people will not be compelled to take such drastic action. Of course I fear the severe restriction of our civil liberties by this administration if it screws up the world energy flow by bombing Iran.
Please, I beg you to carefully study the facts and do everything in your power to prevent this insane war drive against Iran from becoming an actual war. Just for one thing, you should be fully informed about Iranian diplomatic outreach to the United States since the ‘80’s up to the present.
You could support real diplomacy with Iran. You should be fully informed that it is the Bush administration which refuses to engage in any real negotiations with Iran even though it has recently began posturing as wanting to negotiate. If you are not informed you should look into these
matters yourself because it is the only way to assess things for yourself.
The whole world is watching you and your colleagues. Will Congress once again rubber-stamp an unjust war that simply creates more war, more destruction, more hardship? Will Congress once again sit on its hands as the White House destroys another modern society in the Middle-East? If so people may not be able to drive their cars anymore but you can bet that even if they have to walk they will be walking to your door to ask, “Why did you let this happen, so much worse than Iraq? Why were you uninformed, again?”
Dear elected official,
I hope you will skeptically scrutinize the rhetoric coming from the Bush administration about the so-called crisis with Iran. I remember how you parroted the lies propagated by the President and other government officials leading up to the invasion of Iraq. Back in 2003 you insisted that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. When I and numerous others informed you that the facts were otherwise you ignored us and refused to investigate for yourself. You didn’t do your homework.
You also went along with the administration assertion that the 9-11 terrorists had something to do with Saddam Hussein. Of course, all the terrorists were Saudi Arabian. Now you recognize these previous views were erroneous, but we need a person in office who can make rational decisions about the real world in real time. Elected officials who are not competent students of current affairs and history simply facilitate the blunders of others, in this case the invasion and occupation of Iraq orchestrated by the executive branch.
After this administration made countless lies about Iraq it doesn’t make any sense to trust so-called intelligence and allegations coming from the White House, the Vice President’s Office, or the State Department. I think the Defense Department is the only sane one of the four and it’s ironic how this administration, that is constantly bantering about its respect for the military, has ignored the DOD which reportedly opposes an air war on Iran.
It isn’t much help for elected officials to inform us years after damaging decisions are made that they were simply misinformed. There is no excuse for it. Certainly the work of the legislative branch is as weighty as that of the physician. No one would tolerate a surgeon who told an amputation patient, “Gee whiz! Sorry things are such a mess but just I just didn’t know which leg to cut off!” Of course no one would go back to such an uninformed physician and they would end up with a malpractice lawsuit.
We can’t sue politicians for malpractice so we write them letters.
Many elected officials seem to relish being uninformed, out of the loop, unaware or this or that, and otherwise out to lunch. They want the opportunity of being thought of as “misinformed” so their constituents will give them a free pass for not voting in an informed manner Of course such pretenses are more in the vein of political maneuvers than the actions of competent elected officials. It sounds like the royal road to incompetence to me, and the evidence shows that is precisely what we have, incompetent elected officials and catastrophic results to show for it!
The first responsibility of an elected official is to be informed !
Give me a member of Congress who isn’t an easily misled ignoramus at the time a decision actually has to be made.
I am fed up with elected officials who ignore the facts of this very real world and substitute for facts and reason a gullible belief in provocative lies.
Provocative lies that lead to war are, of course, reprehensible.
This administration is also suspected of having religious views that motivate them to initiate wars in what they regard as an area where they believe Biblical prophecy is being fulfilled today so the administration is suspect both in terms of its motives and the stories it tells to justify their next military objective.
Tragically, Iraq has become a laboratory for war against the United States and will probably be so as long as United States troops are there to fight. As a result of the occupation an entirely new way of fighting otherwise invincible United States military forces has developed in the crucible of Iraq. A remarkably effective resistance strategy includes the use of Improvised Explosive Devices, car bombs, suicide bombers and methods that destroy the heaviest United States armor. Of course there are also forms of bombardment and small unit actions. Now it is too late to prevent the dissemination of these methods and I suppose we mayl be cursed to see them elsewhere in the future. Without invading Iraq I doubt that such a situation would have come about. We would be considerably safer and could have diverted the military to real world security concerns.
While the White House likes to talk about the relatively tiny Al Qaeda in Iraq the fundamental struggle south of the Kurdish region involves a host of indigenous actors who are united by one common objective, the goal of driving out the American invaders. Somehow we are not getting that over here. Rarely do I hear politicians or televised commentators discuss the war as a national liberation struggle which is what it is. Maybe we can’t see that because the era of national liberation struggles is supposedly over but history refuses to comply with that notion. Just as in Vietnam the United States has overlooked that it has invaded a nation and engaged an enemy which is basically nationalistic in character. Nationalism is certainly the fundamental interest that binds otherwise diverse and divergent parties in a common struggle against a common enemy, the occupiers.
Southern Iraq is now controlled by competing armed militias. The British are simply biding time before they completely move out. It looks like the contradictions in the north of Iraq are about to boil over as well and that Turkey will may come into conflict with Iraqi Kurds when it eventually invades Iraq as it has done many times in decades past. Furthermore, the so-called central government in Baghdad may try to impose some sort of policies on the PKK. If so, a civil war between the Kurds and the rest of Iraq may ensue.
The middle of Iraq seems to have been largely ethnically cleansed by various terrorist militias. It is a catastrophe that dwarfs the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans some years ago. Our invasion, ultimately made the ethnic cleansing in Iraq possible on such a large scale. What was anyone thinking when we invaded Iraq? The Congress helped create this cacophony of catastrophes by working with Mr. President Bush, by supporting the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Well, I guess they were gullibly gobbling up administration fairy tales and lies and thinking what they were told to think. They never did their homework to understand the region, or verify the so-called facts.
You know or should know that this administration lied about all sorts of things to try to build support for the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq. If you still somehow cling to those lies then I guess I am wasting my time writing you.
I think you know that war with Iran would be more than a little likely to cause hardship and sacrifice here in the United States since world oil supplies are likely to be disrupted for an unknown period of time, possibly for years. Hardships could exceed those seen in several generations.
Would the world economy, or much of it, sputter to a halt as tankers stop arriving at thirsty ports full of Iranian, Iraqi, Persian Gulf or Saudi crude?
Recently I was over the state line in Kansas City, Missouri, and I saw a bus go by almost empty of passengers. My son was in the car with me and I told him that if the United States bombs Iraq it is likely that we will all be taking the bus. But will there be enough buses? Will we be rationing gasoline? Are you preparing for that? I really want to know.
I hate to think that your name and political career could suffer as the people you represent realize that you knew that fuel supplies would dry up and yet you embraced another set of administration concocted lies about another nation and rubber stamped another dysfunctional war.
Furthermore I believe the Bush administration is likely to use nuclear weapons against Iran. You are being told now. If the United States is at the bottom of polls throughout the world as a consequence of the invasion of and continuing effort to conquer Iraq there will be single digit support for this nation after another use of nuclear weapons.
I am hopeful that you will make every effort to look beyond the war propaganda of this administration which is once again matching its so-called intelligence to fit the war-plans. Remember the Downing Street memo and the whole Valerie Plame affair. If you don’t feel compelled to impeach this President then at least don’t become part of his plans to make war on Iran. The President’s duplicity on Iraq should have warned you to be skeptical and incredulous when you hear the him speak about foreign lands. I understand that he had no knowledge of even the differences between the Sh’ia and Sunni branches of Islam when he invaded Iraq! A President should know that! An educated person should know that! Now he is worried about Sh’ia influence!
Americans are a patient and largely apolitical people but even they may eventually rise up against fools in high places the tyrants who use them. I write you because I sincerely hope that the people will not be compelled to take such drastic action. Of course I fear the severe restriction of our civil liberties by this administration if it screws up the world energy flow by bombing Iran.
Please, I beg you to carefully study the facts and do everything in your power to prevent this insane war drive against Iran from becoming an actual war. Just for one thing, you should be fully informed about Iranian diplomatic outreach to the United States since the ‘80’s up to the present.
You could support real diplomacy with Iran. You should be fully informed that it is the Bush administration which refuses to engage in any real negotiations with Iran even though it has recently began posturing as wanting to negotiate. If you are not informed you should look into these
matters yourself because it is the only way to assess things for yourself.
The whole world is watching you and your colleagues. Will Congress once again rubber-stamp an unjust war that simply creates more war, more destruction, more hardship? Will Congress once again sit on its hands as the White House destroys another modern society in the Middle-East? If so people may not be able to drive their cars anymore but you can bet that even if they have to walk they will be walking to your door to ask, “Why did you let this happen, so much worse than Iraq? Why were you uninformed, again?”
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Representative Duncan Hunter (R), a candidate for the nomination of the Republican party, fanned the flames of war as he spoke with Judy Woodruff on the Lehrer News Hour this evening. His comments suggest the inevitability of a war with Iran and Woodruff asks him for a judgment as to whether or not a military confrontation with Iran is settled. It seemed to me that Hunter indicated that it was not yet time to say inevitable with the implication that such a decision is in the wings. Well, when it is decided, Judy Woodruff will be ready to talk about the inevitable, ie. go along with the war plans of the United States and become part of the imperialist war by informing all, with a straight face, that the bombardment of Iran is inevitable, coming down the pike.
What Judy Woodruff will not do is challenge the endless unsubstantiated allegations about how the Iranian nuclear program is a program to build nuclear weapons.
What Judy Woodruff will not do is dwell on the possibilities for peace which are many given the repeated diplomatic efforts of Iran to work out some sort of modus vivendi with Washington.
What Judy Woodruff will not do is detect any lie, any distortion, any act of public deception or mass manipulation. She will part of the "in-crowd", one of those favored creatures who finds
our what "has been decided" and then almost gleefully leads us to support that decision.
Above all Judy Woodruff will not question the decision to go to war with Iran and almost never question any other decision for that matter, unless of course it is the decision of a foreign leader, a polygamist leader or anyone else who does not make those decisions she so loyally transmits to the millions of her viewers, hungering for news, not political complicity with newsmakers or
powerful decision makers.
What Judy Woodruff will not do is challenge the endless unsubstantiated allegations about how the Iranian nuclear program is a program to build nuclear weapons.
What Judy Woodruff will not do is dwell on the possibilities for peace which are many given the repeated diplomatic efforts of Iran to work out some sort of modus vivendi with Washington.
What Judy Woodruff will not do is detect any lie, any distortion, any act of public deception or mass manipulation. She will part of the "in-crowd", one of those favored creatures who finds
our what "has been decided" and then almost gleefully leads us to support that decision.
Above all Judy Woodruff will not question the decision to go to war with Iran and almost never question any other decision for that matter, unless of course it is the decision of a foreign leader, a polygamist leader or anyone else who does not make those decisions she so loyally transmits to the millions of her viewers, hungering for news, not political complicity with newsmakers or
powerful decision makers.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
APPEAL TO U.S. TROOPS: NO ONE WANTS YOU IN IRAQ
I spoke to a dude today, a fellow in his forties or fifties and he was with what appeared to be his son and wife. He caught my attention because of his fatigues and the bumper sticker that
said ARMY.
I asked him if he was going to Iraq. He said he hoped not. I said I hoped not either then I did the unthinkable. I asked him a question, "If the Iraqis don't want you in Iraq and the American people don't want you in Iraq, and its an illegal, unjust war, why is anyone going?"
He and his whole family looked a little shit-faced. No one said anything.
"Resist the war I said to him. It's an illegal imperialist war. Resist the war! Resist the war!"
"Resist the war and live. Stay home and live."
I made my speech and left the dude and his poor family to their thoughts.
I hope that dude doesn't go to Iraq. If he does go, it is at least in part his choice. I sharpened up the philosophical debate in his head and perhaps in his family. If they weren't already talking about what a bunch of crap the war is you can bet they are now.
He may not want to pay the price of resisting the war which could be high or could be quite low depending on how the ARMY looks at his resistance. Some are discharged, others get some time. He will not be killed. He will not return home a cabbage patch father and husband.
Some will say, some have said that I have gone over the edge. But it was just words, just a conversation, just an appeal to another human being who may or may not save his own life by resisting the war. It also is the right thing to do, to not be part or an imperialist invasion and occupation.
When he is in Iraq, if he makes that choice to go, he will either be at a base with no contact with Iraqis or if he does leave these protected sanctuaries he will be trying to survive the ongoing war against the occupation. Of course he is likely to have superior weapons and armor. I wonder how kind he will be to Iraqis? I suspect he will not be kind to the average Iraqi who just happens to surprise this dude-father-husband soldier. Face it, this harmless looking dad may be blowing away families in Iraq if it fits the oh so liberal "rules of engagement". That's the situation Bush-Cheney and Representative Dennis Moore want to put him. That's something else he won't have to do if he choses life, peace and resistance to the imperialist, unjust, illegal war in Iraq.
This sacred cow thing about the military is just used by imperialist leaders like the Bush-Cheney
criminal clique to suppress debate and open discussion of what these scoundrels, the imperialist leaders, are really all about. They want oil, Iran's oil, Iraq's oil an and everyone's oil. They want a permanent occupation of Iraq, Bush compared his dreamed of occupation as being like that in
Korea. The Korean occupation is already fifty years old with no end in sight.
The whole invasion of Iraq has only polarized the world against the United States. Our economy is in long term and now apparently acute decline. Yet one fact remains, whoever ends up running Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia will sell oil. We don't need to conquer other lands to buy oil.
It will be on the market.
The whole war is pointless in terms of achieving democracy or stability. It created al-qaeda in Iraq. Osama Bin Laden and Dick Cheney (as well as his loathesome sidekick G. W. and clueless congressional leaders like Representative Dennis Moore (D) of Kansas all agreed that the invasion of Afghanistan was a great idea, for Bin Laden. It was a classic case of drawing the enemy in deep so that a protracted war against the invader can begin.
Only it was quite an additional bonus to Al Qaeda to see the United States invade Iraq as well.
Now the United States is losing two wars, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. The invasion of Iraq made possible the creation of Al Qaeda in Iraq and similar groups where they really didn't exist before the invasion. Who was the genius here? Not Discmaster Cheney, not Representive Dennis Moore of Kansas who has been a relentless supporter of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Who has benefited besides the military contractors and the Al Qaeda type groups?
So when you see a soldier, try to save his life. Tell him no one wants him in Iraq and that we want him to live here in the United States in peace. Your may be able to say it all better than me. I am confident of that. Such personal messages may save individual lives and stop an unjust war. Maybe you will save a soldier's life and lives in Iraq as well.
said ARMY.
I asked him if he was going to Iraq. He said he hoped not. I said I hoped not either then I did the unthinkable. I asked him a question, "If the Iraqis don't want you in Iraq and the American people don't want you in Iraq, and its an illegal, unjust war, why is anyone going?"
He and his whole family looked a little shit-faced. No one said anything.
"Resist the war I said to him. It's an illegal imperialist war. Resist the war! Resist the war!"
"Resist the war and live. Stay home and live."
I made my speech and left the dude and his poor family to their thoughts.
I hope that dude doesn't go to Iraq. If he does go, it is at least in part his choice. I sharpened up the philosophical debate in his head and perhaps in his family. If they weren't already talking about what a bunch of crap the war is you can bet they are now.
He may not want to pay the price of resisting the war which could be high or could be quite low depending on how the ARMY looks at his resistance. Some are discharged, others get some time. He will not be killed. He will not return home a cabbage patch father and husband.
Some will say, some have said that I have gone over the edge. But it was just words, just a conversation, just an appeal to another human being who may or may not save his own life by resisting the war. It also is the right thing to do, to not be part or an imperialist invasion and occupation.
When he is in Iraq, if he makes that choice to go, he will either be at a base with no contact with Iraqis or if he does leave these protected sanctuaries he will be trying to survive the ongoing war against the occupation. Of course he is likely to have superior weapons and armor. I wonder how kind he will be to Iraqis? I suspect he will not be kind to the average Iraqi who just happens to surprise this dude-father-husband soldier. Face it, this harmless looking dad may be blowing away families in Iraq if it fits the oh so liberal "rules of engagement". That's the situation Bush-Cheney and Representative Dennis Moore want to put him. That's something else he won't have to do if he choses life, peace and resistance to the imperialist, unjust, illegal war in Iraq.
This sacred cow thing about the military is just used by imperialist leaders like the Bush-Cheney
criminal clique to suppress debate and open discussion of what these scoundrels, the imperialist leaders, are really all about. They want oil, Iran's oil, Iraq's oil an and everyone's oil. They want a permanent occupation of Iraq, Bush compared his dreamed of occupation as being like that in
Korea. The Korean occupation is already fifty years old with no end in sight.
The whole invasion of Iraq has only polarized the world against the United States. Our economy is in long term and now apparently acute decline. Yet one fact remains, whoever ends up running Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia will sell oil. We don't need to conquer other lands to buy oil.
It will be on the market.
The whole war is pointless in terms of achieving democracy or stability. It created al-qaeda in Iraq. Osama Bin Laden and Dick Cheney (as well as his loathesome sidekick G. W. and clueless congressional leaders like Representative Dennis Moore (D) of Kansas all agreed that the invasion of Afghanistan was a great idea, for Bin Laden. It was a classic case of drawing the enemy in deep so that a protracted war against the invader can begin.
Only it was quite an additional bonus to Al Qaeda to see the United States invade Iraq as well.
Now the United States is losing two wars, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. The invasion of Iraq made possible the creation of Al Qaeda in Iraq and similar groups where they really didn't exist before the invasion. Who was the genius here? Not Discmaster Cheney, not Representive Dennis Moore of Kansas who has been a relentless supporter of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Who has benefited besides the military contractors and the Al Qaeda type groups?
So when you see a soldier, try to save his life. Tell him no one wants him in Iraq and that we want him to live here in the United States in peace. Your may be able to say it all better than me. I am confident of that. Such personal messages may save individual lives and stop an unjust war. Maybe you will save a soldier's life and lives in Iraq as well.
Monday, September 17, 2007
GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS BLACKWATER ORDERED OUT OF IRAQ
One way the Bush-Cheney clique and their Congressional confidants have pursued their bloody war in Iraq is by hiring about as many mercenary forces as they have deployed troops of the empire.
Blackwater is the poster child of U.S. mercenary forces. After another one of their gratuitous acts of violence they have been ordered out of Iraq, something the Maliki government may have wanted to do for some time. Of course, I am only speculating. I don't even want these U.S. based mercenary forces back in the United States. Furthermore, this could be a message by Maliki that all U.S. forces had best go home and otherwise leave Iraq to the Iraqis, the one thing that Bush-Cheney seems to want to avoid at all costs.
I believe I remember him being asked about what he thought about American threats to leave because Iraq wasn't meeting American imposed benchmarks. He didn't beg the Americans to stay. He said something to the effect that they might leave if they wished.
It wasn't a "get the hell out", but that's what the whole war has been about, getting the United States out of Iraq. Only the Americans have gotten it backwards.
I really don't know much about the Iraqi Maliki government. I do know he has good relations with both Iran and Syria. He is not the puppet that Bush-Cheney and the imperial policy elite had hoped for. Like the Diem brothers who ran South Vietnam way back when the United States was so desperate to help the Vietnamese. Mr. Maliki may be killed by Bush-Cheney, the liberators of Iraq.
The Diem brothers were negotiating with those other "bad" Vietnamese for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, ie. the made up conflict between North and South Vietnam. I think they were gunned down in a truck in a plan executed by the usual suspects and their tools, in this case the next puppet. Was that Nguyen Cao Ky? I don't remember.
Yes, I am skeptical about the idea that most Iraqis want the United States to stay in Iraq. I think reasonably reliable polls suggest otherwise. Still, I think you see Iraqis saying things about how they want the U. S. to stay in Iraq in the U.S. pro-war,
pro-imperialist media. That's what they want us to believe, that the Iraqis like us being in Iraq.
What will be the impact of mercenaries being kicked out of Iraq? It seems to me that it will knock a big piece of the U. S. military machine out, even if it is more of a security thing, or at least portrayed as such.
Will the United States try to force Iraq to accept Blackwater? Will they call it Whitewater or something else and try to keep the mercenaries there under a different name, as employees of some other "private contractor", mercenary company?
Or could this be a clever way to deploy Blackwater mercenaries to the United States to participate in a coup against the United States Government and Constitution, ie. the Bush-Cheney criminal clique will declare a state of emergency during a crisis of their own creation and with their mercenary forces seek to abolish the fragile remnants of democracy in this nation and shut down the 2008 elections? Is Bush more of a Hitler than a Napoleon? There was a lot of laughing about Hitler until he cut the throats of even the most talented comedian.
BBC NEWS
'Fair probe' vow on Iraq gunfight
Iraq and the US have pledged a "fair and transparent" investigation into a gunfight involving a private security firm that left eight civilians dead.
Iraq has banned North Carolina-based Blackwater USA from the country after the shoot-out in Baghdad on Sunday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has telephoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki about the incident.
The two have agreed to investigate and hold any wrongdoers accountable, according to Mr Maliki's spokesman.
All Blackwater personnel have been told to leave Iraq immediately, with the exception of the men involved in the incident.
The United States does everything it can to avoid such loss of life in contrast to the enemies of the Iraqi people who deliberately target civilians
State Department spokesman
They will have to remain in the country and stand trial, the Iraqi interior ministry said.
The convoy carrying officials from the US State Department came under attack at about 1230 local time on Sunday as it passed through Nisoor Square in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Mansour.
The Blackwater security guards "opened fire randomly at citizens" after mortars landed near their vehicles, killing eight people and wounding 13 others, interior ministry officials said.
Most of the dead and wounded were bystanders, the officials added. One of those killed was a policeman.
BLACKWATER USA FACTS
Founded in 1997 by three former US Navy SEALs
Headquarters in North Carolina
One of at least 28 Private Security Companies in Iraq
Employs 744 US citizens, 231 third-country nationals, and 12 Iraqis to protect US state department in Iraq (May 2007)
Provided protection for former CPA head Paul Bremer
Four employees killed by mob in Falluja in March 2004
Personnel have no combat immunity under international law if they engage in hostilities
A spokesman for the US State Department told the AFP news agency that during her phone call to Mr Maliki, Ms Rice had "reiterated that the United States does everything it can to avoid such loss of life in contrast to the enemies of the Iraqi people who deliberately target civilians".
A Blackwater official was quoted as telling Time magazine's online edition that "the convoy was violently attacked by armed insurgents, not civilians, and our people did their job, they fired back to defend human life".
Thousands of private security guards are employed in Iraq.
They are often heavily armed, but critics say some lack proper training and are accountable only to their employers.
Blackwater is reported to have a contract worth $300m (£150m) with the state department to protect its diplomatic staff and equipment in Iraq.
The firm's personnel have no combat immunity under international law if they engage in hostilities.
Sunday's violence followed the publication of a survey of Iraqis by a UK-based polling agency that suggested up to 1.2m people might have died because of the conflict in Iraq.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7000018.stm
Published: 2007/09/17 23:25:19 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Blackwater is the poster child of U.S. mercenary forces. After another one of their gratuitous acts of violence they have been ordered out of Iraq, something the Maliki government may have wanted to do for some time. Of course, I am only speculating. I don't even want these U.S. based mercenary forces back in the United States. Furthermore, this could be a message by Maliki that all U.S. forces had best go home and otherwise leave Iraq to the Iraqis, the one thing that Bush-Cheney seems to want to avoid at all costs.
I believe I remember him being asked about what he thought about American threats to leave because Iraq wasn't meeting American imposed benchmarks. He didn't beg the Americans to stay. He said something to the effect that they might leave if they wished.
It wasn't a "get the hell out", but that's what the whole war has been about, getting the United States out of Iraq. Only the Americans have gotten it backwards.
I really don't know much about the Iraqi Maliki government. I do know he has good relations with both Iran and Syria. He is not the puppet that Bush-Cheney and the imperial policy elite had hoped for. Like the Diem brothers who ran South Vietnam way back when the United States was so desperate to help the Vietnamese. Mr. Maliki may be killed by Bush-Cheney, the liberators of Iraq.
The Diem brothers were negotiating with those other "bad" Vietnamese for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, ie. the made up conflict between North and South Vietnam. I think they were gunned down in a truck in a plan executed by the usual suspects and their tools, in this case the next puppet. Was that Nguyen Cao Ky? I don't remember.
Yes, I am skeptical about the idea that most Iraqis want the United States to stay in Iraq. I think reasonably reliable polls suggest otherwise. Still, I think you see Iraqis saying things about how they want the U. S. to stay in Iraq in the U.S. pro-war,
pro-imperialist media. That's what they want us to believe, that the Iraqis like us being in Iraq.
What will be the impact of mercenaries being kicked out of Iraq? It seems to me that it will knock a big piece of the U. S. military machine out, even if it is more of a security thing, or at least portrayed as such.
Will the United States try to force Iraq to accept Blackwater? Will they call it Whitewater or something else and try to keep the mercenaries there under a different name, as employees of some other "private contractor", mercenary company?
Or could this be a clever way to deploy Blackwater mercenaries to the United States to participate in a coup against the United States Government and Constitution, ie. the Bush-Cheney criminal clique will declare a state of emergency during a crisis of their own creation and with their mercenary forces seek to abolish the fragile remnants of democracy in this nation and shut down the 2008 elections? Is Bush more of a Hitler than a Napoleon? There was a lot of laughing about Hitler until he cut the throats of even the most talented comedian.
BBC NEWS
'Fair probe' vow on Iraq gunfight
Iraq and the US have pledged a "fair and transparent" investigation into a gunfight involving a private security firm that left eight civilians dead.
Iraq has banned North Carolina-based Blackwater USA from the country after the shoot-out in Baghdad on Sunday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has telephoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki about the incident.
The two have agreed to investigate and hold any wrongdoers accountable, according to Mr Maliki's spokesman.
All Blackwater personnel have been told to leave Iraq immediately, with the exception of the men involved in the incident.
The United States does everything it can to avoid such loss of life in contrast to the enemies of the Iraqi people who deliberately target civilians
State Department spokesman
They will have to remain in the country and stand trial, the Iraqi interior ministry said.
The convoy carrying officials from the US State Department came under attack at about 1230 local time on Sunday as it passed through Nisoor Square in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Mansour.
The Blackwater security guards "opened fire randomly at citizens" after mortars landed near their vehicles, killing eight people and wounding 13 others, interior ministry officials said.
Most of the dead and wounded were bystanders, the officials added. One of those killed was a policeman.
BLACKWATER USA FACTS
Founded in 1997 by three former US Navy SEALs
Headquarters in North Carolina
One of at least 28 Private Security Companies in Iraq
Employs 744 US citizens, 231 third-country nationals, and 12 Iraqis to protect US state department in Iraq (May 2007)
Provided protection for former CPA head Paul Bremer
Four employees killed by mob in Falluja in March 2004
Personnel have no combat immunity under international law if they engage in hostilities
A spokesman for the US State Department told the AFP news agency that during her phone call to Mr Maliki, Ms Rice had "reiterated that the United States does everything it can to avoid such loss of life in contrast to the enemies of the Iraqi people who deliberately target civilians".
A Blackwater official was quoted as telling Time magazine's online edition that "the convoy was violently attacked by armed insurgents, not civilians, and our people did their job, they fired back to defend human life".
Thousands of private security guards are employed in Iraq.
They are often heavily armed, but critics say some lack proper training and are accountable only to their employers.
Blackwater is reported to have a contract worth $300m (£150m) with the state department to protect its diplomatic staff and equipment in Iraq.
The firm's personnel have no combat immunity under international law if they engage in hostilities.
Sunday's violence followed the publication of a survey of Iraqis by a UK-based polling agency that suggested up to 1.2m people might have died because of the conflict in Iraq.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7000018.stm
Published: 2007/09/17 23:25:19 GMT
© BBC MMVII
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