Democrats Were Charged To End A War, Not Start One
Hillary Clinton was either misinformed or economical with the truth in Wednesday night’s debate when she responded to my challenge to her by saying the Senate’s resolution earlier in the day on Iran was designed to permit economic sanctions against individual members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
She and her staff should know the United Nations Security Council on March 24 already slapped economic sanctions on individual Guard Members. Like the Red Army in China, Iran allows Guard commanders to own and run private companies. Security Council Resolution 1747, which the United States voted for, froze financial assets held outside Iran on the seven military commanders, including General Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr and six other admirals and generals.
I know of no law dictating the State Department must first designate individuals or groups as terrorists before sanctions can be imposed on them. Dozens of countries have been under U.S. unilateral sanctions that are not designated as terrorist. The U.S. first imposed sanctions on Iran in 1979 over the hostages, not terrorism. The only possible purpose of the Senate resolution asking the State Department to designate the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization is to set it up for military attack in George Bush’s war on terror.
As Virginia senator Jim Webb valiantly said in the Senate, the United States has never before designated the military services of a sovereign state a terrorist group. Indeed, though there is international dispute over the definition of terrorism, there is little disagreement on the legal point that terrorists are non-state actors who target civilians, i.e., never members of a government. Governments can be guilty of war crimes, but not terrorism. And the resolution talks about attacks on American troops, not civilians.
The hypocrisy of Hillary and the 75 other senators who called for more unilateral sanctions on Iran, was exposed Monday by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier who said, according to Spiegel Magazine, that American companies are violating existing U.S. sanctions by surreptitiously doing business with Iran through front companies in Dubai.
Joe Lieberman wrote the resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq that was passed with Democratic support on October 11, 2002. Lieberman’s new resolution setting up a Bush-Cheney invasion of Iran passed by 76 to 22 with Democratic backing on September 26, 2007. These are two dates that will live in infamy in the 21st century. Led by Senator Clinton, it was another sad day for the Senate and for Senate Democrats, who were elected to the majority in November in order to end a war, not start a new one.
Mike Gravel is a former US Senator from Alaska and is currently running for the Democratic Nomination for President.
Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and many many other so-called “democratic” leaders are not playing straight with the People.
Senator Gravel I applaud your integrity in confronting the other candidates on this issue.
Even now other countries besides the US of A are taking matters into their own hands. Good for them because the US of A has been so diminished — and correctly so.
Peace,
Ken Hausle
Charlotte, NC
Mike, all I can say is THANK YOU! You are an honest man in a time when honesty is not fashionable nor even expected anymore. How you refrained from slapping that evil grin off of Hillary’s face Wednesday night, I’ll never know. You are a true Patriot, keep speaking truth to power!
is it me or is H’s smile really looking more and more like a smirk?
Gravel is correct, but he could have gone further; for example,
The key word in the Impeachment clause is “SHALL” as in “are to be” or “will” which mean action MUST be taken by the Legislative branch to discipline the officer(s) committing the offense. There is no “taking impeachment off the table.” To do so is to violate the constitution and one’s oath of office.
This is of course just what’s happened: The Executive is already illegitimate in every sense because of the gross crimes its committed, and the Legislative is now clearly illigitimate for failing to do its duty to remove the criminals from the Executive. That is our Constitutional Crisis in the middle of a war that both illigitimate branches of government seem to want to escalate as provided in recent votes and propaganda regarding Iran.
I think the stand is pretty cut-and-dried: Either you stand and defend the constitution or you stand with the war criminals and their enablers.
kloro: You are correct. I am beginning to think she is Bush’s long lost younger sister.
Besides yourself Mike the only other people that will get me vote is Kucinich, Nader, or Gore. Gore is out. Kucinich will stay inside the Party. Why don’t you and Ralph team up? You happen to be the only truth tellers (besides the aformentioned) in the pack.
Love ya Mike, I’m in Alaska and wish you were still senator! You tell it like it is, and I want to thank you for it, for not being afraid to stand up for the truth. Hillary doesn’t represent me; she’s for unnecessary and illegal wars with Iraq, Iran, and God knows who else.
Keep up the good work.
Not only are our Senators leading down the road to war with Iran but apparently the presidential candidates plan on keeping us in the current one in Iraq.
I watched the presidential debates last night and none of the three front running candidates would even promise to have the troops out of Iraq by the end of their first term in 2013.
Lobo Gris
Way I figure it, some of the 397 representatives and 77 senators who voted in favor of a nuclear attack on Iran did so because they’re Israel-firsters. But most of them couldn’t care less about Israel, they’re simply political whores who fear being targeted by Israel Lobby enforcers more than they fear retaliation from angry voters. They would rather murder millions of innocent Iranians in a nuclear strike than incur the enmity of AIPAC goons. Besides, maybe the voters won’t bother to take revenge on their distinguished representatives and senators, since most voters really want them to do whatever it takes, including mass murder and crimes against humanity, to get control of all that Iranian oil.
Make no mistake, these two resolutions were sneakily drafted to provide authorization for nuclear war on Iran while being vague enough to allow for future deniability when the war goes south on them. Just because our pols have no souls doesn’t mean they’re stupid. They know that the US cannot possibly win simultaneous, conventional wars in both Iraq and Iran, even with a draft. So the plan is to go nuclear. What the heck, in for a dime, in for a dollar. They’re already indictable war criminals for authorizing mass murder in Iraq so what’s another several million victims added to the official non-tally? Plus, the resolutions’ fine print contains enough weasel words that our enlightened statesmen can always claim they never intended to authorize nuclear war, while Bush/Cheney can claim, truthfully, that they did.
“kloro: You are correct. I am beginning to think she is Bush’s long lost younger sister”
Galen, if Clinton is now PapaBush’s other son, then obviously Hillary is his daughter-in-law.
“Way I figure it, some of the 397 representatives and 77 senators who voted in favor of a nuclear attack on Iran did so because they’re Israel-firsters.”
No, they simply see Israel as the embodiment of Americanism in the 21st century, and they are exactly correct. Americans simply intend to do in the Middle East in the 21st century what they did to the indigenous people of the North American continent in the 19th.
Ostrogoth: Um.. which way does the wind blow from Iran? Oh, that’s right.. towards CALIFORNIA! (Past Afghanistan, India, Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, HAWAII…)
With an honest system of publicly funded campaigns a person of honor like Mike Gravel might have a chance but with our corrupt system of buying and selling votes the most corrupt often wins as apparently Hillary Clinton is poised to do.
But the democraps are also beholden to the same foreign lobby as the repblithugs: AIPAC. This country is no longer the US of A. It is the US of I.
The nightmare is far from over. The nightmare will continue to get worse, a lot worse. We have the worst president in American history, along with the worst congress in American history.
If the U.S and Israel share the same exact interests, then why is it that the better an American president is for Israel, the worse he is for America? Hopefully, more people make this connection, as AIPAC and its hawkish Zionist allies continue to beat the drums for another war. I have more respect for sewer rats than for scumbag traitors like Lieberman. Let us make sure everyone knows who the evil-doers are, the ones who are lobbying hard to make our American nightmare worse, and who the beneficiaries are.
Thank you for this, and for speaking out in the debates, Mr Gravel.
I hope you’ll continue to do so - I’m pretty sure you will! I just wish they’d give you more time - it’s so unfair.
As long as you and Dennis Kucinich are around we can count on at least two voices speaking truths.
Peaceistruth: Aw, come on now…sewer rats serve a purpose. Spreading plague, disease and death…just like, oh hey…
Ralph Nader for President!
Galen, california is a blue state. These neocons don’t care about poisoning it any more than they cared about poisoning Manhattan (85% Democrat) on 9-11.
Americans have this blissful belief that their lives are more important than the rest of the world’s citizens. The ignorant part of this belief is that they are wrong. The ruling class has as much contempt for us as they do the rest of the world.
The immoral part of this belief speaks for itself.
This is the story i was referring to:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070928/ts_nm/nuclear_iran_powers_dc;_ylt=AroNT543R6kOWDrdhCJH1nas0NUE
It has already changed a bit, but even now it states the following:
“NEW YORK (Reuters) - The world’s major powers agreed on Friday to delay a vote on tougher sanctions on Iran until late November at the earliest, depending on reports by the U.N. nuclear watchdog and a European Union negotiator.
The outcome was a temporary setback for the United States and France, which had sought swifter action to step up economic and political pressure on the Islamic Republic over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which the West suspects is aimed at developing nuclear arms.”
China, Russia and Germany were mentioned as being helpful in making this happen. Britain and France also apparently played a role. I hope it is something of substance that is basically sending out the world-wide message: US of A if you attack Iran you will be ostracized and alone. I also hope that within this country more and more speak out against war.
Furthermore, the undertone of this international action is one of this: “US of A you are no longer a country able to lead world affairs. You have bought nothing but chaos for too long now…..you have got to start learning how to fit in…”…unless of course i’m reading more into it than is actually there. Regardless, i like the tone….and if our country still has some real leaders they will do as so many here have already lauded: speak out the truth.
Because it has gotten so ridiculously obvious that the leaders out of DC think the People can’t tell the difference…but i think the People can.
Peace,
Ken Hausle
Mike, you’ve just convinced me to up the amount I’ve contributed, your voice, Kunicich and Ron Pauls need to be heard. We can’t have the corporate candiates beholden to special interests as our only choice.
countess writes (1:58 pm) -
“With an honest system of publicly funded campaigns a person of honor like Mike Gravel might have a chance but with our corrupt system of buying and selling votes the most corrupt often wins …”
There’s some truth to this, but it doesn’t mean that all we have to do is “just” move to a system of public campaign funding. Rather, the reason we don’t have public financing is precisely so that those with the biggest piles of money always win. They won’t allow it to be any other way.
Neither party supports anything more than cosmetic change in this; the basic issue is not even “on the table” for discussion. Since both parties are in effect agents of the ruling class, they will always oppose measures that would loosen ruling class control.
Go, Mike!
Is he the only one who can see the utter nakedness (and the really disgusting body) of The Decider?
Kucinich and Gravel are the only candidates worthy of consideration. We know the Dims will not run them. I’m hoping the Mike Gravel will be willing to break with them and run as an independent. If so, I urge all progressives and liberals to support and work for him and not fall into the trap of voting for Hillary “because she can win.” because a “win” by a corporate Dim is still a loss for us.
Moonraven: Gee, thanks. Now I need therapy…
Mister Gravel, I also thought it was odd that the USA government would say that all members of the Iran Revolutionary Guard are terrorists. Iran may as well say that the USA National Guard members are terrorists. Both have the same purpose in jobs, just called different names. Memory serves me correct, some members of the USA National Guard are in Iraq terrorizing its people. So at least some members of the USA National Guard is demonstrating terrorist activities more so than the Iran National Guard is.
Bravo, Senator Gravel! Hillary is a war-mongering, two-faced moron.
Here’s how the Senate voted on the Senate Amendment (SA 3017), giving the Bush administration cover for a military attack on Iran:
NO:
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Dodd (D-CT)
Feingold (D-WI)
Hagel (R-NE)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Leahy (D-VT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Sanders (I-VT)
Tester (D-MT)
Webb (D-VA)
YES:
Akaka (D-HI)
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Martinez (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Schumer (D-NY)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
Among the presidential candidates, Biden and Dodd voted against, Clinton voted for, and Obama didn’t show up for the vote.
Former Senator Edwards said (in the recent debate): “I have no intention of giving George Bush the authority to take the first step on a road to war with Iran. And I think that vote today, which Senator Biden and Senator Dodd voted against, and they were correct to vote against it, is a clear indication of the approach that all of us would take with the situation in Iran. Because what I learned in my vote on Iraq was, you cannot give this president the authority and you can’t even give him the first step in that authority, because he cannot be trusted.”
Governor Richardson: Stresses diplomacy in foreign relations with Iran.
Congressman Kucinich: Stresses diplomacy in foreign relations with Iran.
Unfortunately, ALL the Democratic candidates for president are FOR flooding the job market with low-wage replacement workers — a policy which lowers wages and benefits for all working Americans, and furthers the destruction of our middle class and our economy. When asked about illegal immigration, they all responded with empty rhetoric about “a nation of immigrants,” even Kucinich and Gravel.
It was late, I was half asleep but I think I heard on Bloomberg TV of a poll stating that nearly 57% of Americans think it’s time for a third party. Was I dreaming?
By the way “Bloomberg” you may ask? Yes, and papers like the Financial Times are good ways to get information, admittedly biased in their editorials, but the financial markets want to know what’s going on.
If you look at a map of the Middle East, you will notice that Pakistan, Afganistan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria all line up in a neat little row.
If the USA were to occupy all of these countries, they would effectively cut off the Arabian sea from the Caspian sea, and separate Russia from the oilfields.
Anybody ever play Risk?
BushCo is not planning 4 little wars, but ONE BIG FUCKING WAR!
Then you set up a fake “missle defence shield” from Poland to Bulgaria, and you have the Russians and Chinese nicely boxed into a corner.
Then we’ll be ready for WW3/Armegeadon, and the baby Jebus can come down and collect all the saintly mass murdering Christians
You can’t compare Bush to Hitler….Hitler’s ambitions pale by comparision to BushCo’s
Canuckchuck: Oh. You noticed that too, huh?
Got my tools, got my cat, got my lady…would the last person out please turn off the lights.
…and the followers of baby jebus can eat rocks for all i care…
Personally, I’m buying an old sailboat and putting to sea….a moving target is harder to hit, and I can live on fish and make my own water from the sea.
at least until the radioactive clouds overtake me….
baby jesus. . .and his sister. didn’t y’all see star wars????
Galen,
Thanks, I’ll have to get in touch with my ex-pat friend and tell him his punchline will now probably be immortalized at progressive websites everywhere. Harley would thank you.
Where is Moveon.org????
If there is anything this group should be doing right now, it should be trying to stop a new war. If we start a new war, trying to stop the old war will never happen. We will never stop the war and we will be bankrupt by it. All of Moveon.org campaigns won’t matter if this happens.
I know they are “in the doghouse” because of the Petraeus ads but they are still powerful and can mobilize opinion. They need to act now and with concentrated effort on this issue. The UN has decided to forgo sanctions until November. The other powers don’t like our Iran policy. We just have to turn up the heat on Congress in a way they can’t ignore and try to raise public awareness of the bogusness of an attack.
Sure looks like Bush will get his war with Iran and the spineless Dems enabled it–again.
I’ve given up on the 2008 election. I’m sick of both groups of the crooked a*&holes. What choice will we have, Clinton or her double on the Rep. side? Some choice, tweedle dee or tweedle dum. If I vote at all it will be for someone other than the two parties, even if I have to write in my dog. The only people who have any sense, Mike and Dennis, don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell. Big money would never let it happen.
Senator Gravel:
I’m glad that you are writing articles on Common Dreams and hopefully for other sites and the MSM. It’s a great way to reach the public as they won’t let you talk in the debates and ask you moronic questions when they do. A stalinist radio host attacks you. And you’re not getting much tv airtime lately. It seems both sides are trying to trivialize you in spite of, or maybe because your National Initiative is the most important message out there.
I hope all CD bloggers will visit http://www.gravel2008.us/
From Fox News (!!):
NEW YORK — Nearly half of Americans think it would be good for the country if an independent candidate won the 2008 presidential election, according to the latest FOX News Poll. And despite acknowledging the improbability of the candidate winning, a majority says they would consider voting for an independent for president.
Opinion Dynamics Corp. conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News from June 26 to June 27. The poll has a 3-point error margin.
More than twice as many voters think it would be good for the country if an independent candidate were to win the White House in 2008 than think it would be bad (45 percent good, 19 percent bad). In addition, there is rare partisan agreement on the issue as 42 percent of Democrats and 44 percent of Republicans think electing an independent candidate would be good for the country, as do 56 percent of self-described independents.
Furthermore, a 67 percent majority says they would consider casting their ballot for an independent — including more than 6 in 10 Democrats and Republicans.
Even so, most people believe independent candidates have little chance of success: 31 percent of voters think a qualified independent has a reasonable chance of winning a presidential election, while a 63 percent majority thinks it’s unlikely.
So … 1 in 3 voters think an independent has a reasonable chance, 2 in 3 would consider voting for an independent, and we don’t even have anyone positioned to run as an independent yet. Think how those number could improve with an attractive independent ticket. Say … Michael Bloomberg and Bill Moyers? Mike Gravel and Ron Paul? Bill Richardson and Chuck Hagel?
You need no further example of the power of the Israel lobby. Look at who voted for this bill and then look up their campaign finance statements.
Mike Gravel comments on Ron Paul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxBs4hOXyzo
Ron Paul interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCM_wQy4YVg
Money talks, so make a donation to Gravel and hope that he gets some attention.
I would love to hear ANYONE in the mainstream media explaining that IED attacks on US vehicles are not terrorist, by definition (including the definition in the US code), or explaining that resistance to occupation is legal under international law. What makes one a terrorist is using violence or the threat of violence against civilians. Some methods are so indiscriminate that they are terrorist by nature– like carpet-bombing or dropping a nuke.
So nice to know that Joe Lieberman is the leader of the Dumbocrats.
Daniel shays, get a life. wrong paul is not a progressive!! He is a regressive, far-right libertarian fraud who doesn’t advocate any of the left wing social or economic policy. You are not going to attract any new fans of his here. We have a truly concious left-wing anti-war candidate, and that is Kucinich. I wouldn’t elect wrong for white house janitor.
I’m sooooo damn tired of Israel being associated in many of these CD comments with those fucking neocons. They don’t give a damn about Israel, or they would have been pushing for a peaceful resolution of what has come to be called the “Palestinian” refugee problem. Before the 1968 war, they were all just arabs.
canuckchuck said: “If you look at a map of the Middle East, you will notice that Pakistan, Afganistan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria all line up in a neat little row.If the USA were to occupy all of these countries, they would effectively cut off the Arabian sea from the Caspian sea, and separate Russia from the oilfields.
Anybody ever play Risk? BushCo is not planning 4 little wars, but ONE BIG FUCKING WAR!”
He is absolutely right!!! There is no way Israel could survive if Pakistan, Afganistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon all erupt into a war, and Bush and co know that very well. For those of you who did not watch Moyers tonight, two guests covering the Iraqi refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan said that tensions are escalating in those countries now, too, because of the situation in Iraq, and it could easily spread. These countries have now closed their borders and will not allow any more refugees from Iraq. On the other side of Iraq, the Saudis are beefing up their military forces, too. None of this is good for Israel, so would you all please stop equating all this warmongering as being instigated to any extent by Israel!!
We all know Lieberman is a nit-wit. Just because Bush is also a nitwit doesn’t mean that all Christians, or even all born again Christians, are also warmongering nitwits. If you don’t leave the anti-semitism out of these discussions, then you are no better than they are.
What “independent” candidate might Fox News have in mind — Joe Lieberman, willing tool of PNAP and AIPAC?
One theory about the 3-day bombing blitz that supposedly would take out Iran’s military capability (but, of course, be targeted with pinpoint precision so as not to harm any civilians) is that Israel’s air force would carry it out.
Is either the Bush administration or Israel so blindly stupid as to think there would be no retaliation for such an action, no matter whether done by our air force or Israel’s?
And to think that Israel could assure peace in the Middle East right now by accepting the Arab peace plan. And the US could assure world peace by impeaching Bush/Cheney, stripping them of their citizenship and pensions, and turning them over to the International Criminal Court for prosecution.
Ken Hausle September 28th, 2007 2:54 pm
“The outcome was a temporary setback for the United States and France, which had sought swifter action to step up economic and political pressure on the Islamic Republic over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which the West suspects is aimed at developing nuclear arms.”
The key word there is SUSPECTS. Neither the U.S. no France has any proof that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon just like they don’t have any proof that Iran is meddling in Iraq even though the MSM is now reporting it as if it is all fact.
Lobo Gris
Really does make one wonder what’s happened if we re-elect the worst president in history and have what others have deemed as the worst congress as well. Makes kind of a sad commentary on ‘we the people’. It’s unbelievable that we will be paying off the Iraq conflict (in may ways including financially) for many years to come, have exhausted our present military operations, and continue to look for trouble elsewhere in the middle east.
I have two sons of draft age and struggle with the notion that once the draft is actively started to support ANOTHER conflict in which we never should have engaged, everyone should be expected to support this madness in the name of national security or patriotism. Particularly when it’s people who have little or no military experience and no apparent personal losses at stake as they scream “sick ‘em” or some other variation of needless mongering.
Perhaps the Israelis were correct all along and we should have gone into Iran versus Iraq. Too late for ‘two steps back’ now and frankly, we don’t have the resources to be ‘victorious’ without a CONSIDERABLE burden on the United States. How much are we going to pass onto future generations in terms of ‘holding the bag’ for poor decisions made now?
Io Q. Lellity, that’s for sure — Ron Paul is not a progressive. No one would accuse him of being one.
I can’t think of anyone less ‘progressive’ and more regressive, than the self-proclaimed progressives.
Did you follow those links? Funny thing.. Mike Gravel likes Ron Paul.
Also, you might like to actually hear what the man has to say before you rake him over the coals. What he says sounds a lot more like our founding fathers then any one candidate I’ve heard for a long, long while..probably 180 years.
And you should learn something about libertarianism before you start spouting crap about it. It’s impossible to be a “far-right libertarian” or even a right libertarian. Libertarians are neither left nor right. You’re sharing your ignorance, Io Q. Lellity.
“Perhaps the Israelis were correct all along and we should have gone into Iran versus Iraq.”
chris September 29th, 2007 12:47 am
We are already following the Zionist/Isareli agenda in the Middle East, which is to knock off all obstacles to Israeli apartheid and terrorism, with the obstacle du jour being Iran. The Zionists and their Lobby have no other reason to start war with Iran. Sure, the mullahs are religious fanatics, like the Zionists, not very nice fellas. But the mullahs aren’t racists and they don’t steal land/oil from all their neighbors. And just for the record, we already went into Iran once, in 1954, when the Iranians had the audacity to nationalize their own oil. The good ol’ US of A overthrew their democratic government and oversaw a twenty-five year reign of terror at the hands of our facist stooge, Shah Pahlavi, and his dreaded Savak. The Zionists had no hand in that sordid black op, but they and their powerful Lobby are front and center in laying the groundwork for Armageddon in the Middle East. Would Americans fight a world war in defense of Israel if they knew it was an apartheid regime intent on conquering the region and imposing its racist policies by force? I hope not. But their Lobby is doing everything in its considerable power to prevent Americans from finding out the truth.
As for homegrown American fascists and their oil lobby, there are many ways for the US to get access to ME oil. But as long as we support racist supremacists we are going to be locked out of that energy market. Nuking Israel’s opponents will only turn the entire world against us.
Daniel Shays, I’ve heard all I need to from Mr. Paul. He wants to overturn Roe v Wade…NEXT
PS That doesn’t even begin to touch on his racist leanings, no, I don’t think we need another bible thumping Texan in office, thanks anyway…
Ostrogoth: Bushco is not following any “Zionist/Israeli agenda in the ME.” That is bushit, just like WMD and Saddam being behind 9/11 is bushit. This is blood for oil — the US corporate oil giants. That’s why Iran is next. Next to Iraq, Iran has the world’s biggest unexploited oil reserves.
In fact, a excerpt from James Howard Kunstler’s 9/17/07 blog is relevant here:
Now, as to the shock of Al’s [Greenspan] revelation that the Iraq war is about oil — the media and the public have got this all wrong, too. The logic here seems to be that because the Iraq war is about oil it is therefore unnecessary, optional, a mistake, an indulgence, something we should not dirty our hands in. In fact, the Iraq war is not about oil, per se, so much as it is about America’s behavior here at home, about the choices we make for how we live on this continent. None of those who complain most loudly about our military presence in Iraq have advanced any proposals for reforming how we live here — and hence for our enslavement to oil, much of the world’s remaining supply of which happens to be in the neighborhood of Iraq. When these complainers start complaining about the ubiquitous acceptance of suburban sprawl and abject car-dependency — and this includes the environmental boy scouts out there who want to get merit badges for buying hybrid cars — then they will deserve to be taken seriously.
http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary22.html
chris: there is no internationally recognized legal justification for going into Iran or Iraq. The U.S. is in flagrant violation of international treaty and law. We are also already in violation wrt Iran because of our ongoing operations inside Iran intended to foment insurrection and conflict. I have two draft age sons myself; the U.S. was neither attacked nor threatened by Iraq or Iran.
Hey you beautiful Cats, keep the fires burning. The only progressive voice you can find these days is over here. I use to post on Hartmann site but all the progressives departed now the only thing offered on his site is a pack of sheep grazing on worn out tripe and Hartmann advancing his catechism of a proper way to engage the political process by electing Dems at all costs and then hope for the best.
Senator Dodd on SA 3017: [it takes little to] “give this President a green light to act recklessly and endanger US national security. We learned in the run up to the Iraq war that seemingly nonbinding language passed by this Senate can have profound consequences. We need the president to use robust diplomacy to address concerns with Iran, not the language in this amendment that the president can point to if he decides to draw this country into another disastrous war of choice. We shouldn’t repeat our mistakes and enable this President again.”
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/27/4165/
Forget hope or counting the days when Bush dog leaves office if all we have is a Clinton to head the continuing war in the middle east. And with the likes of Pelosie, forget about any impeachment. it is time for a new party and just cast out these war mongers and ill informed idiots. I can’t believe this congress would be for another war in Iran. Who believes Bush anymore? If he has his way, any country that doesn’t play ball with his corporate interests he calls terrorists. What would you call Blackwater? American terrorists. And what would you call American troops who are being misled?
GET THAT NON-FxxxKING BITCH HILLARY OUT OF THERE. OH, PARDON ME, SHE IS SCREWING US, THE POOR CITIZENS WHO THOUGHT SHE WOULD DO SOMETHING INTELLIGENT. SHE VOTED FOR THE IRAQ WAR AND NOW SHE’S VOTING FOR ANOTHER IN IRAN, THE START OF WORLD WAR III AND THE END OF CIVILIZATION. SHE’S DO DAMN BUSY SELFISHLY CAMPAIGNING THAT SHE IS IGNORING HER DUTY AS A SENATOR. WE SURE AS HELL DON’T WANT THIS WAR MONGER AS PRESIDENT. IF THE DEMOCRATS ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO NOMINATE HER, WE’LL HAVE ANOTHER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT. AND I’LL THROW UP IF I HAVE TO SEE HER ON TV WAVING HER HANDS AROUND IN THAT MANNER THAT SHE MUST PRACTICE IN FRONT OF A MIRROR FOR HOURS. C’MON BILL, DUMP HER FOR SOMEONE YOUNGER AND ATTRACTIVE AND FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY.
I FORGOT. SHE’S A POLITICAL WHORE TOO. SELLING HERSELF TO THE CORPORATE/MILITARY COMPLEX.
Actually Mike, when you think about it, the Democrats are doing exactly what they get paid to do. Dance to the Tel Aviv flute.
The dems never promised anything. Never. Ever. Voters elected them because they’re the only thing they’ve got. And as anyone can see, it ain’t much, is it folks?
And they’ll keep the moveon’s of the world awash in cash and they’ll keep voting for these criminals anyway, cuz its all they’ve got.
Keep up the good work, guys!
Nader 2008
“Ostrogoth: Bushco is not following any “Zionist/Israeli agenda in the ME.” That is bushit, just like WMD and Saddam being behind 9/11 is bushit. This is blood for oil — the US corporate oil giants. That’s why Iran is next. Next to Iraq, Iran has the world’s biggest unexploited oil reserves.”
greengal September 29th, 2007 9:28 am
Greengal, sorry that I couldn’t respond earlier. I didn’t mean to imply that the neocon agenda is exclusively Zionist. Their neocon agenda is a mix, like the Decider himself: an ignorant Christian Zionist who was born into the oil lobby. The Muslims wouldn’t be putting up such a fight if Bush wasn’t unconditionally backing Israeli apartheid and expansionism. That’s where the Arabs draw the line and that’s why we’re getting deeper into trouble by the minute. There’s no need to destroy Iraq and Iran to get their oil, but destruction of both Iraq and Iran is part of the Zionist/Israeli agenda in the ME.
Galen wrote:
“Got my tools, got my cat, got my lady…”
My brother has everything set for his move to Toronto in 30 days, but he won’t be able to take his cat, and time is running out to find him a home. So I’m asking if someone out there in the western Pennsylvania/ WV /SE Ohio area to help us out. Gros-Tete is a black with white “bib” neutered male, about 5 years old. He’s Short haired and sheds very little. He is well behaved and will do well as an indoor cat or an indoor/outdoor cat.
So Bush gets bipartisan support from the Democrats for his invasion of Iraq…
Democrats have left their principles at the bottom of the outhouse and all they want now is for you to elect more of them in November.
Great article, Mr. Gravel. I like your politics, but you REALLY need to work on your delivery, at least on TV. You come across as subtle as a troll, and make even people who like your ideas wince. Some of my non-political friends miss your message entirely, and just ask, “who’s the grouchy old man?”
Grouchy? When it comes to lies and stupidity leading to illegal and immoral wars which have already cost a million lives, grouchy is good.
Senator Gravel is the only one up there with the guts to say plainly that Hillary and Obama will continue the war in Iraq and likely start a new one in Iran. Somebody has to be grouchy, at the very least.
I long to see Gravel REALLY blast those two frauds and drill holes through their vapid rhetoric. “Elect me. I was given bad information about Iraq,” says Hillary. “Elect me. I didn’t even show up to vote on the Iran Sanctions Senate Amendment,” says Obama (the only Senator to not vote). Indeed!
Notice how the corporatocracy has sanctioned Clinton? Every time I see a News show her ugly mug is plastered all over the airwaves completely excluding all the progressive candidates like Mike. What utter corporate controlled bull shit…it appears a done deal as the sheep will flock to Clinton’s standard because Big Brother says it is so. I am looking into moving to New Zealand. Really, I have had enough of this shit.