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They Lied About Iraq in 2003, and They're Still Lying Now
Triumphalists are getting off on Iraq again, intoning hallelujah songs as they did after staging the fall of Saddam's statue then again and again, sweet lullabies to send us into blissful sleep and wake to a new dawn. The composers and orchestrators - Blair, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Straw, Hoon and Rice - still believe history is on their side.
Bush visited his troops at Camp Victory in Iraq this month and said: "Iraq had a record of supporting terror, of developing and using weapons of mass destruction, was routinely firing at American military personnel, systematically violating UN resolutions ... Iraqis, once afraid to leave their homes are going back to school and shopping in malls ... American troops are returning home because of success." Only one shoe and one without a sharp stiletto was hurled at him by Muntadar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi who begged to differ.
Gordon Brown, also in Iraq, spun his own fairy tale of Baghdad, where everyone is living happily ever after and British soldiers come home proud heroes. The reality is that some of our soldiers are broken - physically and mentally - fighting this illegal and unpopular war and that too many did terrible things in the land of endless tears. General Sir Mike Jackson now blames the Americans for their "appalling" decisions. And yet he too insists the campaign was a success.
Even the choral backers of Bush and Blair, once oh-so-influential, sound tinny now, out of tune. In a new book, The Liberal Defence Of Murder, Richard Seymour names many usually enlightened individuals who cheered on the disgraceful crusade and have now gone silent. Others who supported the adventure have escaped through passages of ingenious exculpation. Most Tories, for example, now say they were hypnotised by the Government's false dossiers.
Really? Even hard-of-hearing Mrs Kirkpatrick down the road - she's 79 - understood that we were being deceived. The UN weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Scott Ritter both told us there were no WMDs. Ken Clarke said this weekend: "I opposed the Iraq war. I'm not sure whether anybody believed Saddam had weapons of mass destruction that were a threat to anybody. Most American spies didn't believe that, most British spies didn't believe that and most of the Foreign Office didn't believe that".
Nor did the Opposition but it still backed Blair because Conservatives love wars and one against a swarthy potentate was irresistible.
So to Iraqis, the beneficiaries of our noble "sacrifices". This week Nahla Hussein, a left-wing, feminist Kurdish Iraqi, was shot and beheaded for her campaigning zeal. Fifty-seven Iraqis were blown up in Kirkuk. Christians in Mosul are being savagely persecuted and sharia law has replaced the 1959 codified entitlements given to women in family disputes. Women in Iraq have fewer rights today than under Saddam. Yes, there is some normality in parts but tensions between Shias and Sunnis are explosive. When troops are withdrawn next year, expect more bloodshed. The resources of Iraq, meanwhile, are being plundered.
For these blessings, one million Iraqis had to die and their children still suffer from illnesses caused by our weapons and our war. Five million Iraqis are displaced and, of these, the US took in 1,700. It is easier for an Iraqi cat or dog to gain entry to the land of the free. Try Baghdad Pups, which offers (for a hefty fee) to get the adopted pets of US soldiers into America. In 2007, 39,000 Iraqis sought refuge in the EU countries and we took in 300. Sweden, which has no responsibility for the havoc, gave refuge to 18,000.
I have been talking to exiled Iraqis in London. One young man has a child whose mother killed herself after giving birth during the war. He both loves and hates this country, as did Bilal Abdullah, the NHS doctor convicted for dreadful plans to blow up people in the UK. A beautiful Iraqi woman told me her nephew gave plastic flowers to our soldiers when first they went into Basra. Last year, they shot him dead, mistaking him for an enemy.
On Friday, I met an Iraqi artist, Yousif Nasser, whose studio has become a hub for other exiles, artists, musicians and the mentally ill seeking art therapy. A gentle, melancholic man, he showed me his series titled "Black Rain", enormous works depicting the violence in Iraq: "There are no bodies, only pieces, bits, of a little bit of this and that. People don't buy my pictures - they are too dark. How can I tell you what has happened to my country? I have no words, only these images."
I have words, too weak and inadequate to carry the rage felt by millions at the renewed arrogance of the villains who first devastated Iraq and now garland themselves. Lies, lies and now delusion. There is no glory to be salvaged in this desert.
- Posted in
38 Comments so far
Show AllI am so sorry. We really screwed up, with our lame protests and pathetic blogging and petitions.
How can we more effectively deal with the VANITY of our leaders?
the mighty must become humble, maybe that is what happens next?
Cold comfort after so much death.
xzorloc,
This is heartfelt poetry. Thanks.
Given our propensity to squander so much of our fortune and resources on our weapons of mass destruction, it just is so ludicrous to speak of divine justice and raising up of the lowly, of the power of love, as did MLK.
We pray for peace and pay for war; ..."what happens next?"
my vodoo dolls didn't work, prayers to God were unanswered as usual like pissing in the wind, getting threatened with firing for expressing politically incorrect views didn't get it done, writing letters didn't do it, being homeless and complaining didn't get it done. I won't ride the guilt trip nonsense that I didn't do enough, its pure BS.
When the town of Skagway, Alaska was taken over by Soapy Smith and his thugs during the Alaska gold rush, the good citizens of Skagway, Alaska said ENOUGH! They formed vigilante groups and took their town back. It is a no brainer that America has been taken over by a crime family and so they will not listen to legitmate protests; blogging, or petitions. I think what is needed is for the good and patriotic citizens of America to say ENOUGH! Maybe we need to form non-violent vigilante groups with millions of fellow citizens and take our country back from the crime family that has committed the perdition and most egregious, treason to our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Mahatma Gandhi took India back from British rule non-violently and that is the paradigm that should be studied.
"I think what is needed is for the good and patriotic citizens of America to say ENOUGH!"
We did.
We elected Obama.
Obama was chosen by the elite to defuse popular unrest, not to actually change anything. The danger to the elite is going to be now the anger of unrealized promise, of betrayal of hope.
Sioux Rose
B3NIGN: Exactly! You nailed it... but it gives them a few years to get ahold of the holdings of what's left of the U.S. treasury (i.e. buy time), and meanwhile, soften the population up by making it seem NATURAL for there to be armed guards everywhere, a standing army, and a nice battery of tasers coming off the industrial presses.
"Obama was chosen by the elite"
So Obama was not elected by voters in both the primary and general election? Wow.
No! Saying "ENOUGH" doesn't cut it! This country has been hijacked. The Bu$h crime family first weaseled its way into the office of POTUS by being unconstitutionally appointed by the Supreme Court, not by election as is called for by law. Second term, the crime family outright stole the office. As a result of these acts, over one million Iraqi civilians have died and over 4000 American troops have died (each one being the son or daughter of a U.S. family), the national debt has increased from around $400,000,000,000 to at least $1.3 TRILLION (to put the number of one trillion in perspective, one trillion seconds = 31,546 years), our Bill of Rights has been trashed as well as most of the Constitution itself, we are on the verge of Great Depression II, hundreds of thousands, if not millions are out of work, over two million Americans are in prison, our communications are being eavesdropped on, the entire world hates us, the richest 1% of our population has become far more wealthy while the rest of us have lost money in real wages, cronyism has gone haywire in the highest public offices as has corruption, we are less safe from attack from terrorist groups, teen pregnancies are up due to "faith based" sex education (abstinance only), our climate is nearing a dangerous tipping point in regards to global warming due to inaction to curb greenhouse gas emmissions, laws passed by congress have been disregarded and/or changed through the use of signing statements, we now torture prisoners of war contrary to international law which we in large were responsible for creating in the first place and we now feel free to start wars for basically any reason we wish. No, not all of these are crimes, officially, but many are, felonies at that, and there is ample evidence to back those that are indeed criminal offenses
No!!! Saying enough isn't nearly enought to right the misdeeds of this administration over the past eight years. As citizens of not only the United States, but also the world, we must, through whatever means are required, see that justice prevails and the crimes of the past eight years punished to the maximum extent allowed by law. Our best hope of accomplishing this is to DEMAND that President-elect Obama uphold his oath of office when inaugurated and began investigations into all of the actions and deeds perpetrated by the Bu$h Administration beginning on January 22, 2001. Both Bu$h and Cheney have ADMITTED IN PUBLIC TO CRIMINAL ACTIONS AND HAVE CONFLICTING STATEMENTS MADE THAT ARE RECORDED ON VIDEOTAPE THAT PROVE OTHER CRIMINAL ACTIVITY (such as Bu$h stating at one time he always gets warrants prior to wiretapping and then admits at a later date he didn't. That Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, etc.) The evidence of criminal activity by this administration is abundant beyond belief!!! A child could prosecute them and win.
Obama stated that he would investigate anything that appeared to be criminal in nature, but would not investigate what amounted to just "dumb politics." Well, the criminal activity is documented, and once an investigation is begun, there is no teling how much Bu$h actually did that was illegal. Frankly, if Bu$h did something that was legal, I would be startled! Obama has no excuse not to investigate the crimes committed by Bu$h, Cheney, and everyone associated with them. We must demand he do his job and Bu$h, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Yoo, Addington, Wolfowitz, Powell, et al must be punished by spending the rest of their lives in prison, at the very least!
Sioux Rose
AUSSIDAWG: When I read your posting (above) I thought, could we in this forum raise funds to place an ad explaining the position of U.S. citizens of conscience and call upon those of other nations to help assert justice? It's not coming from the inside, perhaps an "outer coalition of the judicious willing" is what is needed. This ad could be placed in a prominent European paper? Any ideas?
The International Criminal Court was designed to enable justice to be objectively administered when the justice system in a corrupt country is broken beyond repair. I think the US fits the bill nicely. But I am not holding my breath for real justice to show up in the US any time soon.
"the national debt has increased from around $400,000,000,000 to at least $1.3 TRILLION"
While I agree with most of what you say, you do have these numbers wrong. The national debt was around 5.7 TRILLION in 2001 when Bush took office. It is now nearing and may be more than (I haven't checked in the last couple days) 11 TRILLION. The DEFICIT, which is the yearly shortfall between dollars spent and tax dollars collected is nearing 1 TRILLION dollars per year. This doesn't include the nearly 9 TRILLION dollars in financial "guarantees" recently made by the federal government.
" ... laws passed by congress have been disregarded and/or changed through the use of signing statements ... "
And, don't forget the massive number of Executive Orders Bush has written over the last 8 years. It numbers in the hundreds, far more than any other president. He simply makes law by decree just as does a dictator. Executive orders were intended for such benign and mundane occasions as declaring next week to be "national cheese week" or to honor some foreign dignitary for whatever reason. They were never intended to replace legislation.
On the whole, an excellent post, though, aussidawg.
-- EKATON --
PaulRevere:
The biggest problem is that governmental/military might has made revolution- real revolution- impossible. If We Americans truly decided to revolt they'd call us terrorists and kill us as wantonly as they have killed Iraqis, Vietnamese and Native Americans previously.
London's Iron Heel has turned out to be much more prescient than even 1984
True Sluggo, but the British did the same thing to Gandhi and his followers and to quote him: " non-violence is not cowardice ". He was jailed many times and many of his acolytes were jailed, beaten and killed. We all know the problem and have ranted on it ad naseum, but what we need are solutions. I would like to hear yours and other CD posters ideas and solutions. I always liked that N.H. plate " live free or die".
Sluggo is correct. When Nancy Pelosi declared "impeachment is off the table" in November 2006, she assured criminal politicians around the globe that their license to steal and murder would have no expiration date.
Recent blatant lies on top of criminal actions by the Governor of Illinois, the President of Zimbabwe, and others prove that criminal politicians are thriving in all parties and in all nations.
Bush's newest crony Obama is lying too, so why do so-called "liberals' still support this fraud?
Obama lied to get elected and the fools fell for it in droves. He trashed Hillary for voting for the war but chose her to be his Secretary of State.
He criticized Bush for not ending the illegal ocupation but kept Bush's Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, who has repeatedly said he won't withdraw.
How stupid can Democratic voters be?
Revisionism.
"There is no glory to be salvaged in this desert."
This is the truth for Bush, Cheney and their like. For the folks that think anything can be "won" from this mess. There are only losers.
Only fool's like these that refused to go to war, avoided service to their country could be naive enough to think there is ever any glory in war.
It tears my heart out to think how many lives have been lost needlessly to the ideology of a small band of men and the tool they used to do it in George W. Bush. They have dishonored their country, dishonored every American citizen and betrayed every person of decency in the world.
There is a lot of foolishness and naiveté posted on CD about war, things that show the folks doing the talking have never been closer to a battle than a classroom, that show they don't even understand the real world and the people in it, but their (and others) main point is one they are never wrong about. War should be the last resort. Should never be fought unless you have no other choice.
War is Man's worst endeavor and (my apologies to you atheists and agnogistics out there) may God damn the men who engineered this war to hell for all eternity.
May there be peace for the Iraqi in the new year and a way home for our soldiers.
Thomas,
Excellent post from a man who had the misfortune to know war up close and personal. You are always consistent in your observations with regard to war and peace. Thomas for some reason I always understand what you write when many others do not.
Ps. We made it safe and sound and our family is together again for this holiday season.( I took your advise and had the beer first.Unpacked later. Well actually my wife unpacked. lol)
You have a great Holiday.
Thomas Gilbert
Merry Christmas to the Gilbert family and thanks for the kind words.
"Well actually my wife unpacked. lol)"
Thats the American way! lol+)
"Thomas for some reason I always understand what you write when many others do not."
The question is....does that mean "Great minds think alike" or "Only one asylum inmate can understand another"?
Peace in the New Year.
"The question is....does that mean "Great minds think alike" or "Only one asylum inmate can understand another"?
Thomas I would like to think it is the former as opposed to the latter but.........LOL. (I am sure many of our fellow CD commentators could say much about this question.)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The reality is that some of our soldiers are broken - physically and mentally.
Gordon Brownnose, like Tony Blair and George Wanker Bush, doesn't give a damn what kind of shape the troops are in. Their cowardly asses aren't on the line. If they were, the invasion and occupation of Iraq would never have taken place to begin with.
Amen Mordechai!
The only time and way we'll be out of Iraq is when the West finishes sucking out the oil of Iraq's tits ! And by the way, we're not in a war but in an occupation in Iraq.
You should not just be pointing fingers at Bush/Cheney.......The real villains are the Kissingers and Brzezinskis who formulated these policies of: political destabilization of nations that opposed U.S. Economic Interests, assassination of political leaders who opposed U.S. Policy, support of brutal national dictators from Franco to Pinochet and leaders like King Faisal and the Shah of Iran as long as the U.S. was getting what it wanted and that included Saddam Hussein....
No, they and their "Think Tanks, Bilderberg Clubs, and Tri-Lateral Commissions" have dragged us into Viet Nam, Iraq, and Afghanistan....been responsible for 3.8 million dead Vietnamese, 1.2 million dead Iraqis, and over 62,000 dead American Soldiers....And, they haven't told the American People the truth yet!
Maybe it is time to ask General Hamid Gul of the Pakistani ISI, "Who do you believe was responsible for the attacks of 9/11?"
Our leaders are "Stone Faced Liars" and could care less about the American People.
The National Media is a National Disgrace......Just as William Randolph Hearst supported "The Expansionists and The War Party" in blaming Spain for the "Treasonous Act" of sinking your own ship with 266 enlisted men killed and all the officers, except for one, were celebrating while their ship was going down....GE and their NBC propagandized the imminent "Invasion of Iraq" and continue to glorify an "Illegal and Immoral Invasion of another country".
William Randolph Hearst was a real sweetheart of a guy. He, along with Harry Anslinger (both raging bigots) were also responsible for the changing of attitudes towards drugs in the early part of the 20th century (they were able to pass laws against Chinese immigrants requireing that opium dens had to be run by white men, outlawed cocaine because it drove black laborers crazy and made them attack white women, and marijuana because it drove Mexicans (and anyone else who used it..."Reefer Madness")crazy and made them commit crimes) and eventually were able to get the Harrison Narcotic Act passed, which was a predecessor of our current war on drugs. Prior to the passage of these drug laws, drugs basically caused few problems in society, but just like alcohol prohibition, one laws began to restrict their use, a black market and accompanying organized crime took over the market previously run by reputable store owners. Oh, one more thing...this is where the erosion of our Constitution began.
And "we don't torture" and "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" and "no one could have ever predicted terrorists would hijack an airplane and use it as a missile" and "no one had a clue Madoff was a crook, or Ken Lay, or the execs at Citi and AIG," and "no one could have predicted the levees would fail" and "any spying we do is legal" and... and... and...
The Liars-in-Charge could give a flying f**k about Iraqis, Afghanis, fellow Americans, or anybody else not a member of their club. Period.
Now, react accordingly.
Sioux Rose
FRANK: Thanks for reminding us of the list, to which I'd add as the waters rise, "No one could have known THIS (global climate change) was really going to happen..."
Ignorance Hypocrisy and Obedience it matters not what the situation is, so long as Power is kept stable. The powerful look after their own, wars are the means of keeping in power the witches cabal. The flow of money to high rank, courtiers, crapulists of note must continue at all cost. They are committed to stay the course till even the earth is lost. Arguing against war continuance is pointless waste of breath, as imperial government is nihilistic, serving a philosophy of aimless death. The elite in power do listen to none, even though the masses demand that change be strong. The declining society is a slurry of money and power, so the masses are sent to the cross or war, and thorned whips their backs scour. As lives are crucified on the cross of pain, the empire smiles with every death it thinks is a gain. When will the pain of revolt become less than the pain of continued fault?
It's great to see this writer in Common Dreams. I hope to see more of her excellent, thought provoking, intimately informed and moving prose in the future.
Silence is Consent. How many millions of Americans has done nothing? Those are the people who became engaged with this last election. I hope they stay engaged. Otherwise we all are screwed. This is something we have to do together. Its going to get hot this summer. But I don't think it will have anything to do with global warming.
You've got it just right! Americans have been duped into thinking that sitting at computers is going to bring about change rather than taking to the streets in protest. Get the hell out there today! Obama's diversions via emails and text messages are just one more tool to keep you subdued, misinformed, and complascent. Nothing has ever brought meaningful change except marches, strikes, and occupations!
Well said Thomas More and others, because this war was started by a cabal of evil cowards, rich powerful people using our armies to attack a country which posed no threat to us. This wasn't done to protect our "freedom", but happened partly out of revenge, partly greed and partly because the power allowed them to do it. The result of this war is disgusting, millions of displaced Iraqi civilians, their country reduced to rubble, the landscape contaminated by depleted uranium, hundreds of thousands Iraqi dead, thousands of young soldiers dead. Meanwhile, back in our homes, we may have a recession, but we also have electricity, water, food, hospitals and we are not wondering where the next bomb is coming from.
These "enablers" need stringing up - Bush, Bliar, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Perle, Wolfowitz, they all need to be tried for war crimes, crimes against humanity, because they have not just been responsible for the destruction of Iraq, but for the damage which they have done to the UK and US.
"Lies, lies, and now delusion."
I think the lame duck chorus of historical revisionism currently underway as George W. Bush slinks out of the White House is really more of the same: lies, lies, and more lies.
These folks are no more delusional today about having achieved victory in Iraq and victory against the Taliban than they were delusional six years ago about Saddam actually possessing weapons of mass destruction and/or Saddam having a collaborative relationship with Osama bin Laden. Those were simply useful fairy tales, fodder for naked fear mongering, lies that were useful to fuel the march towards embrace of the Bush doctrine of preventive war abroad and to enhance the toxic role of militarism as a wedge issue on the partisan front at home.
Bush/Cheney and their revisionist enablers know down deep now (like the spinmeisters of the recent McCain/Palin campaign knew then) that the "success of the surge" was far more than just wishful thinking. That mantra was always known to be pure snake oil. Yet it sure looked like it had great potential in the marketing department.
Alibhai-Brown is correct that the triumpalists are getting off on another "mission accomplished" moment while they unctuously offer to help the Obama transition team unpack. They are counting down the days, much like the rest of us.
If the Bushies can just make it to January 20th without another terrorist attack on American soil, the Iraqi civil war resuming, or a total implosion in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region, the stage is all set for them to close George W's legacy book, proclaiming this is proof positive that raw militarism and torture worked to keep the country safe.
Whatever happens from January 21st forward is entirely Obama's fault.
The winter flu season is upon us.
Time to inoculate against blowback.
Bill from Saginaw
Excellent job in dismantling the lies around this unjust, criminal and violent war.
Thank you so much.
Peace,
Tex Shelters
texshelters.com
myspace.com/texshelters
The biggest lie, and the one that continues ad nauseam, is that "victory" is even possible in the tragedy that we've made of Iraq. First and foremost, the decision to illegally attack Iraq guaranteed failure. You can't win when it's an illegal war and occupation. You can't win when 95% of the casualties are innocent victims (or as warmongers put it, collateral damage).
It is my opinion that the United States, for the first time, and under the tender mercies of the worst President in history, has more than simply lost to the "bad guys", it has been roundly defeated by those "bad guys". The defeat came after Saddam was captured in Dec. 2003, and the US refused to end the occupation. Even under the illegal terms of the Rape of Iraq, the war was over then. But, Bush would have nothing to do with ending his "adventure" and this is exactly what Osama bin Laden had in mind. Bin Laden played Bush like a fiddle. Bin Laden got the dummy to open the taps to the Treasury, and drain it...and that is what dummy Dubya did.
The idea, as bin Laden stated, was to bankrupt the US by getting it (us) to bleed itself dry, fiscally. It's a tactic that worked against the ever arrogant Soviets, when they attempted to subdue Afghanistan, so there was every reason to believe that the even more arrogant Americans would follow suit, in Afghanistan. And thus it was. That goal, clearly has been won. All one need do is look at the insane profligate spending under Bush, and connect that to the collapse of the US economy. It is all connected. Bin Laden hit stupid's hot button, and stupid did exactly what bin Laden wanted him to do.
However, bin Laden's plan worked far better than even he had intended, with Junior's obsession for destroying Iraq not being widely known at the time, and being as it turns out, the lynch pin for bleeding the US Treasury dry. If it had been just Afghanistan, things might have been different, but with the totally illegal, full on attack on Iraq, bin Laden's wildest dreams were realized! All he had to do was sit back and watch the US spend itself to death.
The fact of bin Laden still being at large, and al Qaeda being far bigger and stronger than it ever was before 9/11, is all the indictment needed against the redoubtable Bush. Bush is responsible for EVERYTHING regarding the two "wars" he created. Every single innocent life is on his head, as is the overall destruction of an entire country that never attacked us, or had anything nearly approaching the capability to do that. Junior simply unleashed the American military against a tiny band of angry extremists, and in so doing, elevated every member of that band to hero status in the Muslim world. Instead of dealing with the threat covertly, with intelligent police work, he went the dumbest, most expensive route possible...applying the military against non-state actors, of which there were next to none!
The only reason we aren't more concerned about the collapse, in this regard, is because we are in free fall at the moment, and most Americans won't awaken until it's too late, and we've hit bottom. Once the bottom is reached, and the Depression is in full swing, Bush will have completed bin Laden's plan to utterly destroy the economic underpinnings of this country...and thus leave us all exposed to the wrath of a world that is very very angry at us for the brutality that our representatives have wantonly, and with malice aforethought, visited upon the world.
Here's how I see it: the skullduggery and incompetence that has become systemic in our country is conspiring to bring us to our knees (and our senses) so that we may wake up, activate and demand better. There is always opportunity in tragedy.