CRETINS OF WAR

Terror is the most effective political instrument. I shall not permit myself to be robbed of it simply because a lot of stupid, bourgeois mollycoddles choose to be offended by it. It is my duty to make use of every means of training the people to severity, and to prepare them for war.

Adolph Hitler

I want our fellow citizens to consider what would happen if these forces of radicalism and extremism were allowed to drive us out of the Middle East. The region would be dramatically transformed in a way that could imperil the civilized world. Extremists of all strains would be emboldened by the knowledge that they forced America to retreat.

Terrorists could have more safe havens to conduct attacks on Americans and our friends and allies. Iran could conclude that we were weak -- and could not stop them from gaining nuclear weapons. And once Iran had nuclear weapons, it would set off a nuclear arms race in the region.

George W. Bush

August 28, 2007

There is no easy or risk-free course of action. Some have argued we should wait -- and that's an option. In my view, it's the riskiest of all options, because the longer we wait, the stronger and bolder Saddam Hussein will become. We could wait and hope that Saddam does not give weapons to terrorists, or develop a nuclear weapon to blackmail the world. But I'm convinced that is a hope against all evidence. As Americans, we want peace -- we work and sacrifice for peace. But there can be no peace if our security depends on the will and whims of a ruthless and aggressive dictator. I'm not willing to stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein.

America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.
Some worry that a change of leadership in Iraq could create instability and make the situation worse. The situation could hardly get worse, for world security and for the people of Iraq. The lives of Iraqi citizens would improve dramatically if Saddam Hussein were no longer in power. By our resolve, we will give strength to others. By our courage, we will give hope to others. And by our actions, we will secure the peace, and lead the world to a better day.

Remarks by the President on Iraq
Cincinnati Museum Center - Cincinnati Union Terminal
Cincinnati, Ohio
October 7, 2002

Either war is obsolete or men are.

R. Buckminster Fuller

Our fine imperial government will once again deduct from our paychecks more money for the Decider's Disastrous Debacle in Iraq.

$50,000,000,000.

The Long War President---and a Cowardly and Corrupt Congress---don't consider $22 billion too much money for the American people to blow.

But this is the good news.

The bad news is that King George is getting mad again, and is once again smirking.

The smirk came when he said that the Middle East is a region "under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.”
Pre-emptive war is the trademark of the Bush regime.

Iran is probably next on the chopping block of shock and awe.

I guess we are going to get an early Christmas present.

Better start buying plenty of Duck Tape and plastic.

Just before his smirk our Long War President said:

"We will confront this danger before it is too late."

World War III (or is it IV?)...is again knocking on that proverbial and historical (or one should say hysterical and insane) door.

I just learned the history of the word cretin today.

My students were reading Gore Vidal's play Visit to a Small Planet.

The alien who visits our tiny blue planet is called Kreton.

Mr. Vidal, I am certain, did not leave to chance his choice of this particular word.

Here is the etymology of cretin:

1779, from Fr. Alpine dialect crestin, "a dwarfed and deformed idiot," from V.L. *christianus "a Christian," a generic term for "anyone," but often with a sense of "poor fellow."

Although President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be a bigger cretin than George W. Bush, one wishes that the direction that our Decider is probably going to take us would be a path other than more war….war…war!

We are at a crossroads.

Einstein told us:

A country cannot simultaneously prepare and prevent war.

It is impossible to achieve peace as long as every single action is taken with a possible future conflict in view. The leading point of view of all political action should therefore be: what can we do to bring about a peaceful coexistence and even loyal cooperation of the nations? The first problem is to do away with mutual fear and distrust. Solemn renunciation of violence (not only with respect to means of mass destruction) is undoubtedly necessary. Such renunciation, however, can be effective only if at the same time a supranational judicial and executive body is set up empowered to decide questions of immediate concern to the security of the nations.

H. G. Wells told us:

Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.

Erich Fromm told us:

I believe that today there is only one main concern: the question of war and peace. Man is likely to destroy all life on earth, or to destroy all civilized life and the values among those that remain, and to build a barbaric, totalitarian organization which will rule what is left of mankind. To wake up to this danger, to look through the double talk on all sides which is used to prevent men from seeing the abyss toward which they are moving is the one obligation, the one moral and intellectual command which men must respect today. If he does not, we all will be doomed.

WHEN WILL WE EVER LISTEN!

It's the oil stupid!

READING BETWEEN THE LINES

Remarks by President George W. Bush at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention at the Kansas City Convention and Entertainment Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Aug. 22, 2007.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. It’s good to be with you again.

(This a pretty long speech, but so is the Iraq War.)

I understand you haven’t had much of a problem attracting speakers.

(I consider myself an attractive speaker.) (Laughter.)

I thank you for inviting me. I can understand why people want to come here. See, it’s an honor to stand with the men and women of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

(I might have been a veteran, too, if Daddy hadn’t got me into the National Guard.) (Applause.)

I stand before you as a wartime President. I wish I didn’t have to say that, but an enemy that attacked us on September the 11th, 2001 (Not Iraq), declared war on the United States of America. And war is what we’re engaged in. (And that engagement has become a terrible and tragic

marriage.)

The struggle has been called a clash of civilizations. In truth, it’s a struggle for civilization.

(Our struggle is very different from Mein Kampf .)

We fight for the possibility that decent men and women across the broader Middle East can realize their destiny -- and raise up societies (Not chickens) based on freedom and justice and personal dignity.

And as long as I’m Commander-in-Chief we will fight to win.

(Because I’m the world’s Decider.)

(Applause.)

For those of you who wear the uniform, nothing makes me more proud to say that I am your Commander-in-Chief.

(And Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.)

Thank you for volunteering in the service of the United States of America.

(Applause.)

Now, I know some people doubt the universal appeal of liberty, or worry that the Middle East isn’t ready for it.

(Just as Iraq wasn’t ready for my Shock & Awe bombing.)

Others believe that America’s presence is destabilizing and that if the United States would just leave a place like Iraq those who kill our troops or target civilians would no longer threaten us.

(And that’s accurate, because if we were out of Iraq, we could be here at home in the U.S. to protect ourselves.)

I want to thank Bob Wallace, the Executive Director. He spends a lot of time in the Oval Office -- I’m always checking the silverware drawer.

(When I’m not checking for those WMD.)
(Laughter.)

There are many differences between the wars we fought in the Far East and the war on terror we’re fighting today.

(My war in Iraq was a mistaken war of choice.)

But one important similarity is at their core they’re ideological struggles. The militarists of Japan and the communists in Korea and Vietnam were driven by a merciless vision for the proper ordering of humanity. They killed Americans because we stood in the way of their attempt to force their ideology on others.

(Whereas in Iraq the Iraqis are fighting each other for power, but also us because they do not want our occupation or ideology. Syria, Iran and Al-Queda are taking advantage of this civil war.)

Today, the names and places have changed, but the fundamental character of the struggle has not changed. Like our enemies in the past, the terrorists who wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places seek to spread a political vision of their own -- a harsh plan for life that crushes freedom, tolerance, and dissent.

(And that will stop the flow of oil that our vehicles require.)

Like our enemies in the past, they kill Americans because we stand in their way of imposing this ideology across a vital region of the world. This enemy is dangerous; this enemy is determined; and this enemy will be defeated.

(Millions of Iraqis have already left Iraq because we stand in the way of this dangerous enemy.)

(Applause.)

We’re still in the early hours of the current ideological struggle (Although this ideological struggle has now lasted longer than World War II.), but we do know how the others ended -- and that knowledge helps guide our efforts today. The ideals and interests that led America to help the Japanese turn defeat into democracy are the same that lead us to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq.

(Our ideal goal is to maintain our interests in this region for its oil, and to act as a defensive buffer against Iran and Syria who want to destroy Israel and America.)

At the outset of World War II there were only two democracies in the Far East -- Australia and New Zealand. Today most of the nations in Asia are free, and its democracies reflect the diversity of the region. Some of these nations have constitutional monarchies, some have parliaments, and some have presidents. Some are Christian, some are Muslim, some are Hindu, and some are Buddhist. Yet for all the differences, the free nations of Asia all share one thing in common: Their governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed (But I am the Decider, and I don’t pay attention to the governed for my war.)

You know, the experts sometimes get it wrong.

(My own experts got it wrong about Iraq.)

Finally, there’s Vietnam. This is a complex and painful subject for many Americans.

(And we must get over our Vietnam Complex.)

The tragedy of Vietnam is too large to be contained in one speech.

(But compared to the tragedy of Iraq it is tiny.)

So I’m going to limit myself to one argument that has particular significance today. Then as now, people argued the real problem was America’s presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end.

(If the U.S. withdrew from Iraq, the sects would kill each other (and Al-Qaeda), and not U.S. soldiers.)

The argument that America’s presence in Indochina was dangerous had a long pedigree.

(Barney has a long pedigree.)

Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left.

(Answers to this debate: 1. Gulf of Tonkin

2. Helicopters)

Iraq is one of several fronts in the war on terror-- but it’s the central front -- it’s the central front for the enemy that attacked us and wants to attack us again.

(Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 attackers were Saudis. So I bombed Iraq. I made Iraq the central front. Make sense?)

And it’s the central front for the United States and to withdraw without getting the job done would be devastating. (Applause.)

(Getting the job done…getting the job done…getting the job done. What is the job? What will be the conclusion of getting the job done?)

If we were to abandon the Iraqi people, the terrorists would be emboldened, and use their victory to gain new recruits.

(Iraqis don’t have much water or electricity, but we cannot abandon their oil.)

As we saw on September the 11th, a terrorist safe haven on the other side of the world can bring death and destruction to the streets of our own cities.

(That safe haven was---and is---Afghanistan. We have most of our troops in Iraq.

Make sense?)

Unlike in Vietnam, if we withdraw before the job is done, this enemy will follow us home.

(Like Lassie.)

And that is why, for the security of the United States of America, we must defeat them overseas so we do not face them in the United States of America.

(They might come to United States anyway, but we must have a reason to remain in Iraq to secure the oil.)

((Applause.)

In Iraq, our moral obligations and our strategic interests are one.

(Morality=Oil=Profits.)

So we pursue the extremists wherever we find them and we stand with the Iraqis at this difficult hour -- because the shadow of terror will never be lifted from our world and the American people will never be safe until the people of the Middle East know the freedom that our Creator meant for all.

(Were the people of Iraq safe and free from the shadow of terror under Saddam Hussein?)

(Applause.)

I recognize that history cannot predict the future with absolute certainty.

(Most of us won’t be around for that history anyway.)

I understand that.

In a world where the terrorists are willing to act on their twisted beliefs with sickening acts of barbarism, we must put faith in the timeless truths about human nature that have made us free.

(Since US forces rolled into central Baghdad a week ago, one of the sole public buildings untouched by looters has been Iraq's massive oil ministry, which is under round-the-clock surveillance by troops.

The imposing building in the Al-Mustarisiya quarter is guarded by around 50 US tanks which block every entrance, while sharpshooters are positioned on the roof and in the windows.

Amnesty International has criticized the attention on controlling oilfields, which it said must have taken "much planning and resources."

"However, there is scarce evidence of similar levels of planning and allocation of resources for securing public and other institutions essential for the SURVIVAL AND WELL-BEING OF THE POPULATION," the London-based rights group said.)

Across the Middle East, millions of ordinary citizens are tired of war, they’re tired of dictatorship and corruption, they’re tired of despair.

(Iraq is a prime example. The people there were tired of a dictator, and now they’re tired and in despair from a corrupt war.)

They want societies where they’re treated with dignity and respect, where their children have the hope for a better life.

(Where they have adequate food, water and electricity.)

Prime Minister Maliki is a good guy, a good man with a difficult job, and I support him.

And it’s not up to politicians in Washington, D.C. to say whether he will remain in his position

(I do that. I’m the Decider!) –

that is up to the Iraqi people who now live in a democracy

(with very little water and electricity) and not a dictatorship.

(Applause.)

Thank you, and God bless.

(Applause.)

I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building.

George W. Bush

Oct. 11, 2000

"He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999. It was on his mind. Bush said, ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade….if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency.’

Bush expressed frustration at a lifetime as an underachiever in the shadow of an accomplished father. In aggressive military action, he saw the opportunity to emerge from his father's shadow.

Micky Herskowitz

Take, for instance, Bremer's first casualties. The soldiers and workers he laid off without pensions or severance pay didn't all disappear quietly. Many of them went straight into the mujahedeen, forming the backbone of the armed resistance. “Half a million people are now worse off, and there you have the water tap that keeps the insurgency going. It's alternative employment,” says Hussain Kubba, head of the prominent Iraqi business group Kubba Consulting. Some of Bremer's other economic casualties also have failed to go quietly. It turns out that many of the businessmen whose companies are threatened by Bremer's investment laws have decided to make investments of their own—in the resistance. It is partly their money that keeps fighters in Kalashnikovs and RPGs.

With unemployment as high as 67 percent, the imported products and foreign workers flooding across the borders have become a source of tremendous resentment in Iraq and yet another open tap fueling the insurgency.

[From Baghdad year zero: Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a neocon utopia]

BY Naomi Klein

Harpers Magazine

September 2004

Secret U.S. carpet bombing of Cambodia destroyed that country, enabling Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to come to power. Nixon, too, had warned of a bloodbath in Vietnam to justify continuing his war.

Contrary to the picture Bush painted, Vietnam is a unified, stable country that doesn't threaten the region; it has become a trading partner of the United States.

Marjorie Cohn
Professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and president of the National Lawyers Guild

IT'S THE OIL STUPID!

Q & A

When it comes to the '08 presidential race, are the media paying too much attention too soon?

No.

The more we know about candidates, the better; and sooner is better.

If anything, instead of just sound bites, the media should get more involved.

Allow candidates to debate one-on-one.

Put them on the tube and let them fight it out.

Cute little Internet questions are O.K., but the nation needs to hear and see the minds and souls of these candidates.

Real debating.

Democratic presidential hopeful Chris Dodd says it would be a mistake for Democrats to impeach President Bush. Is he right?

No, it would not be a mistake.

It is the right thing to do.

I am tired of waiting.

Our Constitution will remain permanently damaged if this nation doesn't hold this president accountable for his falsehoods and blunders.

This president should not go scot-free for the war that he wanted, and which now kills soldiers, and guts the national treasury.

Cheney should be impeached first.

We don't want Dick for president if Mr. Bush gets fired.

The Democrats are a bunch of scared cowards only concerned about their own pathetic skins.

For this reason, neither Cheney, Bush...or even Alberto Gonzales will ever be brought to justice.

What do you suppose is in the millions of missing White House e-mails that President Bush doesn't want anyone to see?

Many of these missing emails are the communications that President Bush had with the Almighty.
He cannot let anyone see these because of Executive Privilege. In addition to these emails, Bush probably has a lot of Devil's dirt under his fingernails that he wants no one to see.



What should be done differently in the war on terror?

Here is a short list:
1. Really secure U.S. Borders and Ports.
2. Move most of the troops out of Iraq and put them in areas where Al-Qaeda really is.
3. Have really serious discussions with nations such as Iran, Syria, Russia and China---instead of going down the worn path of war and confrontation.
Not appeasement, but rational dialogue.

WHY ARE WE STILL IN IRAQ?

I published my book Why Are We In Iraq? Letters from Mad Plato on May 8, 2007.
I guess now I will publish my next book with the title Why Are We Still In Iraq?
I have been having a discussion with a friend who is a veteran of Gulf War I.
I respect his intelligent opinions.
He believes that if the U.S. left Iraq, it would permit Syria and Iran to conquer Iraq.
But they would fight each other first.
My friend also expressed the viewpoint that if the U.S. left Iraq, a vacuum would exist for China to exploit the oil beneath the broiling sands.
Our dependence on oil will not disappear.
The West needs access to the black gold of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Instability in Iraq is an enemy to our thirsty gas tanks.

President Bush is now saying that the U.S. left Vietnam too early, and that we will not leave Iraq early.

I knew the Decider would have his surge, then tell us that we can't leave.

Period.

My friend also said that to leave now would mean that all of our soldiers who have died, and all of the hundreds of billions already spent (and counting...close to 1 trillion dollars!)---all would have been in vain if we left now.
My friend also called Iraq a quagmire.
Not stuck in the mud, but in the oily desert.

IT'S THE OIL STUPID!

THE BEAR THE EAGLE AND THE DRAGON

Big Russian Bears are once again Flying their Bombers in the Friendly Skies.

Why?

Wasn't the Cold War over?

I guess not.

George W. Bush rekindled an old and weary Cold War.

China and Russia are now very wary of the United States.

As well as Europe.

As well as South America.

As well as polar bears, elephants and armadillos.

Who can blame them?

What would America think and do if Russia or China had Pre-Emptively bombed another country?

FABRICATED and JUSTIFIED WITH DECEPTIVE PROPAGANDA AND FALSEHOODS

America is an ideal.

That ideal is perishing under the arrogant regime of George W. Bush.

Flaunting his bellicose rhetoric and barbaric bombs--- flouting the will and demands of the American people and the world---This Decider---This Deceiver---This Long War President---is the worst thing to ever happen to America.

Except for 9/11.

And 9/11 could have been prevented.

Bush ignored the warnings.

Bush ignored Andrew Card when Bush was told that America was under attack.

Strange...very strange behavior.

To permit Bush to go un-censured and un-impeached is almost as bad as invading Iraq.

Or getting attacked on 9/11.

America…

An Ideal…

RIP.

The alarming August 6, 2001, memo from the CIA to the President -- "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US" -- has been widely noted in the past few years.

But, also in August, CIA analysts flew to Crawford to personally brief the President -- to intrude on his vacation with face-to-face alerts.

Bush looked hard at the panicked CIA briefer.

"All right," he said. "You've covered your ass, now."

From The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11
(Simon & Schuster, June 2006)
By Don Suskind

IT'S THE OIL STUPID!

Q & A

What can be done to prevent the United States from going the way of the Roman Empire?

Remove hundreds of military bases that are in other countries.

No more pre-emptive wars.

Reduce the gargantuan Pentagon budget.

Stop shipping jobs offshore.

Increase taxes on the richest.

No more Bushes in the White House.

Secure the borders and ports before the terrorists start detonating dirty bombs.

No more toys with lead paint.

What should be done to reverse the Army's highest suicide rate in 26 years?

GET THE SOLDIERS

OUT OF IRAQ!

GET THE SOLDIERS

OUT OF IRAQ!

GET THE SOLDIERS

OUT OF IRAQ!

What does it say about the U.S. that seniors are going to Mexico for affordable nursing home care?

It says that the U.S. health care system is a rotten, broken, disgraceful, tragic, and criminal system, and I doubt whether any new president will have the guts and testicles (excepting one candidate) to change this rotten, broken, disgraceful, tragic, and criminal system whose main care is profits AND not patients!

.

A Dutch Catholic bishop says people of all faiths should call God "Allah" to ease tensions with Muslims. How much sense does that make?

It doesn’t make much sense

Let people have a multiple choice.

Choose one of the following:

Jehovah, Absolute Being, All Knowing, All Powerful, Almighty, Creator, Deity, Divine Being, Infinite Spirit, Man Upstairs, Prime Mover, God or Allah.

If you don't like these then choose your own name!

I remember what the writer William Burroughs once said:

(I am paraphrasing):

"We are all shit eaters.

We worship a nameless asshole."

Crude but true?

How concerned

should the U.S. be about joint Russian and Chinese war games?

The U.S. shouldn't be that concerned right now, but the psychological and geopolitical implications are important for the not so distant future.

Bush was hell-bent on ordering and re-ordering the world.

It is no shocking surprise that two other powerful nations are looking at the roadmap and road plans that Bush and buddies have designed and implemented.

Russia and China are making theirs.

China has our money.

Russia has Putin's soul that Bush saw.

I don't know how closely the Decider looked into Putin's orbs, but he ought to look again.

He might see a Chinese flag next to a Russian flag.

Two years after Hurricane Katrina, why hasn't more attention been paid to restoring New Orleans?

Ask Bush.

Ask Congress.

Our government (I mean their government) is more concerned about elections.

It's easy to start wars.

It’s difficult to receive help at home when your leaders are blowing billions of your tax dollars on a beastly and blundering war.

JEWEL OF THE PACIFIC

 

I've never quite understood why Guam has always been the brunt of jokes.
Johnny Carson would poke fun with some type of reference to Guam for certain of his one-liners.
I suppose that it is because Guam is a United States territory, and more importantly, that this territory is so far, far away from the U.S. mainland.
I spent six years on Guam.
I came there with a 2-year contract to teach English at JFK High School
(Yes, a public high school---not military.)
My return trip to the U.S. would be paid for if I stayed the duration of my contract.

When I arrived on Guam, it was a beautiful and sunny morning.
Coming off of the 747 felt like I was walking into a sauna.
In the airport I just happened to meet a young woman who had also come to Guam on the same 2-year contract.
We rented a car so that we could find the main offices of the school district.
Marine Drive:
The main artery of the business side of Guam.
Should we head left or right?
I forget which one of us said to go right, but that's the direction we went.
After driving for about 5 minutes we came to a stop when a military officer and his guard dog approached us.
"This is private property. You will have to go back."
We were on Anderson Air Force base property.
We explained who we were and what we were looking for.
He told us to go back the other direction.
I guess I asked what was ahead on Marine Drive in the (wrong) direction that we had been going. He told us that it was the marine lab of the University of Guam.
That's where we went next.
The marine lab wasn't far, and we came to a road that went down a hill.
This short road went to the lab that was located on a shore of the Pacific Ocean!
A friendly man greeted us.
He asked us if we'd like some coconut crab.
Within minutes he brought to us some delicious crab.
What a delectable and warm welcome to
Guam this was!
The young woman and I didn't stay long and we returned to Marine Drive to get to the school administration office.
We arrived.
I registered and found what school I would be teaching at.
A man drove me to JFK high school.
Rain.
The sunny sky had turned into buckets of rain.
The downpour made it difficult to see the road.
Finally, I arrived at the high school, and the rain ended just as quickly as it had begun.
Beautiful!
And that's what Guam is.
Beautiful!
I lived in two different apartments and in one "jungle house" my first four years on Guam.
The ocean was serene and warm most of the time.
People can joke about Guam, but unless they have lived there they will never know just how special Guam and its people are.
And that is no joke.

THE IRAQ WAR WAS BOUGHT WITH LIES

Arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence. Not a pretty cocktail of personality traits in the best of situations. No sirree. Not a pretty cocktail in an office-mate and not a pretty cocktail in a head of state. In fact, in a leader, it's a lethal cocktail. Our president and his administration were arrogant during the lead-up to the Iraq war in that they listened only to those who would tell them what they wanted to hear. They were ignorant in the lack of scholarship and due diligence they brought to the matter of how the invasion would be received by those being invaded. And they were incompetent at almost every level in the execution of the war and its aftermath. What the political commentator Bill Maher described last year as "fuck-up fatigue" in regard to this administration has moved to the next stage. Around our kitchen table—and I suspect yours—the current stage is outrage fatigue, a simmering frustration and anger over what this administration has done in our good name. It begins at the top, of course, with a president who is now perceived beyond our shores to be one of the most dangerous men in the world. Indeed, many Americans have a similar opinion of him. We have our secretive, power-mad vice president, who can't decide whether he is part of the executive branch of government or the legislative branch. The president—now with one of the lowest approval ratings of any U.S. leader ever—has dangerously isolated us from the rest of the world. We have the beginnings of a new Cold War with the Russians. We are out of favor in South America, never mind the Arab world. The French and the Germans don't have much time for our opinions—although they will take our money. A majority of our English-language confederates in Britain, Canada, and Australia think the invasion was a horrible mistake. And Americans themselves are weary of the constant fearmongering, the gut feelings of impending doom, and the absence of any advance in the true war on terror—the one against al-Qaeda along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.


[From Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse
by Graydon Carter
VANITY FAIR
September 2007]

Graydon Carter is the editor of VANITY FAIR
His books include What We've Lost (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and Oscar Night: 75 Years of Hollywood Parties (Knopf).



Tell a lie over and over and that lie appears to be true.
The Bush administration attempted---and succeeded---with one of the most effective campaigns of propaganda in history.
Bush does not equal Hitler.
But Bush does equal deception and dishonor.
And this American president's Iraq war was conceived with falsehoods that were able to conquer and control the Fourth Estate.
Almost all of us were deceived.
Almost all of us bought it.
The American people and the world now know the truth.
The Republicans---and now subservient Democrats---were the willing and unwavering patsies of Bush.
They permit his lies to remain unaccounted for and uninvestigated
(Oooh no...can't have political and partisan oversight right now... there's a war going on...and an election is coming!)
What to do about the war in Iraq has more clarity (but without a solution) than what to do about why and how that war was engendered.
Americans whose memory lasts for only about a fortnight should watch Bill Moyer's documentary Buying the War and/or read its script.
Then become sick and angry at what has been done to them and the Iraqi people.

By Mad Plato





The Washington Post editorialized in favor of the war 27 times, and published in 2002 about 1,000 articles and columns on the war. But the Post gave a huge anti-war march a total of 36 words. "What got even less ink," Moyers says, "was the release of the National Intelligence Estimate."

What comes out of watching this show is a powerful realization that no investigation is needed by Congress, just as no hidden information was needed for the media to get the story right in the first place. The claims that the White House made were not honest mistakes. But neither were they deceptions. They were transparent and laughably absurd falsehoods. And they were high crimes and misdemeanors.
By David Swanson



Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2007-04-16 14:28:
The Nazi's launched an invasion of a sovereign state, Poland, on 09/01/39. The rationale for that invasion was based on gross lies and and was the catlyst for WWII.
The Bush Regime launched an invasion of a sovereign state, Iraq, on March 20, 2003. The rationale for that invasion was based on gross lies and and could be the catlyst for WWIII or at least a regional conflict in the Mideast.
After a real "Coalition of the Willing" defeated the Nazi's in 1945, the German's responsible for that invasion were tried at Nuremburg, Germany. One of the charges they were convicted on was that Germany had launched an illegal, agressive war against a sovereign state, Poland. Several were executed and other sent to prison.
When Bush claims that his war is like WWII guess he might have a point after all, except for the trial part that is.