I'm Not Crazy!

I have been writing about the Bush Administration and this war for years, but I felt like I was fairly alone in raging against the dying of the light. I know there are people out there who think like I do, but I also know how many there are who don't. today I feel encouraged by the number of blogs I have read that support what I have been saying all along. It is freeing in a way to know that I am not alone, but it's also disheartening to have these thoughts confirmed. Here are some other takes on what you've been reading here:

Zombieslayer recently listed a number of reasons for hating President Bush that have nothing to do with Iraq.
The Osterly Times reminds us about Abu Ghraib and the atrocities committed there
.The Existentialist Cowboy is making a case for impeachment.
Over at Politics Plus, there is a great discussion going on about the possibilities that America is becoming a fascist nation.
Some people just want to Make It Stop! and they're focusing on how to power through until 1/20/09

Censorship

The Baghdad bombings in which over 75 people have been killed are not being covered due to censorship. Tapes of the bombings and subsequent coverage are being confinscated. Stories that were posted on CNN.com a few days ago have been removed. Fourtnunately, the BBC doesn't have to do what the Bush Administration says and is reporting that over 200 people have been killed in these bombings. I can't imagine why the Bush Administration would want to this information from the American people. Could it be that they want us to believe that this war is going better than it really is?

Courageous Carter?

President Carter has been quietly keeping the peace for years (here and around the world), speaking out only when he has something important to say. Though he may not have been one of the greatest Presidents ever, he was a hell of a lot better than the current one, and President Bush could certainly benefit from the wisdom of his experience. I am concerned that he has apologized for the harshness of his statements. If a former President who knows the pressures of the job can't criticize, who can?

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are dying in the streets of Baghdad and all over their occupied country for a war that has no reason. Their country has descended into chaos and our young men and women (though women are never shown in combat on the news) are coming home in boxes or being kidnapped off the streets. Will people ask why when the war is over, or will we retreat from finding answers in the interest of "healing the nation"?

The Iraqi Parliament is drawing up plans for a quick US withdraw. Why aren't we doing that instead of considering a LONG TERM PLAN? And remember: Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

Vietnam SyndromeThe consequences of U.S. defeat in Iraq would be much greater than they were in Vietnam.As the war in Iraq drags on into its fifth year, comparisons to the Vietnam War grow more frequent and persuasive. There are some parallels, as there are to all wars, but key differences between Vietnam and Iraq also deserve noting.

As in Vietnam, the United States faces an enemy that cannot be distinguished from the civilian population. A preliminary hearing for Marines charged with killing 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha recalls the U.S. massacre at My Lai.As in Vietnam, the United States is fighting a war that can't be decisively won because a determined, seemingly inexhaustible enemy would rather die than cease killing.In Iraq, the United States again is allied to a democratic government that cannot successfully defend itself, no matter how much aid it receives. As it did following the Vietnam War, the United States might wind up having to resettle hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who took our side in the war but would risk being murdered if they remained in their country after U.S. withdrawal.Similar to President Lyndon Johnson's experience, President Bush lost popular American support for the war as U.S. casualties mounted. Like Johnson, Bush is unwilling to withdraw. Repeating the 1960s, it will take a change in leadership to end U.S. combat involvement in Iraq.

In Vietnam, the United States faced a united, determined enemy: communist North Vietnam and its Viet Cong allies. In Iraq, U.S. troops battle a multifaceted enemy: Saddam loyalists, Shiite militias and imported terrorists with ties to al-Qaida. These enemies can hardly be identified, much less decisively defeated or negotiated with.In Vietnam, the United States spent hundreds of billions of dollars, suffered 400,000 casualties and inflicted more than 1 million. In Iraq, the financial cost is almost as high, but U.S. casualties number in the thousands. Iraqi combat and civilian deaths are difficult to calculate but probably exceed 100,000.The most telling difference between the war in Iraq and the one in Vietnam is the most dangerous. When the United States could not prevail in Vietnam, it withdrew, with little consequence to U.S. strategic interests or the regional balance of power. U.S. withdrawal from Iraq could result in another rogue regime bent on anti-Western terrorism and aggression. Alternatively, civil war resulting in complete anarchy and a failed state would offer global terrorists another base from which to operate with impunity.

In some ways, Americans might come to wish the war in Iraq were more like the Vietnam War, not less.

Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

To Help Save Iraq From Iraqis

If the troop surge is working, why are we sending 35,000 more soldiers to Iraq? And why aren't the major news outlets reporting that the White House is telling American citizens to brace for higher casualties in Iraq? Vice-President Cheney probably won't mention it when he meets with the leaders of United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. We have occupied Iraq and we're killing tens of thousands of civilians in Iraq (many of them children) and Afghanistan. Al-Zawahri has invited President Bush to toast the "success" of his security plan with a glass of orange juice in the middle of the Iraqi Parliment, since it's obviously sooooo safe. The National Guard couldn't respond after the tornadoes that ripped apart Kansas because they're all deployed to Iraq. This HAS to end, and the only way to get it done faster is to Impeach or Protest.

Lies, Damn Lies...

Even I was moved by the Jessica Lynch story. I wasn't cynical about it like I was with the death of Pat Tillman. But I should have been. Her bones were broken in a crash during battle, but she was not shot and stabbed during her rescue. In fact, hospital staffers had tried to hand her over to American troops before the "raid", which involved NO Iraqi soldiers. She didn't fire any shots, as had been reported, because her gun was jammed with sand. She was uncomfortable with the military publicizing her story (though she helped quite a bit). When she asked about inaccuracies they were attributed to the media outlets. Exactly what happened to her is still being investigated.

Evidence has been destroyed in the Pat Tillman case. Witness statements were changed. His family was told that he was killed heroically in battle when, in actuality, he was shot to death by our own troops.

If our government lies to us about our heroes, doesn't it stand to reason that they are lying to us about other things, whether they're related to the war or not? Why aren't we having a SERIOUS debate about the impeachment of both President Bush and Vice President Cheney?

It's Too Late to Make it Right

To Doc,
What happened at VT reminded me of "the incident" a few years ago. None of us ever really talked about it, or him, after that summer. I imagine he's in prison in WV somewhere, or in some sort of a mental institution (which is where he belonged in the first place). Strange that the military didn't catch that before he killed someone (with a rifle he bought at Wal-Mart). And set his car on fire to fake his own death. And almost got away with it.

I was surprised that you didn't bring it up when we talked the other day. It seemed so relevant to what has been happening. Instead our conversation was all about the war. After 3 years of just listening to you spout propaganda and tell me that you were defending me and fighting for my freedom I finally had to say something, which was hard because I knew when I finally opened my mouth it would be the last time we ever spoke.

I just couldn't let you go on pretending that you're doing this for us. Not now that you're home and don't need to keep believing the lies they've been feeding you just so you can get through the day. You were not "defending your country". There's nothing to defend it from. I've been asking you for 3 years to explain the threat to me and not once were you able to do so. You were not "fighting for my freedom". More of my freedoms have been lost than gained over the course of this war, so if you want to defend freedom, you best do it here where we're actually losing it, not in the Middle East where it was never really an issue.

It is because I love you that I cannot support this war, a war that we have already lost. It is because I still believe in what we were taught - to serve, to protect, to defend - that I have to walk away. How are you serving the people of this country by fighting a war you know nothing about for a President who wasn't really elected in the first place? What, other than oil fields, are you protecting? If you are overseas, how, exactly, are you defending our country? And please don't give me the "we're fighting them there so that we don't have to fight them here" speech that we all know is bullshit. I want your life to mean something, and if it can't be avoided, I want your death to mean something. A person who is willing to give his life for his country is too precious to waste on just any old cause. You are worth more than that. You deserve to know what you are fighting for.

You asked me to put myself in your shoes. I didn't do that. Instead I put my son in them. And as I imagined him standing in front of me in a soldier's uniform, it hit me: this war and this President has robbed me of something so important, so meaningful, that once it is lost it may never be regained - my pride in my country. I am not proud of what you've done. I have not been proud of anything that has come out of this nation politically since President Bush got into office, and I don't have much hope that things will be that different once he's gone. I do not want my son to be a soldier. I barely want him to be an American. I thought of you and I looked at him and I realized - I don't want him to be anything like you - a man who follows what he believes so blindly that he will allow and encourage others to fight and die for it, even though he cannot tell them why.

I'm glad you're home. I'm glad you're safe. I'm sorry that my position on the war is so distasteful to you that we can no longer be friends, especially when we've already lost so many to something so pointless. I have lost my faith, brother. I have lost my pride. Hope is all that remains.

Dover

Today

I will respond to everyone on the last post this weekend, but today my favorite cousin arrives in Baghdad for his second tour in a war we do not understand and were coerced into fighting. I know that many of you are tired of hearing about this war from me, but I don't care. I have watched the number at the bottom of my posts rise daily over the past 5 years. I have lost friends. People close to me have been badly wounded. It is easy for you to pretend that nothing's happening because you are not effected daily. This war is not your life. It is something that's happening far, far away to people you don't know and certainly don't give a damn about. I understand that. I disagree with it. It infuriates me. But I also know that it is a simple case of "out of sight, out of mind". I don't know how to make you "see", and I consider that one of my greatest failures.

But none of that matters today. Today my baby cousin is being dropped into the "green" zone. All I ask is that he make it out unharmed.

Another Perspective

I was driving home from work last night when I heard a story on NPR about the war in Iraq. Most stories have casualty counts and locations of car bombs. This one was from an entirely different perspective. It told of a high school in Texas near several military bases. Almost ever one of the students has a parent in Iraq. Some have two. 7 children in that school have lost parents. Many seniors are worried about going away to college because they're afraid their remaining parent and their siblings will not be able to manage without them. Many stay awake at night watching their mothers in fear that they will finally be overcome by the depression of having their spouse away so long and commit suicide. Parents who do return often have sever Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and need extensive counseling. For those of you who feel that there is nothing wrong with this war, what would you say to these children to explain the continued and nearly constant absence of these parents for the past 5 years? If you are against the war, what are you doing to ensure that more children don't end up like this every day? And what will we tell all of our children when we end up in Iran?

Buried on the Politics Page

Well, not exactly. If the American people would just take the time to look at the Politics Page, they might find out that the Pentagon manipulated pre-war intelligence connecting Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda. The media, who hit the story hard when the Bush Administration said there was a connection, didn't even make this story front-page news.

I'm tired. I'm frustrated. My little cousin is leaving for Iraq again on March 1st and I have no idea why he's going there. Nothing anyone in the Bush Administration has said in the past 5 years even rings true, and yet we all sit at home pretending that our government is not deceiving us on a daily basis. The thought doesn't even occur to many Americans regardless of report after report of misconduct on the part of soldiers, misleading information given to the public by Administration officials, and misuse of billions of dollars of taxpayer money. What is everyone waiting for??? How many more of our young men and women need to die for a reason known only to a very few??? Does our government not trust us enough to tell us the truth???

Are We Better Off?

At Women on the Verge of Thinking, Barbara asked the question, "Are we better off today than we were 6 years ago?" It's a good question, and it got my mind off of my present situation, which is definitely a good thing. Though I wonder if the question should have been, "Who is better off than they were 6 years ago?" My response to Barabra's question was as follows:

We are not better off today. I have a friend there who keeps trying to tell me tha FOX news is giving the most accurate picture of the war. My other friends who are there think Fox news is in the pocket of Lord Bush and his Cabal. I guess it depends on who you ask. My major concern is that we still don't know for sure why we're there, four years after the war began. The original reasons have all been lies, and the American people have NOT demanded to hear the real ones.

As American citizens, don't we deserve to know the reasons why we are at war? Shouldn't we demand that those reasons be explained to us? We have lost an average of 1.5 American soldiers a day to a cause that we are unsure of, and no one cares. We are so wrapped up in our own lives, our own concerns, and our own complaints over the price of gas that we have forgotten that young men and women are dying, and we have no idea WHY. There is speculation, there is the whole "this war is over oil" thing or the "Hussein tried to kill our President's daddy" thing that we spout with nonchalance, but do our soldiers, the people who have vowed to protect this country and our freedoms, really deserve that kind of indifference to the reasons why we have allowed them to be put in harm's way?

My friends overseas have been telling me for years that Americans are egotistical and selfish. As long as something doesn't effect them directly, they don't give a damn. For years I have been defending my country and its people, but I'll be damned if this war an our reaction to it doesn't give them the exact fuel they needed to stoke this argument. It's not about the government, it's not about the President. We are still involved in this war and our soldiers are dying for one reason and one reason only: the complete and total apathy of the American people.

Haditha - A Lesson Unlearned

I was commenting on Jessica's post over at 4 Zillion when I realized that my opinions on this subject are too strong to not post on the events at Haditha. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Americans soldiers killed about 24 people, including women, children, and babies, after a particularly difficult day for them in Iraq. I should mention, though, that ALL days are difficult in Iraq for both the Iraqi's and the American soldiers. Still, that does not excuse the handcuffing and execution of Iraqi civilians, especially children.

My main concern is that the Army feels the only thing that needs to be done about this atrocity is to give mandatory Core Values training to all soldiers in Iraq. I see several problems with this. First, the soldiers have already received values training. It was drilled into their heads at Basic Training or during ROTC, even as they learned to shoot first and ask questions later. They were not taught to defuse situations, they were taught to handle them. Second, the problem is not that the soldiers don't have training, it's that they don't have an outlet for the incredible frustration that comes with fighting an unseen enemy day in and day out. They know that the Iraqis who die are rarely the ones who have been shooting at them or planning the IED's because all of that is done from a distance and the local population protects their freedom fighters. Our soldiers are dying, a few at a time, every day, and they have no idea who's killing them. They're tired, their tours have been extended over and over or they've come home and been sent back, they're not properly equipt for a war. It is a war zone that will ALWAYS be a war zone. There is NO break. There is NO rest. Haditha and Abu Ghraib are only the fist incidents in which our soldiers have taken their frustration with the war and with their own government on the Iraqi people.

It's not like it was in Vietnam. There, the soldiers had at least a little down time once in a while. There, the soldiers could sometimes see the enemy, and the dead enemy soldiers, and feel like they were making some progress. There, the soldiers also snapped and killed an entire village of people. With the way this war is being fought, and the lack of support our soldiers are receiving, it is only going to get worse before it gets better. We have learned NOTHING from the lessons of Vietnam. These soldiers need physiologists on staff at all hours so that they have someone they can safely talk to, though that would make us look soft in our own government's eyes. We still have Vietnam Vets who are mentally unwell, and now we will be dealing with a generation of soldiers dealing with many of the same issues. It will not go well for them, or their families, if they don't get some help. I have already seen my friends and family members who have come home changed. I don't want to see it happen to the thousands of other men and women who are there, or will be there, because I think we all know that this war is going to last a VERY long time.

No Longer a Loss

On the radio I heard that for Reservists on Active Duty, the war is no longer a loss. I was appalled at the statement. The reporter was referring to the financial troubles many Reservists were having due to prolonged absence from their jobs, however, once Combat Pay was calculated, most ended up earning a higher yearly salary than they had before, which I'm sure is consolation to those who lost their homes and businesses in the meantime. So, the pay is better, but saying that the war is no longer a loss for these people is absurd. There are more important things than money.

What about the soldiers who have lost their friends? What about the soldiers who have lost a limb? What about the soldiers who have lost custody of their children? What about the soldiers who have lost their wives of their husbands? This war IS a loss in every way imaginable. To pretend that it's not is to do a disservice to every man and woman valiantly trying to do what their country has asked of them, even though it's wrong.

For Profit

Rashad Williams was killed because he was trying to break into a house. What he did was wrong, absolutely, and if he was threatening the life and livelihood of the family in the house, I don't necessarily disagree with the justification for the shooting. I can't say I wouldn't shoot a man who was trying to rob my house while my children were inside. My question is this: How is what this kid did any different than what the US is doing in Iraq?

Instead of invading a house to further our own gains, we invaded a country. We threatened an entire people. Shouldn't they rise up against us? Wouldn't rising up against us be the act of a free people who are defending themselves against a violent foreign aggressor who has killed over 30,000 people and invaded their homeland for no just cause? Aren't they justified in doing so? Throughout the history of this country, the definition of freedom has been the right to defend oneself. Free men have the right to defend their freedom if it is threatened. The Iraqi people were free before we got to them. They didn't invite us in and they made it pretty clear that they don't want us there. So they should be allowed to shoot us on site.

Because everything we are doing in Iraq, we are doing for profit. We may veil it in the concept of freedom and liberty, but it is a VERY THIN VEIL. The truth is, we as a country, are no different than Rashad Williams: young, selfish, and naive

Senator Santorum's Speech: Democrats are Evil

Listening to Rick Santorum's speech in the middle of a group of students was difficult, as I could not give away my personal disappointment with the man. I remember being told over and over, "Respect the rank, not the man", but Senator Santorum made it pretty clear that his rank was not to be respected either. I felt no sense of awe sitting in the presence of a Senator, and I have to say I wouldn't have no matter who was standing there. That was my first major indication that I have lost all faith in my government and my people.

Santorum started out by saying that we went to Iraq to further the cause of liberty. He said that the challenge we face is Islamic fascism and that our soldiers are fighting a different type of enemy in this war. After setting that up, he made sure to mention that the leftist argument against the war was irrelevant and counterproductive. He said that Democrats and other left organizations are not committed to winning the war in Iraq because, "winning isn't important if you don't think you have anything to lose". More importantly, he stated that those against the war are not "putting their country before their own personal ideology" and that Democrats do not support free elections in Iran.

Santorum constantly referred to the September 11th attacks when justifying the war in Iraq. He complained that reports of American casualties are incessant and the only consistent headlines coming out of the war. He tried to justify President Bush's use of ILLEGAL wire-tapping by giving an example of how LEGAL wire-tapping stopped an attack in Italy. Santorum said he and other Republicans were making it their personal mission to stop the over-politization of the war in Iraq, and that if we lost, we'd have to answer to the world for helping to create an Islamo-fascist regime in Iran.

We Are Winning the War in Iraq

Did I hear him correctly? Did he really suggest that a war can be won or lost like a game of chess? Is he really so arrogant to believe that his actions as President can change the fate of an entire region, especially when there is NO ONE who wants us to be there?

Voting is not an indication of a budding Democracy any more than parenting a child is an indication of maturity. Anyone can hold an election. Anyone can parent a child. Having these things turn out well is a result of careful planning, serious time investments, and A LOT of hand holding. The United States of America does not have the time or money to invest in fostering democracy in Iraq. Just like children who do as they please when their parents are out, democracy will cease the moment we leave Iraq, which is particularly disturbing for the women and children of the country.

The President's assertion that for every life lost more are reclaimed is absurd. Not one American life has been saved by this war. Not one American life has been improved by this war. There is only sacrifice for us. We sacrifice our money, our people, and our souls for a war that has no purpose and no justification. We cannot win a war when we have nothing to gain.

Collapse and Die from this Surprise

Alcohol abuse among soldiers returning from Iraq has risen to 21%, up from an already high 13%. It seems the military isn't doing that good of a job of debriefing soldiers, and certainly isn't encouraging them to talk to someone about their war experiences. About 15% of soldiers are divorcing their spouses upon returning from the combat zone, so they're not talking to them, either. Since we can't change the fact that these young men and women have been to war, we should be making sure that they are taken care of when they return home. Have we not learned the lessons of Vietnam?

Men of Honor

I know not all of the troops are trading pictures of dead Iraqis for porn, but I think it's time to wonder what kinds of boys they're recruiting now. Generations of my family have been in the military and they've never seen anything like this. Although, if there had been more cameras available in Vietnam, the result may have been similar. War does strange things to people. It makes some less than human and others more than saints. To do something of this nature dishonors the memory of those who have fought bravely and died valiantly. It makes me angry on so many levels. Torture is the cruelest form of punishment, which is not to say that it isn't necessary in a very few, very dangerous cases. It weakens our image world-wide and makes us look like barbarians. It makes our countrymen ashamed to support the military. As Americans, it is our duty to demand that these men be immediately discharged from duty and prosecuted for war crimes.

How Hubris Lost the War

Every month, the violence escalates. Every month Iraqis fall deeper into poverty. The infrastructure of the country continues to deteriorate, with electricity, water and sanitation sporadic at best. By virtually any measure, the country is worse off than it was before we got there. And now comes the constitution fiasco. The constitution was supposed to convince the Sunni's to get on board and join the program. The Sunni's have rejected it completely. They are dead set against a federal state, believing it will eventually lead to the partitioning of country. Which is the same reason the Shia and Kurds are in favor of it. This is a civil war waiting to happen. And the Shiites are not only fighting the Sunni's, but fighting amongst themselves. Iraq is a country rapidly descending into utter chaos. Part of this is because the Iraqi people didn't choose Regime Change or revolution. They were attacked, occupied, and policed by the United States.

This war was lost due to sheer arrogance. Because a small group of men with no military experience thought they knew better than the best military minds in the country or NATO. Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Wolfowisz. Chickenhawks all, willing to send others to do the dirty work they were unwilling to do. Virtually no military experience, yet convinced they knew better than the current Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the three previous Chairmen( including Desert Storm leader Colon Powell), the Marine Commandant, and the Army's top general. Were so confident that they ridiculed these men for having the hutzpah not to see the brilliance of their plan.

How much different would things be in Iraq today if Bush and his fellow Yellow Elephants had been humble enough to listen to the experts? If we had gone in full force. If we'd have had enough troops on the ground to actually secure the country? If we would have had a real plan for reconstructing the country?

Every time an IED blows one (or two, or ten) of our kids into oblivion, remember all those ammunition dumps we left unguarded because we didn't have enough manpower. Next time Rummy or Dick complain about foreign fighters amongst the insurgents, ask yourself how many of these fighters would be there if we would have had adequate manpower to guard the borders? Ask how much different things would be now if not for the arrogance of a few small men.

Make no mistake, this war is lost. Even many Congressmen and Senators in Bush's own party are conceding the fact. And when history deals out the blame, it's gonna fall on the lap of one man. That's when the buck he has been passing for the last 6 years will finally come to rest where it belongs!

by The Great White Bear, edited by Polanco Consulting