* Waraholics in the dark?

                  Photo from: Blog.Taragana.com



The waraholics keep repeating that the reason why they want the war to continue and why they want more troops in Afghanistan is to prevent al-Qaeda from taking a foot hold in the country again and to prevent al-Qaeda M-U-S-L-I-M-S from planning more terrorist attacks.

NEWS ALERT to the waraholics:

1)  Al-Qaeda is not the ONLY terrorist organization in the world.

2) ALL the terrorists in the world are NOT all Muslims.There are angry extremists from all societies, religions, races, economic, educational backgrounds.

3) Al-Qaeda doesn't need AFGHANISTAN caves to plan attacks. In fact, some of the planning for the 9/11 attack took place in European hotels and on the beaches of Florida.

4) Members of any terrorist group, including al-Qaeda, are free to travel to any country. There's no "check here if you're a terrorist" box on a passport. 

5) Terrorists groups can train ANYWHERE... including in the U.S.

* Afghanistan in review

               Afghan children in Khost Province 
1) There's no evidence that the Taliban helped to plot 9/11.

2) The Taliban was harbouring OBL. They requested the "evidence" that would implicate OBL for 9/11, before handing him over to a neutral country. That "evidence" has NEVER turned up.. not even to the International Court..(President Bush thumbed his nose at the IC). 

3) More than likely Osama bin Laden, is still alive, has left Afghanistan. He was originally the "purpose" for a war with Afghanistan. OLB doesn't seem to be of concern to Americans NOW? 

4) The American propped up Afghan President Karzai in 2003. Karzai recently ran a documented fraudulent election. He had oil connections before becoming President. He still has oil connections.

5) The U.S., along with the rest of the international community has allowed Karzai to stay as President. 

6) Since the "elections," Karzai has allowed the corruption in his country to continue and has ALLOWED corrupt officials stay in office. 

7) The Afghan people do not trust Karzai.

8) The Afghan people want ALL foreign occupiers out of their country.

8) The Trans Afghan Pipeline is being built and financed by the Asian Development Bank...Main stockholders are: Japan, US, China, India, Australia, Indonesia, Canada and S.Korea.

9) President Obama will be visiting Asian countries next week.Talks with Japan and S.Korea concern their decision to decrease their military aid in Afghanistan. Japan's mandate for a naval refuelling mission ends this Jan. 

10) UK is increasingly questioning their military participation in Afghanistan.

11) Americans, as well as military personnel, are increasingly questioning why the U.S. is still in Afghanistan and why our military is helping to prop up an obviously corrupt government in Afghanistan.

12) The international community is well aware that the war in Afghanistan, as well as the illegal war in Iraq are obviously NOT wars to protect "freedom and democracy". 

* 34,000 more troops?

by Jonathan S. Landay, Jhn Walcott and Nancy A. Youssef/McClatchy Newspapers - Nov 7, 2009

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is nearing a decision to send more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year, but he may not announce it until after he consults with key allies and completes a trip to Asia later this month, administration and military officials have told McClatchy.

As it now stands, the administration's plan calls for sending three Army brigades from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. and the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y. and a Marine brigade, for a total of as many as 23,000 additional combat and support troops.

Another 7,000 troops would man and support a new division headquarters for the international force's Regional Command (RC) South in Kandahar, the Taliban birthplace where the U.S. is due to take command in 2010. Some 4,000 additional U.S. trainers are likely to be sent as well, the officials said.

Read entire article at: 

Obama leaning toward 34,000 more troops for Afghanistan 

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/78516.html?story_link=email_msg&pageNum=5&&&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container

* Unlimited funds for WAR?

    Dennis Kucinich Photo from: TheTruthOrTheFight.wordpress.com



Washington, Nov 6 -

Following a statement on the Floor of the House of Representative, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement: 

“Why is it we have finite resources for health care but unlimited money for war?  

“The inequities in our economy are piling up: trillions for war, trillions for Wall Street and tens of billions for the insurance companies. Banks and other corporations are sitting on piles of cash of taxpayer’s money while firing workers, cutting pay and denying small businesses money to survive.  

“People are losing their homes, their jobs, their health, their investments, their retirement security; yet there is unlimited money for war, Wall Street and insurance companies, but very little money for jobs on Main Street. 

“Unlimited money to blow up things in Iraq and Afghanistan, and relatively little money to build things in the US.  

“The Administration may soon bring to Congress a request for an additional $50 billion for war. I can tell you that a Democratic version of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is no more acceptable than a Republican version of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

“Trillions for war and Wall Street, billions for insurance companies...  When we were promised change, we weren’t thinking that we give a dollar and get back two cents.”

Kucinich: "Unlimited funds for WAR?"

ttp://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153461

* Troops prop up Karzai?

                             Hamid Karzai
This excellent article in an Australian news source points out that Peter Galbraith, a senior UN official in Kabul, was sacked from his job after he pushed the UN to reveal the extent of the preparation for fraud before the first Presidential votes were cast in Aug 20. Galbraith wrote that before the vote, "Karzai was seen as ineffectual and corrupt". 

5 months before the voting, President Obama sent in an extra 21,000 troops to help secure the election. Just think about it. There were a couple of our troops who were killed or suffered horrible wounds while Karzai's campaign was busy undermining the election. 

After it was obvious to the international community that the voting was a fraud, a new election was planned. But Dr Abdullah Abdullah, the main challenger to Karzai, pulled out of a second voting process and allowed Karzai steal the election.

The result is... NOTHING has changed. Karzai has continued to prop up his cronies. Karzai's vice presidents are Karim Khailil and Mohammad Qasim Fahim, "both former warlords from the ranks of Afghanistan's looting class."

"Democracy?" asked a Kabul cabbie during a local television phone-in. "That's an American euphemism for occupation. We don't have patriotic leaders either - so, the people's hands are tied behind their backs."

US fed up with troops dying to prop up Karzai

http://www.smh.com.au/world/us-fed-up-with-troops-dying-to-prop-up-karzai-20091106-i25u.html

* US money up in smoke

               Photo source: www.familycourtchronicles.com


The day BEFORE 9/11, Donald Rumsfeld announced that the U.S. Pentagon has lost track of 2.3 trillion dollars ($2,300,000,000,000). That's right. Tax money gone up in smoke.


Two years into the war (2005) in Iraq, it was reported that the U.S. lost track of $9 billion in Iraq funds.... That's right. $9,000,000,000 gone up in smoke. In whose pockets did all this money go into? We can just imagine how much more money is wasted (stolen?) that we're not aware of.


And yet.. just recently the top U.S. military officer has said that the Pentagon "may need more emergency war funds." How sweet. All Americans who call themselves "patriotic" should take time from their "tea parties" and should be DEMANDING  an accounting of the previous "missing" funds before pushing for more military escalation and money thrown into the Afghanistan quagmire.


Pentagon may need more emergency funds
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSN05413947

* Palin and Rumsfeld "humor"?

                    Donald Rumsfeld Photo From: PoliticalHumor.about.com

Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue" is due to come out soon.. Nov 17! It MAY be as much fun to read as listening to Donald Rumsfeld's rants....

"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - - the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones."

Donald H. Rumsfeld, Department of Defense news briefing, February 12, 2002

* Insensitive?

            Bush: "Bring them on"

I agree. President Obama could have come across with more sensitivity in his speech following the shooting at Fort Hood... but were his words MORE insensitive, arrogant and as dangerous as President Bush's "Bring them on" rant, and "I'm searching for the WMD." "Where are the WMD, giggle, giggle?" waraholic "humor"?   


President Bush's "Bring them on" Picture Album
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4173.htm


Obama's frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting 
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/A-Disconnected-President.html

* Judge Bruguiere's warnings

"Japan has become a prime target for al-Qaeda," Bruguiere told journalists late Thursday at an event for the release of his book: "Ce que je n'ai pas pu dire" (What I Couldn't Reveal) File photo 


(My note: Take a look at this article in today's Pakistan's DAWN and in AFP news sources. Notice too how he mentions how he alerted the U.S. BEFORE the 9/11 attacks.)


JAPAN ON AL-QAEDA HIT LIST: FRENCH JUDGE


PARIS: Former French investigating judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere said that Japan is among Al-Qaeda's prime targets for attack, while promoting a book about his 25 years fighting terrorism.


Bruguiere, now retired at 65, also describes Pakistan as the 'cauldron' of terrorism and blames ex-president Pervez Musharraf for failing to address the threat of extremists during his seven years in power.


'Japan has become a prime target for Al-Qaeda,' Bruguiere told journalists late Thursday at an event for the release of his book 'Ce que je n'ai pas pu dire' (What I Couldn't Reveal).
Japan's geographical position and, in particular, its large Pakistani community make the country vulnerable to an attack, he said.


The retired judge said he had alerted Japan of the threat as he had done for the United States before the September 11, 2001 attacks.


'The danger nowadays is Pakistan,' he said, describing the country as a 'cauldron' of extremism that was allowed to fester under Musharraf's rule.


A 2003 investigation found Pakistani army officers were acting as instructors in training camps run by the Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, he said.


Bruguiere led the 2002 probe of the Kararachi bombing that killed 11 French engineers who were helping Pakistan build its first submarine.


During his long career, he also conducted high-profile probes of the Rwandan genocide, the 2004 Madrid attacks and the 1995 Paris subway bombings carried out by Algerian militants. –AFP


Japan on al-Qaeda hit list
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/18-japan-on-al-qaeda-hit-list-french-judge-am-02

* UN cutting staff in Kabul

                          APR Photo
The UN has recently announced that they are decreasing the size of their staff in Kabul, Afghanistan. They announced that they will be opening a new hub in Dubai. This decision follows the recent Taliban attack on a Kabul guesthouse, which was used by UN staff. 5 out of the 9 people killed in that attack were working with the UN.


Point this out to the politicans and waraholics who can't wait to send more troops to Afghanistan. Point this out to those who want to send OTHER people's loved ones to war but wouldn't think of sending THEIR loved ones.  


UN Exodus from Kabul, Afghanistan
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/asia/2009/11/05/un-exodus


UN workers scramble over roofs during Kabul attack
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091028/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

* Goldstone Report

Judge Richard Goldstone and Bill Moyers discuss the UN report on the Gaza conflict
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10232009/profile.html



Goldstone Report Executive Summary
Report of the UN fact finding mission on the Gaza conflict
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21219870/goldstone-report-executive-summary

* Revamp Muslim hatred?

                           Afghan Muslim children 

Something doesn't ring right with yesterday's attack at Army base Fort Hood. First it's reported that the killer was shot and killed and then a couple of HOURS later it's reported that the killer was wounded and still alive. How can that be? Either the killer had guns on his dead body, or he didn't. Which dead body did the authorities "THINK" was the killer? Did THAT dead body have guns? This mistake could suggest that some of the dead were killed by "friendly fire." As a nation, there are lots of issues we need to address. Those issues include how the U.S. media too quickly jumps to conclusions that are oftentimes misconstrued by the American public. 

More than likely the political and "Christian" waraholics will be using this attack to add more fuel to their Muslim hatred with cries of "war, more war with all the Muslims," and "aren't we glad we're already in war with the Muslims." "Kill them all." "Bomb them all." Hopefully this won't happen.. as it did in the past, with Americans responding in an irrational war-like manner towards ALL Muslims.

To keep deploying people to Iraq and Afghanistan, the military may be overlooking many things. Usually psycological problems in the military end up as suicide or murder of their spouse, etc. Start addressing these problems. Start addressing why many in the military are questioning the supposed rationale for these wars. Tell them the TRUTH. 

My heart goes out to the families of the dead and to the wounded and their families as well. No words can adequately express how tragic this attack was. But until ACCURATE information is obtained, let's not turn this attack into an opportunity to ramp up anti-Muslim sentiment.

* Killer in disguise as a friend

                Afghan policeman

The support for the war in Afghanistan is quickly waning in the UK, especially after 5 British troops were killed by a rogue Afghan policeman.

"In London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, trying to rally support for the war, warned against judging the entire Afghan police force on this one incident."

Kim Howells (former UK foreign minister) said "the shootings show how hard it will be for Britain and the U.S. to bring the Afghan army and police to the point where they can provide their own security."

"The killing of five British troops by a rogue Afghan policeman underlines concerns about training and discipline within the ranks and possible insurgent infiltration of a police force that the U.S. hopes will be its ticket out of Afghanistan someday."

"The gunman who killed five British soldiers in an attack in Afghanistan's Helmand province was today back with Taliban fighters who greeted him with flowers, sources close to the Afghan security forces said.

The killer – identified only as a policeman called Gulbadin – was back under Taliban protection, the source said."

Now.. tell us again... what's the reason for being in Afghanistan? 

Policeman who killed British troops is back with Taliban http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/05/afghanistan-gunman-uk-soldiers-taliban

British deaths raise questions about Afghan police 

* Opium and heroin $$$

      Killing fields: Farmers in Afghanistan gather an opium crop which will be made into heroin


This article was written more than 2 years ago (July 21, 2007) in the UK news media. It concerns the heroin crop in Afghanistan. Read it all. Has anything really changed in Afghanistan since then? This article should be kept in mind when a politician calls "for more troops to go into Afghanistan."


A few interesting notes from the article: 


"The four largest players in the heroin business are all senior members of the Afghan government, the government that our soldiers are fighting and dying to protect.

When we attacked Afghanistan, America bombed from the air while the CIA paid, armed and equipped the dispirited warlord drug barons, especially those grouped in the Northern Alliance, to do the ground occupation. We bombed the Taliban and their allies into submission, while the warlords moved in to claim the spoils. Then we made them ministers."

Note: (Remember  Alexander Litvinenko, the former agent of the KGB who died in London Nov 2006? He was poisoned with polonium 210 and had been investigating the drug trade.)

"Litvinenko was working for the KGB in St Petersburg in 2001 and 2002. He became concerned at the vast amounts of heroin coming from Afghanistan, in particular from the fiefdom of the (now) Head of the Afghan armed forces, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, in north and east Afghanistan."

"...his discoveries about the heroin trade were what put his life in danger. Litvinenko was working for the KGB in St Petersburg in 2001 and 2002. He became concerned at the vast amounts of heroin coming from Afghanistan, in particular from the fiefdom of the (now) Head of the Afghan armed forces, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, in north and east Afghanistan."

"Litvinenko uncovered the St Petersburg end and was stunned by the involvement of the city authorities, local police and security services at the most senior levels. He reported in detail to President Vladimir Putin. Putin is, of course, from St Petersburg, and the people Litvinenko named were among Putin's closest political allies. That is why Litvinenko, having miscalculated badly, had to flee Russia."

"I had as little luck as Litvinenko in trying to get official action against this heroin trade. At the St Petersburg end he found those involved had the top protection. In Afghanistan, General Dostum is vital to Karzai's coalition, and to the West's pretence of a stable, democratic government."

"Opium is produced all over Afghanistan, but especially in the north and north-east, Dostum's territory. Again, our Government's spin doctors have tried hard to obscure this fact and make out that the bulk of the heroin is produced in the tiny areas of the south under Taliban control. But these are the most desolate, infertile rocky areas. It is a physical impossibility to produce the bulk of the vast opium harvest there."

"Since we brought 'democracy' to Afghanistan, Dostum ordered an MP who annoyed him to be pinned down while he attacked him. The sad thing is that Dostum is probably not the worst of those comprising the Karzai government, or the biggest drug smuggler among them."

"Our Afghan policy is still victim to Tony Blair's simplistic world view and his childish division of all conflicts into 'good guys' and 'bad guys'. The truth is that there are seldom any good guys among those vying for power in a country such as Afghanistan. To characterise the Karzai government as good guys is sheer nonsense."

"Why then do we continue to send our soldiers to die in Afghanistan? Our presence in Afghanistan and Iraq is the greatest recruiting sergeant for Islamic militants. As the great diplomat, soldier and adventurer Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Alexander Burnes pointed out before his death in the First Afghan War in 1841, there is no point in a military campaign in Afghanistan as every time you beat them, you just swell their numbers. Our only real achievement to date is falling street prices for heroin in London."

"Remember this article next time you hear a politician calling for more troops to go into Afghanistan. And when you hear of another brave British life wasted there, remember you can add to the casualty figures all the young lives ruined, made miserable or ended by heroin in the UK."

Britain is protecting the biggest heroin crop of all time

ttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-469983/Britain-protecting-biggest-heroin-crop-time.html#ixzz0W0U785TA

* U.S. loses credibility

         One of hundreds of children killed in Gaza by overwhelming Israeli force


With a vote of 344 "for" and a vote of 36 "no," the U.S. Congress has completely damaged U.S. credibility around the world. The U.S. Congress has passed it's U.S. House Resolution which condemns the U.N. Goldstone report on the Israel attack on Gaza. Even though the report was critical of BOTH Israel and Hamas, the US Congress has said that the report was too critical of Israel.


Because of the obvious sanitised US media, it's understandable that the majority of the American public would be unaware of what really went on BEFORE and DURING Israeli attack on Gaza Jan 2009... but the US Congress have no excuses. The U.S. Congress has essentially thumbed it's nose at the entire international community, the U.N. General Assembly, the U.N Human Rights Council, the Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.

With the previous U.S House Resolution in Jan 2009 supporting Israeli attack and now with it's U.S. House Resolution condemning an U.N. investigation of that attack, this makes the U.S. an accessory to that attack and the slaughter. It only encourages MORE hatred towards Americans. If the U.S. and Israel are AFRAID of an U.N. investigation, then Israel should do it's OWN investigation to clear it's name in this matter. 


"I have yet to hear from the (Barack) Obama administration what the flaws in the report that they have identified are." --- Richard Goldstone 

Take a look at the LARGE 2008 "contributions," given by pro-Israel PAC's to members of the U.S. Senate and Congress.


Pro-Israel Contributions to 2008 Congressional Candidates
http://wrmea.com/archives/May-June_2009/paccharts_32-37.pdf


U.S. House Overwhelmingly Passes Resolution Critical of UN Report on Gaza
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-11-04-voa2.cfm

* Congresswoman hypocritical?

How your parents paid for their illegal, bloody wars.. borrow money from China?

Yesterday FOX "news" had a promo for Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's call for her "Superbowl of Freedom." Seems there will be a Tea Party at the halls of Congress today (Nov 5) noon time.


It's great we live in a country where we have the freedom to protest and express our views. I've done it myself a couple of times.... But Congresswoman Bachmann is leading this afternoon's protest? How hypocritical! Wouldn't it be more meaningful to the Tea Party cause, if Bachmann could lead by example... by forfeiting her own FREE (to her) taxpayer healthcare coverage? 

* More doubts raised

              Richard Pohle/The Times
"Lieutenant Andy Bell of the 2nd Battallon The Merclan Regiment with Afghan police, in Garmsir, Helmand province, in April. Almost a third of the police force quits each year, with fears that the men who leave take their training weapons over to Taliban insurgents." 


The British Times reports that the "killing of five British soldiers by an Afghan policeman has raised fresh doubts about Britain's mission in HELMAND province." 


HELMAND province? Take a look at my post dated Sept 5, 2009 titled: "Pipeline Protection?"


Times on Line: "Bloody betrayal raises fresh doubts about Britain's compaign in Afghanistan
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6903754.ece

* McCain and Palin in office?

               John McCain Photo from: MediaBistro.com

I don't agree with everything President Obama has done since in office.. but would it have been better NOW if John McCain had been elected instead? Mind you, this is just speculation, but what would John McCain had done differently by NOW if HE was in office? 

More than likely, "bomb, bomb bomb Iran," waraholic McCain would have ALREADY started a war with Iran. Russia and China would have tried to retaliate. But BEFORE they retaliate, "Bush's Doctrine" would be in place for a "pre-emptive" war BEFORE they have a chance to "pre-empt". Got to use our nukes BEFORE they use theirs! 

Since McCain gets excited about the possibly of more wars, he would have escalated the Iraq war by now. The explanation would be that we need more time to capture or kill EVERY SINGLE terrorist there. Even though Iraq was a secular country, and before the war had freedom of religion, we still need to kill all those MUSLIM Iraqis he thought helped plan 9/11. Those e-v-i-l Muslims wanted to come to the U.S. and FORCE all the God fearing Americans to become Muslims! McCain would want to kill them all.. men, women, children.. unborn babies. Same with those in Afghanistan. They're FUTURE terrorists!

But he wouldn't stop in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. Bombs would be dropped on North Korea, Syria, Sudan and any other country that doesn't agree with us or support our "interests" in their country. Need to keep corporations with business in those countries "happy" making more and more money so they can continue to donate to their favorite elected officals. Keep the oil flowing and the pipelines safe and sound!  

John McCain and Sarah Palin would encourage our men and women in the military to risk their lives in these wars in order to protect "freedom". All those over "60," and long ago retired from the military, would be called back to active duty. Get off those Harleys!


Anyone who opposes those glorious wars wars would be arrested for sedition and labeled "on the side of the terrorist" and "against God's plans". Treasonous fools! "Free speech" only means AGREEMENT with the ruling powers.

The very rich would get another tax cut. The deficit would explode because trillions more dollars from overseas countries would have to be be borrowed to help pay for the these "holy and noble" wars that are supposed to usher in the most grand, glorious, "holy and noble" war of them all, Armageddon. Let's keep the wars going and the blood flowing until "the end of days". We're get it right eventually!   

Cheney would be secretly advising McCain on how to continue torture. After all, torture is a terrific foreign affairs technique. Better yet, start practicing water boarding on those evil war protestors!

Drilling would have already started in ANWR and along the coastline of America. Forget about any environmental issues in those areas... after all, the world is going to "end" soon, and with a little help from the doomsayers and fear mongers pushing for more and more bloody wars, the "end" will happen soon. 

"You betcha" Sarah Palin would be in "charge of the Senate"... It would be a brand new job description for the Vice-President. She could introduce moose burgers in the Senate lunch room. Political comedians will never run out of material. 

"Africa is a country" Palin and "Spain is in Latin America" McCain would rewrite and redraw all maps and atlas in the U.S. to correspond with their world view of geography. Heck - they could ban the study of geography and history all together. Most American politicians and elected officials have no need for any of those subjects anyway!

But seriously, you hear people complain about President Obama, but would things had been BETTER with "I agree with Bush on everything" McCain, in office? 

* MSM in a glass darkly

               "Shock and Awe" in Iraq
The American main stream media's (MSM) part in the manipulation of the news to obtain American's support for the illegal war in Iraq has already been discussed. American MSM fell in line with the Bush Administration's lies and deceptions under the flags of patriotism. Anyone who questioned were quickly labeled "unpatriotic," "unamerican" and "anti-military".


Alissa J. Rubin, a member of the MSM during the Iraq war and NY Times reporter has finally confessed. 


Alissa J. Rubin in Sunday's Week in Review says: " I came to Iraq three days after Saddam Hussein fled Baghdad. It was April 12, 2003. At the time, Iraqis bristled when asked if they were Sunni, Shilte or Kurd. It made no difference, they said, they were brothers. And, in the heady aftermath of the war, for a short while it almost seemed true." "I should have been the canary in the coal mine. But like so many others around me, I did not want to believe what I saw." 


Rubin, who is now in Afghanistan, continues: "What are the lessons of Iraq that I carry with me? For outsiders, there is a familiar struggle to see the place as it truly is, not as we might wish it would be."


"Americans wanted to believe that their version of democracy was just waiting to spring to life in Iraq — a peaceful multiethnic, multireligious society adhering to the rule of law. That longing to find in another country a mirror of ourselves trumped cold analysis and led to years of denial that came to an end only when the mutilated bodies at the Baghdad morgue mounted each day…

In my five years in Iraq, all that I wanted to believe in was gunned down. Sunnis and Shiites each committed horrific crimes, and the Kurds, whose modern-looking cities and Western ways seemed at first so familiar, turned out to be capable of their own brutality. The Americans, too, did their share of violence, and among the worst they did was wishful thinking, the misreading of the winds and allowing what Yeats called “the blood-dimmed tide” to swell. Could they have stopped it? Probably not. Could it have been stemmed so that it did less damage, saved some of the fathers and brothers, mothers and sons? Yes, almost certainly, yes.

So the lesson I take away is never to underestimate hatred or history or the complexity of alien places. I came to love Iraq’s scrub desert, its date palm groves and marshlands, but most of all its courageous people who despite great personal losses did not lose faith in their country’s possibilities: the imams who prayed despite threats; my Shiite friend Salama Khafaji, who lost her eldest son in a Sunni ambush in the Triangle of Death yet continues to work for integration. Terrible things happened in Iraq over the last six years, and I go to Afghanistan feeling that we owe it to everyone who has died in Iraq — Iraqi and American — not to forget, not to gloss over, not to think in terms of success and failure, or victory and defeat, but to see as best we can, through a glass darkly."




Why Can't the Corporate Media Just Tell the Truth About Iraq and Afghanistan? 
http://www.alternet.org/media/143723/why_can%27t_the_corporate_media_just_tell_the_truth_about_iraq_%26_afghanistan?page=1

* Media lies and war

John Pilger, award winning investigative journalist, war correspondent, film maker, playwright.

Right after 9/11, when I became interested in learning more about U.S. foreign affairs, I  noticed John Pilger's articles, books and films. He's an Australian, but based in London. Not only has he won Britain's Journalist of the year (twice), and other awards in the UK and the US, but this Thursday, he'll be awarded with the Sidney Peace Prize. 


He is not afraid to ask the difficult questions most American journalists steer away from. One of his most recent articles is definitely worth a read. It concerns media lies and is titled: "The lying game: how we are prepared for another war of aggression."


John Pilger's Home page: 
http://www.johnpilger.com/



"The lying game: how we are prepared for another war of aggression."
http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=549

* Bush spin-spin continues...

      GW Bush Photo from: DemocraticUnderground.com


Former US President George W. Bush recently addressed the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. Still trying to justify his war decisions, he said that dislodging of the "brutal dictator" Saddam Hussein was a necessity after the 9/11 attacks and that the military had to be used because there was no other choice. Bush said removal of Hussein was "important as it was FELT that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction and that the then President (Saddam Hussein) was NOT allowing IAEA inspectors in."


News alert to G.W. Bush: Saddam Hussein allowed the UN IAEA weapons inspectors back into the country the later part of Nov 2002. At that time all the world's eyes were on Saddam. The inspections were working. Saddam Hussein was complying with the UN resolutions. The UN inspectors were to report back to the UN Security Council.. NOT report back to the US. After all - the resolutions were UN resolutions, NOT US resolutions.


Bush wasn't aware of this? He was either completely in the dark...or lying. He was itching for war and nothing else but war would do. The international community tried to warn Bush of his pre-emptive war words. THOUSANDS of people overseas were protesting the war. They knew war with Iraq would be built on FAKE, outdated, plagiarized so-called "evidence." The international community already knew this BEFORE the war, and of course...continue to know it NOW.  
 
Bush: Sorry for using military in Iraq, but there was no choice 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Sorry-for-using-military-in-Iraq-but-there-was-no-choice-Bush/articleshow/5183640.cms