by Jill McLaughlin
Something major happened in
the long and horrific tale of American hubris and imperialism”something
on the scale of”no wait, bigger than the Watergate scandal which forced
Richard Nixon from the presidency. A book was published which could
bring down the whole house of cards on the Bush Regime.
But I ask myself what will
happen in light of it all when the Democratic-led Congress has failed
to hold accountable those of the Bush Regime for what many in this country
and around the world believe are war crimes and crimes against humanity?
The book is The Way of the
World, by Ron Suskind. Suskind reveals that the Bush Regime
ordered the CIA to create a document and then forge the name of an Iraqi
intelligence chief that said al Qaeda was training inside Iraq and Saddam
was acquiring yellow cake uranium with help from al Qaeda. Naturally,
the White House adamantly denies this, as does the former head of the
CIA, George Tenet. Ron Suskind stands by this revelation and says he
has his sources on audio tape. The Huffington Post carried Suskind’s
rebuttal, simply titled, The Forged Iraqi Letter: What Just Happened?,
to the Bush Regime’s denouncements of his book. Here is the first
paragraph of that post:
“What just happened?
Evidence. A secret that has been judiciously kept for five years
just spilled out. All of what follows is new, never reported in any
way:
The
Iraq Intelligence Chief, Tahir Jalil Habbush – a man still carrying
a $1 million reward for capture, the Jack of Diamonds in Bush’s famous
deck of wanted men – has been America’s secret source on Iraq. Starting
in January of 2003, with Blair and Bush watching, his secret reports
began to flow to officials on both sides of the Atlantic, saying that
there were no WMD and that Hussein was acting so odd because of fear
that the Iranians would find out he was a toothless tiger. The U.S.
deep-sixed the intelligence report in February, “resettled” Habbush
to a safe house in Jordan during the invasion and then paid him $5 million
in what could only be considered hush money.”
In all it’s simplicity the
title of the post The Forged Iraqi Letter: What Just Happened?
holds a very pregnant question regarding this revelation. And it should
give birth to this question: Just what should happen? The revelation
in the book itself should give birth to the media being proactive in
doing its own investigation.
But as we”ve seen in the
last 7 years of the Bush Regime, the media dances along the edges of
revelations like these and in a matter of days the music either abruptly
stops or the media turns on the bearers of these revelations and begins
kicking them with their tap shoes. This usually happens when the Bush
Regime denies these revelations and denounces the bearer as a liar,
just like what is happening with Suskind now.
The revelation itself should
be drawing outrage and disgust among the Democratic leadership.
Suskind has appeared on the
network news shows stating that the forging of this fake letter is an
impeachable offense. But there has been silence from the Democratic
leadership on this. It’s not surprising given that the Speaker of
the House, Nancy Pelosi has taken impeachment off the table…”unless
there are facts” as she said in her interview with The Nation
magazine editor, Katrina Vanden Heuvel. But, and I’m paraphrasing
here, according to Pelosi you can’t get facts unless there is cooperation
and the Bush Administration is not cooperating.
But do we need them to cooperate
when there already are facts and evidence? After all Suskind has audiotape
of both CIA officials offering this revelation and each verifies the
other’s account. But lest we forget, this is the same woman, who knew
about the CIA torture tapes and did nothing.
So I ask again just what should
happen? Is the answer to abdicate all your power and put all your hopes
in the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama? After all he is the guy who
has promised hope and change. To many he represents the opposite of
Bush, where as John McCain is too much like Bush.
But Obama’s insistence that
Iran should halt its uranium enrichment program because he believes
Iran will use it to make nuclear weapons; his promises that he will
do everything in his power to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons;
and his insistence that Iran harbors terrorists does not sound all that
different from McCain, and also eerily and startling similar to Bush
himself did during the run up of what is now the criminal occupation
of Iraq. Bush insisted, after all, that al Qaeda was in Iraq and that
Iraq had WMD’s and would do everything in his power to protect America
and it allies from this global threat.
Is this the hope and change
people are looking for? Another criminal war in which this time millions
would die. I do not believe it is. And here’s why. After reading Suskind’s
rebuttal I read the readers” comments. Almost all of them called for
impeachment or a war crimes tribunal. And many of them called for a
mass out pouring in the streets.
I read these with the understanding
that there was probably Obama supporters among those posting comments.
What I am left with is this to say to these readers: The majority of
you in this country do have a moral compass and you know that what has
been done in our names is horrific and tragic beyond words. And you
want it to stop. But you”ve given up your compasses to the powers
that be and you”re getting lost. You”re getting lost in this endless
terrain of “politics as usual” of this election. You”re getting
so tired, so hungry, and so thirsty that you will settle for the politics
of the possible which could ultimately lead to consequences which would
pale in comparison to the last 7 years.
So just what should happen
here? First, everybody needs to reclaim their compasses. You need to
recognize the power that a movement of people acting righteously and
independently of this election can hold and the hope that it would bring
to millions around the world. You must take on the responsibility to
act beyond casting a ballot to bring to a halt the fascist trajectory
we have been forced upon.
If you hate all that has been
done in your name, continues to be done in your name, and will continue
to be done despite who is elected in November, then you need to come
to Denver to protest at the Democrat’s Convention August 23rd
-August 28th and tell this country and the world “End the Iraq War,
No War on Iran!!! For More
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