“That which you do not resist and mobilize to stop you will learn – or be forced – to accept.”
From the Call to Drive out the Bush Regime, 2005
Barack Obama is sending a surge of 20,000 troops to Afghanistan.
An antiwar movement that does not move immediately to oppose the Obama doctrine of shifting the central front of the war on terror to Afghanistan, no longer deserves to be called an anti-war movement.
Millions of people voted for Obama because they thought he would end the war. Yet Obama filled his cabinet with Hillary “Obliterate Iran” Clinton, Robert Gates, James Jones and Susan Rice (“a kettle of hawks,” said Jeremy Scahill).
He is not only continuing an unjust war by leaving 80,000 troops and 17 permanent bases in Iraq, and all over the region, including nuclear carrier-led task forces with enough firepower to “annihilate” any country in the region, but Obama is enlisting many progressive sections of society to support and be complicit in waging a spreading war for U.S. hegemony and imperialist expansion known as the “war on terror.”
The election of the first Black president is effectively re-branding preemptive and illegal wars of aggression to make us feel good about them. Massive anti-war sentiment and action is already being transformed into flag-waving patriotism, passivity and capitulation in the face of horrors.
The U.S. military, stretched thin and full of discontent after six years of carnage in Iraq, is now being replenished. Military recruiters are targeting Black and Latino youth, telling them if they sign up now they’ll be fighting for Obama. Their lives will be expended as cannon fodder in a brutal war of occupation that is not in their interests.
The U.S. war on Afghanistan is an unjust war of aggression—the supreme war crime. The Bush regime occupied Afghanistan and drove out the Taliban regime, not to bring democracy and liberation to the Afghan people, but to control Afghanistan and spread the U.S.empire, with the goal of permanent domination of the Middle East.
The “war on terror” begun after 9/11 by the U.S. was not just a campaign against the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden, but a broad, global war to continue the U.S. position as unchallenged global superpower. This is not a war to free people from warlords of Islamic fundamentalism, a movement the U.S. funded and armed, and ironically, spread, when it was aligned with the US against the Soviet Union in the 1970’s.
The war in Afghanistan is and will be fought the same way the war in Iraq is being fought. Most of the people killed are civilians, with the U.S. justifying collateral damage and collective punishment, secret prisons, denial of due process and torture. It is wrong, unjust, illegitimate and immoral. And it won’t be otherwise, no matter who is president. There is no such thing as a “good” war on terror.
The U.S. occupiers consider any large gathering of Afghans inherently hostile, hence the repeated bombings of wedding parties. Even the U.S. puppet, Hamid Karzai, is warning the U.S. to stop killing civilians. And it is NOT a war to free women. According to afghan-web.com/woman/, after 7 years of US occupation:
• Every 30 minutes, an Afghan woman dies during childbirth
• 87 percent of Afghan women are illiterate
• 30 percent of girls have access to education in Afghanistan
• 1 in every 3 Afghan women experience physical, psychological or sexual violence
• 44 years is the average life expectancy for women in Afghanistan
• 70 to 80 percent of women face forced marriages in Afghanistan
The deadly and self-perpetuating cycle between the terror directed at civilians by the Islamic fundamentalists fighting against the U.S. and the terror of the U.S. wars of aggression directed at civilians can only be stopped by the people of those countries, combined with the actions of people in this country who refuse to strengthen either side.
We in this country, and those of us in this movement, have a choice. We can side with “our” government, with the “good war” fought in our names, and act like American lives are more important than anyone else’s lives.
Or we can show the people living in the Middle East, and the world, that in the U.S. there is a difference between the people and their government, and that the people are taking responsibility to end an unjust war and the war crimes that have been carried out in our name. We can act like we care about the whole planet.
The antiwar movement of the last several years which confined itself to lobbying and campaigning served to demobilize mass protest. Now this movement must shake off this passive complicity and act once again in a way that is so visible and powerful it can be seen all over the world, especially in the countries that have been targets of this aggression.
An antiwar movement that does not have the principle and the conviction to oppose the crimes carried out by our government; that dodges the immediate escalation of the war in Afghanistan, and the threat of war on other places; that chooses to focus on “domestic issues” when people of the Middle East are counting on us, will commit unconscionable betrayal.
An antiwar movement needs to show common cause with the people of the world and not common cause with war criminals. Too much is at stake for the progressive movement to consult with or sound like the generals or the Commander in Chief. Too much is at stake to “wait and see” whether this is all going in the direction Obama says it is.
Visible action is urgently needed:
The USA PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act, and Obama’s FISA Act must be repealed; the U.S. torture state must be dismantled, and secret rendition ended.
*Visible – orange – protests on Sunday, January 11, the anniversary of Guantanamo.
Prosecute the war criminals and STOP the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan!
*The first anti-war protest of the Obama administration January 20, 2009, Washington DC,
Six Years of Illegitimate War – Resist the Recruiters!
*Wednesday, March 18 “We Are Not Your Soldiers” Day of resistance to recruiters;
*Thursday March 19: Local protests including school walk-outs.
*Saturday March 21: United mass protests.
We in World Can’t Wait pledge to work with everyone who wants to build an ANTI-war movement.
Real change happens when people take independent action – outside the confines of government and in their own interests.
If we want to stop the continued horror of the largest imperialist power on earth dropping bombs, sending death squads and torturers anywhere with impunity – in our names — the only way is to face up to reality, tell the truth, and get out to the people with the message that we must stop the crimes of our government.
Worldcantwait.org 866 973 4463
It’s looking very much like we are going to have a lot of civilian casualties ourselves in short order. The government has criminalized war protest – protest of all sorts, truthfully – and we are about to have a “pandemic” of a Frankensteined flu and a flu shot that will make sure it IS pandemic. The resisters stand a strong chance of becoming “guests” of the federal government in one of over 800 renovated military bases and camps built by KBR they said at the time were for an expected “invasion of illegals”. They were begun in the 60’s to contain an expected uprising of blacks. Several states including New York and Mass. have made it illegal to refuse the shot; it will be Federal soon enough. Everything is ready, and if they wait too long to move there’ll too many pissed off Americans to quell. They’ll have to push the button very soon or give up their takeover plans for another generation, and I’m betting greed will make them choose the first. And I will grieve for my country and my fellow Americans, and for the world.
Ian
UPDATE: War criminal Obama gets the Nobel “Peace” Prize
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHJwK9iL4ZAw
Amen! And look at Code Pink. They just TOTALLY sold out the anti-war movement. According to Medea Banjamin, it’s okay for Obama to murder “brown people” if it results in women’s rights.
http://rawstory.com/2009/10/report-code-pink-rethinking-anti-afghan-war-stance/
While I may have differences with a few of the formulations in this document — it does seem a little simplistic to call Karzai a “puppet,” for instance — the overall political thrust is entirely correct. I will happily endorse.
Nice job, psychopaths. You banned me months ago from this wall because you couldn’t deal with the facts I was presenting, because they crash your bullshit paranoid views of the U.S. and the world straight back to earth. It’s not even worth dignifying, most of this bullshit, but I just wanted to let you know how pathetic it makes you look to ban someone when they say things you can’t deal with. I’m on a different computer now, so I got through to this site. So just wanted to say, have a good life living in your fantasy worlds. If you ever want to join the reality based community, I’ll be the first to welcome you all there.
The 9/11 Commission was composed of business partners of George Bush, refused to hear relevant testimony, & disregarded much of the testimony it did hear. We want the truth, not the lies of the perpetrators! If Obama can ever be forced to genuinely prosecute members of the Bush Administration for torture & other crimes, let him also investigate Cheney etc. involvement in 9/11. Obama is president, Paul Wellstone was only a U.S. Senator when he was killed for looking into this.
Hamid Karzai is not only a U.S. puppet dictator, he is also a CIA operative. He was put in office, just like the Iraqi government, by Uncle Swastika. He was never elected president of Afghanistan in a fair election, much like George W. Bush was not elected president of the U.S. — twice.
[quote name=”Alex A.”]Sir, I’ve read plenty myself from all sources, and the 9/11 Commission was bi-partisan and independent. There’s no proof of anything being false about it. And I don’t know what you mean about Bush’s admissions to “propagandizing.” The intelligence was not all “known false” either. SOme was dubious, but other parts of it were widely believed and not just by us. Saddam’s OWN henchmen thought he had the weapons, as did numerous other nations. I’m not going to argue about the veterans’ issues because that’s something I’m not as informed about as I should be, and I’m not defending any wrongdoing that was done in that area. But you’re distorting the other stuff big time. Point me in the direction of some of this “proof” you speak of, especially the stuff about actions being taken for “corporate profits.” And no, the very act of profiteering having been done is not sufficient. The fact that something happened as a result of another action in no way proves that it was the motivation for said action. Point me in the direction of the smoking gun, otherwise it’s all hot air. Because I’ve read numerous sources, and there’s no smoking gun to this part of what you’re saying.[/quote]
“NORAD lie to us” – “The Commission was set up to fail” – Thomas Keene
You have the words Alex
but not the knowledge
my suspecsion=
you’re a plant
“Millions of people … would end the war.”
Then millions of people should have fucking listened to what he was saying. This point was clear during the campaign.
“The U.S. war … supreme war crime.” Is there such a thing is just war then? Is there some kind form you need to fill out? Do you think your any different when your agreeing with a “just” war then the people agreeing with this war? just because something is done according to somebody’s rule doesn’t mean its right.
“Most of the people killed are civilians” Granted the US is overzealous with its bombardments. However the taliban/ al qaeda does not use uniforms or id and many afghans have weapons ranging from machine guns to rpg’s. They can be either civilians or terrorists depending on the actions and allegiance, which easily change.
“And it is NOT … years of US occupation”
The numbers about woman in Afghanistan are good. But without knowing what those were before the war its hard to tell if its getting better or worse. The numbers posted are on the site make no reference to the war, its simply the current situation. There certainly isn’t much reason to assume it will get any better if the troops leave. Btw the site that this article links to als say on it front page “Since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, many would agree that the political and cultural position of Afghan women has improved substantially.” So your using numbers to support your claim, while they in fact this prove it.
“Or we can show the … the people and their government” How is there a difference? You voted for you government, two terms of Bush, despite evidence of corruption in the election you allowed him to stay in office. Its was you who went along with starting these wars in your mass hysteria. Ad is it was you who accepted the explanation (we where all feeling a little vulnerable at the time).
“An antiwar movement that … will commit unconscionable betrayal.” If your going to claim to have the interest of the people of the middle east at heart thats fine.
But do you really think that suddenly pulling out of Irak to leave a ill prepared government to fend for it self against the terrorist will really help the people? Sure the terrorist attacks might stop, but its allow just as likely that they won’t and that the conflict will be dragged out even further than it would have been other wise.
Do you really think the Afghan people will benefit from a withdrawal? Or will those few rights that woman now finally have there be lost again? Will the country once again be ruled bye warlords who force farmers to grow drugs for them bye force of arms. Will it continue to be a country where young boys get molested bye adult men, only to be sentenced to death bye stoning for “seducing” the rapist.
Yes starting the Irak war was stupid, perhaps the Afghanistan war as well. Yes your government has broken laws. But you started this cluster fuck, so now its your mess to clean up.
we need bring troops home faster than President Obama declared. Invest in Education, not the burning hole.
if anybody has any doubts about Obama, you should head to youtube and watch “The Men Behind Obama”. It should give you some interesting things to think about…such as Zbigniew Brzezinski to start. Or how about food, you are what you eat right, check out Tom Vilsack.
To Alex A–who believes that we went to Iraq because of bad intelligence. According to many at the Pentagon, conflict with Iraq was a fait accomplit as soon as Bush was elected–they were gearing up for it after his inauguration. It had nothing to do with 9-11–ditto the Patriot Act, which actually had been waiting in the wings in draft form since the Clinton administration–he actually tried to pass it (with a different name) in the 90’s, in supposed response to the first attempt on the towers (an attempt, by the way, that had been partially engineered and entirely known about by FBI agents, as the NYT reported in the mid 90’s, to surprisingly little outcry). As far as Bush’s intelligence goes, as soon as 9-11 happened, Cheney set up the OSP, a clearing house for all information regarding an Iraq-WMD connection. Leads that indicated a positive, however flimsy or discredited, were given a fast-track to the president’s desk. Information that showed no link were sent back for “further research”. (This was reported in the Atlantic Monthly in 2002). Clearly, you cannot blame Tennet for his delight in his “slam dunk”, when all up and down the chain, everyone at the CIA knew the administration was only seeking corroborations and rationalizations for what was a foregone conclusion. The war was going to be executed by this Halliburton hack, by hook or by crook. And as far as propaganda goes–perhaps you don’t remember the year of fear-mongering that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice spent in 2002, touring the talk shows, the “news” programs, and the nation’s blue collar factories with such inflated terminology as the “smoking gun turning out to be a mushroom cloud”, an especially cynical formulation, given the fact that we and our friend Israel are the only nuclear powers in the game, and we are the ones whose discourse was often peppered that year with such witticisms as “Let’s turn the Middle East into a piece of glass”. As far as Al Qaeda goes, you should know that absolutely no evidence has shown that this organization committed the atrocity. It is honestly worth your while to investigate 9-11 truth–as crazy as it sounds, you will only need to read for about an hour before you realize the enormity of the holes in the official government story (and subsequently the 9-11 commission’s investigation, which fails to account, most damningly, for the enormous number of put-options placed on United and American in the days before, the huge volume of highly placed people attempting to warn people in our government weeks before 9-11, the unprecedented stand-down of NORAD, the speed of the buildings’ collapse, the absurd collapse of building 7, and the traces of sulfur and thermite in wreckage samples) I know it sounds insane, but it’s more insane to remain incurious in the face of reality. The movement now contains physicists, architects, generals, and firemen–no longer can it be shrugged off as a bunch of “conspiracy nuts!
To Alex A who rhetorically asked if it’d been better if we’d “left the Taliban in power”–American politicians were fine with the Taliban when it suited them; they were invited to Texas in the late 90’s to talk with a bunch of W’s energy friends to discuss future pipelines. Later, while were at war with them (since they weren’t letting us build pipelines), we let a convoy of 1000 cars exit to Pakistan under cover of night, at a time when US surveillance of Afghan territory was at its highest. Among them was probably Bin Laden (if we was still alive at that time) and senior members of the Taliban. When they started reappearing, years later, one could not be surprised. In fact, I’m sure they reappeared with the OK of the US shadow government. The US government and the industrial military complex doesn’t want to end these wars; they want to ensure maximal instability in these regions indefinitely. Viewed with that as the true aim of our actions enables us to make much more sense of all the supposed “mistakes” of the last eight years–from the “intelligence failures” that supposedly convinced us to attack Iraq defensively (did anyone actually believe we were threatened?) to the release of the entire Iraqi military from US custody by Paul Bremer, to the low number of initial ground troops, to the billions of dollars in unsecured cash stowed in an open warehouse in the Green Zone. Our masters love war, because war equal money and control. And unfortunately, our masters will also be controlling Obama, so Afghanistan is no surprise. It has long been upheld as the “good” war by the Osama-fixated Democrats, who actually, I suppose, believe Al Qaida committed 9-11. (Does anyone remember why we actually started that war? Was it because they wouldn’t give us Osama? Really? Do we really declare war on entire nations because of a man-hunt? What are our demands? How will we know when it is over? When did our military start acting like a terrorist?)
Right as usual Debra! the attempted assassination of Afghanistan was bush’s most monstrous war crime so far. It was run on post9/11 hysteria, fear and hate. There was NO possible justification for it. The people have been so cruelly abused for these last seven years. and all this after never knowing peace for 20 years, and being one of the poorest countries in the world.
everyone keeps telling me give the new guy a chance, but i’m totally with you= we need to hold his feet to the fire until he calls off all hostile military action. AND announces that the totally bogus “war on terror” is over, that it was the invention of delusional minds in the white. house.
i was horrified when he made that announcement, and i will never forgive him if he carries it out.
thanks Debra
Kevin what is sad is that so many Americans see themselves as informed on this issue, as do you. The U.S. press has cleaned up the facts and photos as to what is going on there. The Gazans are being exterminated. Israel is the number 1 lobby in Washington. Since they control the U.S. they also control the U.N. They are following the US into the realm of war crimes.
Congress is dead as an instrument of the People. Our Congress is little more than a broker selling American well being to the highest bidder. Congress is so preoccupied with the Lobby that they get little good done at all. To recover our control of government we must use consumer actions such as boycotts and purchases to harm the corporations that are represented and protected by Congress and the Lobbyists. Only by running the lobbyists out of Washington will Congress pass a powerful antilobby bill. I think bloggers will lead the way once Obama presents his corporate credentials to his former supporters.
There is a distinct coaltion between the radical left and Islamic-fascism.
We will fight to defend our homeland first in Iraq, then Afghanistan. At the same time we will fight on the homefront. We will destroy WCW, Codepink and ANSWER as well as other leftwing radical groups in this country. Count on it.
Demand that Hamas end the firing of rockets into Israel. Urge the Palestinian people to rise up against Hamas to end the bloodshed.
Fantastic article! This says the message clearly. Obama is just four more years of Bush in different packaging. Don’t believe me? Just look at his administration (ALL Republican and Republican lite which is another name for Democrats).
I have a dear friend in Afghanistan who while describing the parlament there, at the same time described the US government when she called them warlords and druglords.
With that hint you should know who my friend is and I say this. If one hair on her head or any of her family and friends are harmed in any way, I will first dig two graves and then find my way to Afghanistan and have my revenge. I will not tolerate harm coming to innocent people and especially those I know and love!!!
My friend knows what true democracy is supposed to be and we could learn a great deal from her! She is extremely rare in this world. She has it figured out to the last crossed “T” and dotted “I”. She knows more about democracy and civil rights then any of us in the U.S. do or ever will as far as I’m concerned!
Obama better shape up his act right now and reverse course!! If he does not it will make me wonder if he will order an attack some other place like Bush/Cheney did on 9/11.
I mailed an old shoe to the white house. It only cost me $2.70 as it was a croc. Consider sending Bush a holiday gift. The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington DC 200500. It felt good!
It is time to add strikes and boycotts to the antiwar mix. Imagine a worldwide boycott of Israeli diamonds. They export $7 billion each year, mostly to the U.S. Can you say, “Gaza Diamond”? Or, we could pick an oil company, like Exxon, to boycott for a few months. We need bloggers to get in front on this boycott strategy.
They all have essentially the same owners. That’s been utterly clear since the supposedly mandated democratic victory election in Congress and immediately following “Impeachment is off the table!” and continued funding for the war. There is going to have to be something approaching a change that begins at the foundation of things this time. Anything less will be cosmetic, and end up looking like Frankensteins monster in short order.
I still haven’t recovered from the euphoria of Obama’s landslide victory. Like Colin Powell, Obama has conned us. Never in history has any one or group spelled Zionists pulled of such a con job. His chief of staff Rohm Emmanuel says it wall. A real Mafiosa.
Well, I suppose that I can always hope that eight years of information that all appears internally consistent and adds up to unavoidable conclusions are more exhaustion than real. I wasn’t particularly political until the first election the neocons stole. After that, there were some revelations that I considered impossible, but in time I had no choice but to admit what I was seeing.
BTW, did you give and credence to Greenspan’s admission that Iraq was for oil? Evidence that I can take to court is kind of short, what with me nailed to the house in the middle of a tiny town in Oregon. That – enough of it, from multiple sources and unrelenting – is what I’m calling evidence. That and predictions about what a Congress with a mandate was going to do and so on.
You are more than welcome to write me, and while it may take some time, I’ll send you all the information you could ask and where to find most of it. One computer is down and I don’t know how long or if I can get it fixed, but I have some files left on this one. If you’re interested, I don’t mind posting my gmail here. Just don’t ask if nothing you read will be proof to you. My own brother just says, “Hey, you weren’t there. You can’t know what’s true and what isn’t.” That’s right as far as it goes – I have to rely on someone else’s observations and assertions. I can’t leave here for more than minutes.
Ian
Sir, I’ve read plenty myself from all sources, and the 9/11 Commission was bi-partisan and independent. There’s no proof of anything being false about it. And I don’t know what you mean about Bush’s admissions to “propagandizing.” The intelligence was not all “known false” either. SOme was dubious, but other parts of it were widely believed and not just by us. Saddam’s OWN henchmen thought he had the weapons, as did numerous other nations. I’m not going to argue about the veterans’ issues because that’s something I’m not as informed about as I should be, and I’m not defending any wrongdoing that was done in that area. But you’re distorting the other stuff big time. Point me in the direction of some of this “proof” you speak of, especially the stuff about actions being taken for “corporate profits.” And no, the very act of profiteering having been done is not sufficient. The fact that something happened as a result of another action in no way proves that it was the motivation for said action. Point me in the direction of the smoking gun, otherwise it’s all hot air. Because I’ve read numerous sources, and there’s no smoking gun to this part of what you’re saying.
[quote name=”Alex A.”]Because I respect your service and because you are right that there is NO excuse for having any abandoned soldiers, I will be more diplomatic with you than with some of the others I have seen posting on this wall. However I do need to ask you how then do we prevent the next 9/11? (And yes, I am well aware that Iraq had no direct involvement in 9/11, but the still were a terror supporting and sponsoring nation. How do we stop these madmen?) Also, I know military men as well, and while you have every right to your opinion and to tell your personal experiences, most of the military men I know were not brainwashed or lied to in any way, and the recruiters they know are held to very high standards as to what they can and cannot say to perspective recruits. But this is not to say these rules are necessarily always followed, and any violations do indeed need to be dealt with.[/quote]
Then you have a lot of reading left to do: benefits that can’t actually be collected, promised care that never materializes, on-the-ground circumstances that are downplayed or outright lied about, stop-loss, illegal use of war powers, blackmailing Congress or stampeding them with known false intel… I was, however, thinking primarily about our civilian population. Bush himself admitted on the air to propagandizing the American population, and proof is thick enough to drive a Bradley over. It’s difficult to organize opposition in people who don’t know the situation, and people who rely on getting their “information” from an MSM that is owned and operated by government crony corporations do not have such information.
And the 9-11 Commission was another Warren Commission: total bullshit.
Before studying all of the information I could get my hands on, I would never have believed my own government would run a false flag operation on America, especially for corporate profits. Now I worry about it happening again, this time with a leadership that IS corporate, and totally amoral.
And yes, I agree, I INSIST that we are responsible – the relative handful of us relatively powerless positions who are aware of the situation. And our first responsibility must be to convince the duped rest of the population that this isn’t all lunatic fringe crazy talk. Our leadership has co-opted or neutralized our regulatory agencies, most of the judiciary, much of law enforcement, has encouraged and enabled war crimes all over the world, and has turned the economy over to multinational corporations. America is being stolen and sold out from under us.
So how do we inform the rest of the people?
Ian
There’s a lot of good discussion going on here. People are right when they bring up the examples of the crimes this government has committed, the oppressive regimes and fascist movements it has supported (like Saddam Hussein, or death squads in El Salvador, or many, many others). On those points, I want to try and bring the discussion back to the article above.
It’s the mission of World Can’t Wait to spark resistance to the crimes of OUR government, from the principle that the crimes of OUR government are OUR responsibility. Not that the crimes of any other government or movement that AREN’T somehow funded or supported by the US are not horrible, or shouldn’t be opposed, but we have a special responsibility, as people living in the US, to expose the crimes that our government commits, lies about, covers up, and/or justifies in racist and imperialist ways. When our government does these things in our names, and we don’t resist, we are increasingly seen around the world as complicit–which in fact, we are.
Which brings me back to the article above. The anti-war movement did an incredible job in the lead up to the Iraq invasion at mobilizing people here to oppose the imperialist moves of this government. But too many people took the wrong lesson when the US invaded Iraq anyway–that “protest doesn’t work”. So they turned to “alternatives” that REALLY didn’t work, namely, electing Democrats that voted for every war bill, every attack on civil liberties, and in the case of Obama, have promised to go even further, and send 20-30,000 troops into Afghanistan. A movement that doesn’t oppose these plans on a massive scale, is not taking the necessary responsibility of opposing the crimes of our government, and doesn’t deserve to call itself an “anti-war” movement.
That’s my understanding of this “Letter to the Anti-War Movement,” and I think it is something that desperately needs to be said (and heard and debated widely). We are responsible for stopping the crimes of our government, no matter who is in office. Do you all agree?
Yes, I am aware that we also gave material support to Iran as well. It was a tactic of hoping the two of them would deal with each other and keep their rage off of us–in retrospect a bad move, but again the attempt there was to AVOID ever having to actually go to war with either one of them. I am more than willing to criticize mistakes made by the U.S. government, I just insist on peoper use of terminology and circumstances and not the use of tired old phrases like “imperialist aggression” without any knowledge of what this actually means, or “war for oil” without a single shred of proof. Iraq, in retrospect, was a mistake, there’s no question about it, but it was not based on lies, it was based on conflicting intelligence reports where we chose to manage against the worst case scenario, calculating that the consequences of believing the intelligence that said they did have WMD’s and being wrong would still not be as bad as the consequences of believing the intelligence that said they didn’t and being wrong.
You’re right that a small percentage of Islamic lunatics do not represent all Muslims, but a couple of things you need to be careful of. One, even if it’s let’s say 10% of Muslims supporting the jihadist cause, that’s still 100 million–pretty damn dangerous. And also, the denouncements. Careful here. Arafat was famous for denouncing Palestinian suicide bombers in English to the rest of the world, but then going on Arab TV and praising the terrorists and calling for attacks to continue. Some of the Arab denouncements I’m sure were genuine, but they have to be backed by a willingness to act. Much of the world supported us after 9/11, so long as we didn’t ask them to get their hands dirty. Once we asked for actions behind their words, they turned their backs.
Finally on Iran, they’re probably not a threat right now, you’re right, but they would be if they got a nuclear weapon. To them Israel is a “little Satan” to push out of the way so they can take on the “Great Satan”. But I’m not really worried about that, because Benjamin Netanyahu is about to come back to power in Israel, and he doesn’t back down for anyone and will do whatever he needs to do about Iran, with or without the U.S.’s backing.
It looks like you know your history. So you can remember that we also supported Iran in the 80’s. It’s also difficult for me to justify going to remove Saddam when 4000 Americans and thousands of Iraqi’s died. I don’t think Iran is as big a threat as the Bush administration makes it out to be. Israel maybe but not us. And they have nukes. But how many muslims did Hussein inspire? (no shiites) Many arab leaders denounced the 9/11 attacks. A very small percentage of Islamic lunatics do not represent all muslims. And a year after 9/11, many people were strongly supporting the U.S but the case for war in Iraq was slowly starting. The Dick Cheney robot was talking recently about the case for war and how we would have gone regardless of WMD’s. But thats in the past now though and I really hope Iraq goes in the right direction. Sectarian violence has decreased so time will tell.
Well you’re a bit more sane than some of the others posting on here. However, a couple of things about the Bush/Rumsfeld/Hussein business. Ok, I misspoke on saying the reason we had to take action on Iraq was simply that he was a terror supporter period. The point was that he had sponsored and called for terror attacks directed at the U.S., though not specifically 9/11. He did, however, use the anniversary of those attacks to go on Iraqi TV to call for the formation of various suicide squads to attack the U.S. So yes, we supported him against Iran when Iran was the greater threat. The concept of realpolitik is as old as time and frankly, without it, we could never have won World War II, as we had to support Stalin there in order to take out Hitler. But we weren’t the ones who turned on him, he turned on us. Yes the war in retrospect was a mistake and was run terribly. But this is not the same as what most of these lunatics are posting on these boards.
“and for you who say these kids know what they’re doing and deserve what they get, THEY DID NOT KNOW! “
I hope that is not directed at me. The Iraq war was a huge mistake. There are no winners in war. My parents are from El Salvador. I lived there for a year during the 80’s. That civil war has affected my family forever. It is so dangerous there today. And El Salvador happens to be the only Latin American country to send troops to Iraq. Sad but true.
2 things really anger me. I see these recruiting locations located in the poorer areas of Dallas. I don’t see any in Highland Park or Preston Hollow. (where W. happens to be moving, he’s no real Texan)The line in your article seems to imply that these minorities are stupid and will do anything for Obama.
And the communists who happen to support this site. If you lived under communist rule and you’re still ok with it, that’s fine by me. Otherwise these silver spoon fed fools hold no weight. Deleting my other post for supposedly smearing your supporter was pure BS in retrospect. Those were the facts Eric. Quit simpin’
“However I do need to ask you how then do we prevent the next 9/11? (And yes, I am well aware that Iraq had no direct involvement in 9/11, but the still were a terror supporting and sponsoring nation. How do we stop these madmen?”
A nation sponsoring terrorism, according the the good ol’ USA, and we supported them. Hussein was Rummy’s boy. So Daddy Bush and Bush Jr are madmen too. Next time get a National Security Advisor who knows about Al-Qaeda. That goes for you too Barack.
What’s the worldcantwait position on Darfur? There are some cases where the US along with other nations should intervene. And Afghanistan should be one of them. But do it smart. But there are too many bozo’s in this administration. We need to do more to stop the flow of drugs from Afghanistan and Columbia. It is damaging our communities.
But you hippies enjoy that crap. You are the type to take punches from a bully. Man up!
Because I respect your service and because you are right that there is NO excuse for having any abandoned soldiers, I will be more diplomatic with you than with some of the others I have seen posting on this wall. However I do need to ask you how then do we prevent the next 9/11? (And yes, I am well aware that Iraq had no direct involvement in 9/11, but the still were a terror supporting and sponsoring nation. How do we stop these madmen?) Also, I know military men as well, and while you have every right to your opinion and to tell your personal experiences, most of the military men I know were not brainwashed or lied to in any way, and the recruiters they know are held to very high standards as to what they can and cannot say to perspective recruits. But this is not to say these rules are necessarily always followed, and any violations do indeed need to be dealt with.
I am a veteran, son of two vets, brother, cousin, grandson, etc., of veterans – wartime veterans, all of whom joined. I’m also disabled, abandoned at the moment by the VA for political reasons, like a great many other vets. My son, who is smarter than his father, thank God, circumstance or whatever, did NOT join. I am proud of him, and completely support his decision. I have talked at least three young men out of joining the military – and for you who say these kids know what they’re doing and deserve what they get, THEY DID NOT KNOW!
If you don’t hit the right parts of the Net, if you get more MSM than Internet, if a thousand other things, you don’t have the information to make an informed choice.
Our country has done a horrible, inexcusable thing for which we cannot ask or expect forgiveness. We can hope for it, and we can do what we can to make it as right as such a complex concatenation of sheer evil can be made, and do all we can to see that it cannot happen again, but that’s all.
That much is, however, utterly necessary! If we do not own up to what we have done, admittedly tricked, lied to and screwed, but it happened, and we did it, and we must admit to it. ANY continuance is an endorsement and holding onto the lie of the false image for the sake of a baseless pride. It is NOT worth even a single life more, on EITHER side!
We have errors to work on, corrupt robber barons in charge of our country still busily stealing, lying, torturing and killing, and we MUST deal with it!
If we do not, then we must give up on our self-image as even somewhat good guys and acknowledge it is and has been false.
“U.S. puppet, Hamid Karzai” HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! ROFLMAO!! Funny, he’s been Democratically elected twice by the Afghans since we initially appointed him to be a care-taker president. So I guess you would have left the Taliban in power, huh? Tell that to the people living under their rule.
Stop the government from spying on you using (voip)voice over internet protocol!I also have video phones for families that have troops over seas.These phones allow you to see the person your talking to!www.5linx.net/Dimorius
my website is http://www.5linx.net/Dimorius
And I hope you don’t delete that post. I just read Sunsara Taylor’s post on her blog. Wow! I’m agnostic but I respect other people’s religion. Who will take you seriously with comments like that. Ms. Taylor, I know many Cubans who have fled Cuba. They will never see their families again. One of my Cuban co-workers tells people like you to go to Cuba. Let’s see how you do there.
You stay promoting Bob Avakian’s book. Ok Revolutionary Communist?
“Military recruiters are targeting Black and Latino youth, telling them if they sign up now they’ll be fighting for Obama.”
Oh please….
Nobody forces these young kids to sign up. It’s their choice. I’m a Latino and I’ve seen friends and family sign up for that crap. I wouldn’t. But these kids need money and many people do not give them a chance. I respect what you guys do, but you’re twisting words and you sound pretty ridiculous at times. Yep Democrats are far from perfect. I know that. How influential are you guys. Resolutions against Iran attacks don’t mean anything. Obama is not even president. Wait until he is in office before you talk shit. Many Americans are not informed. That why we elected a lot of these idiots. So some of you guys should run for office……
The revolution is happening soon………get your finger out your booty.
This is a very important statement… everyone should follow the Digg link up at the top and get this article out very broadly.