[News] Iraq - Began with big lies, Ending with big lies.

[Anti-Imperialist News]

<http://www.killinghope.org/bblum6/aer101.html>http://www.killinghope.org/bblum6/aer101.html


The Anti-Empire Report

January 3rd, 2012
by William Blum
<http://www.killinghope.org>www.killinghope.org


Iraq. Began with big lies. Ending with big lies. Never forget.

"Most people don't understand what they have been 
part of here," said Command Sgt. Major Ron Kelley 
as he and other American troops prepared to leave 
Iraq in mid-December. "We have done a great thing 
as a nation. We freed a people and gave their country back to them."

"It is pretty exciting," said another young 
American soldier in Iraq. "We are going down in 
the history books, you might say." (Washington Post, December 18, 2011)

Ah yes, the history books, the multi-volume 
leather-bound set of "The Greatest Destructions 
of One Country by Another." The newest volume can 
relate, with numerous graphic photos, how the 
modern, educated, advanced nation of Iraq was 
reduced to a quasi failed state; how the 
Americans, beginning in 1991, bombed for 12 
years, with one dubious excuse or another; then 
invaded, then occupied, overthrew the government, 
tortured without inhibition, killed wantonly, ... 
how the people of that unhappy land lost 
everything ­ their homes, their schools, their 
electricity, their clean water, their 
environment, their neighborhoods, their mosques, 
their archaeology, their jobs, their careers, 
their professionals, their state-run enterprises, 
their physical health, their mental health, their 
health care, their welfare state, their women's 
rights, their religious tolerance, their safety, 
their security, their children, their parents, 
their past, their present, their future, their 
lives ... More than half the population either 
dead, wounded, traumatized, in prison, internally 
displaced, or in foreign exile ... The air, soil, 
water, blood, and genes drenched with depleted 
uranium ... the most awful birth defects ... 
unexploded cluster bombs lying anywhere in wait 
for children to pick them up ... a river of blood 
running alongside the Euphrates and Tigris ... 
through a country that may never be put back together again.

"It is a common refrain among war-weary Iraqis 
that things were better before the U.S.-led 
invasion in 2003," reported the Washington Post on May 5, 2007.

No matter ... drum roll, please ... Stand tall 
American GI hero! And don't even think of ever 
apologizing or paying any reparations. Iraq is 
forced by Washington to continue paying 
reparations to Kuwait for Iraq's invasion in 1990 
(an invasion instigated in no small measure by 
the United States). And ­ deep breath here! ­ 
Vietnam has been compensating the United States. 
Since 1997 Hanoi has been paying off about $145 
million in debts left by the defeated South 
Vietnamese government for American food and 
infrastructure aid. Thus, Hanoi is reimbursing 
the United States for part of the cost of the war 
waged against it. (William Blum, Rogue State, 
p.304) How much will the United States pay the people of Iraq?

On December 14, at the Fort Bragg, North Carolina 
military base, Barack Obama stood before an 
audience of soldiers to speak about the Iraq war. 
It was a moment in which the president of the 
United States found it within his heart and soul 
­ as well as within his oft-praised (supposed) intellect ­ to proclaim:

This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine 
years in the making. And today, we remember 
everything that you did to make it possible. ... 
Years from now, your legacy will endure. In the 
names of your fallen comrades etched on 
headstones at Arlington, and the quiet memorials 
across our country. In the whispered words of 
admiration as you march in parades, and in the 
freedom of our children and grandchildren. ... So 
God bless you all, God bless your families, and 
God bless the United States of America. ... You 
have earned your place in history because you 
sacrificed so much for people you have never met.

Does Mr. Obama, the Peace Laureate, believe the 
words that come out of his mouth?

Barack H. Obama believes only in being the 
President of the United States. It is the only strong belief the man holds.


Items of interest from a journal I've kept for 40 years, part VI

    * If the US really believed in 2002-3 that 
Iraq had weapons of mass destruction why did they 
send in more than 100,000 troops, who were certain to be annihilated?
    * In a letter released August 17, 2006, 21 
former generals and high ranking national 
security officials called on President George W. 
Bush to reverse course and embrace a new area of 
negotiation with Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. The 
group told reporters Bush's "hard line" policies 
had undermined national security and made America less safe.
    * Throughout most of the 20th century, the 
Catholic Church in Latin America taught its 
flocks of the poor that there was no need to do 
battle with the ruling elite because the poor 
would get their just rewards in the afterlife.
    * The US overthrew the Sandinistas in 
Nicaragua because the Sandinistas "intended to 
create a country where there was only a colony 
before." ­ Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan writer
    * "[George W.] Bush said last week that part 
of the purpose of the Indonesia trip 'is to make 
sure that the people who are suspicious of our 
country understand our motives are pure'." (Washington Post, October 22, 2003)
    * "Wars may be aberrant experiences in the 
lives of most human individuals, but some nations 
are serial aggressors. American society is unique 
in having been formed almost wholly by processes 
of aggression against external and internal 
Others." ­ The Black Commentator, June 8, 2006
    * President Obama should accompany the 
military people when they inform parents that 
their child has died in the latest of America's 
never-ending wars. And maybe ask George W. to come along as well.
    * During the Vietnam War some University of 
Michigan students created a brouhaha when they 
threatened to napalm a puppy dog on the steps of 
a campus building. The uproar of indignation at 
their cruelty was heard nationwide. Of course, 
when the time came they didn't do it, having 
successfully made the point that people cared 
more about napalming a dog than they did about napalming people.
    * "It's a lie and an illusion that we have an 
inefficient government. This government is only 
inefficient if you think its job is, as stated in 
the Constitution, 'to form a more perfect Union, 
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, 
provide for the common defense, promote the 
general welfare, and secure the blessings of 
liberty to ourselves and our posterity.' These 
objectives are beyond our government's talents 
only because they are beyond its intentions." ­ Michael Ventura
    * "Get some new lawyers" - US Secretary of 
State Madeleine Albright to British Foreign 
Secretary Robin Cook when he told her he was 
informed that the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 
1999 (which Albright championed) was illegal under international law.
    * The two countries of the world, along with 
the United States, which have the greatest 
national obsession with baseball are two of the 
main targets of US foreign policy: Venezuela and Cuba.
    * The Cuban Five case: This is the first case 
in American history of alleged spying and 
espionage without a single page from a secret 
document. The government never presented any 
evidence of a stolen official document or any 
attempt to steal an official document. This is 
the first spy case without secrets from the 
government. (<http://killinghope.org/bblum6/polpris.htm>Read more)
    * "If a bomb is deliberately dropped on a 
house or a vehicle on the grounds that a 
'suspected terrorist' is inside, the resulting 
deaths of women and children may not be 
intentional. But neither are they accidental. The 
proper description is 'inevitable'. So if an 
action will inevitably kill innocent people, it 
is as immoral as a deliberate attack on civilians." ­ Howard Zinn
    * "The U.N. Security Council voted 
unanimously Saturday to impose limited sanctions 
on North Korea for its recent missile tests, and 
demanded that the reclusive communist nation 
suspend its ballistic missile program." 
(Associated Press, July 15, 2006) ... Internet 
commentator: "Test some missiles that land 
harmlessly in the ocean? Unanimous condemnation. 
Fire some missiles at targets on land, kill 
hundreds of people, and destroy hundreds of 
civilian targets including power plants, 
airports, roads, bridges, TV stations, etc., all 
in violation of the Geneva Convention? Hey, no problem."
    * For some nine years, American B-52 bombers 
relentlessly dropped tons of ordnance on a 
southeast Asian country (Vietnam) that still 
cultivated rice fields using draft animals.
    * "The messianism of American foreign policy 
is a remarkable thing. When Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice speaks it seems like Khrushchev 
reporting to the party congress: 'The whole world 
is marching triumphantly toward democracy but 
some rogue states prefer to stay aside from that 
road, etc. etc'." ­ Natalia Narochnitskaya, vice 
chairman of the international affairs committee 
in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's 
parliament. (Washington Post, April 3, 2006)
    * Washington ... Propagandistan
    * The bulldozer, driven by an Israeli army 
soldier on assignment to demolish a home, rolled 
over Rachel Corrie, who was 23 years old. She had 
taken a nonviolent position for human rights; she 
lost her life as a result. But she was rarely 
praised in the same US media outlets that had 
gone into raptures over the image of a solitary 
unarmed man standing in front of Chinese tanks at 
the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre. ­ Norman Solomon
    * American sovereignty hasn't faced a 
legitimate foreign threat to its existence since the British in 1812.
    * There are two major patterns in foreign 
policy: the rule of force or the rule of law. On 
February 8, 1819 the US decided, after a very 
long debate in the House, to reject the rule of 
law in foreign policy. The vote was 100 to 70 
against requiring the Congress to approve illegal 
invasions of other countries or peoples. This 
pertained to the "Seminole War", actually the 
invasion of Florida. Since then every president 
has had the right to "defend America", code words 
for the use of force against whomever he chooses. ­ Kelly Gelgering


Happy New Year. Here's what to look forward to.

JANUARY 22: Congress passes a law requiring that 
all persons arrested in anti-war demonstrations 
be sterilized. House Speaker John Boehner 
declares it is "God's will". House Minority 
Leader Nancy Pelosi says she supports the law but 
that she has some reservation because there's no 
provision for a right of appeal.

FEBRUARY 15: Ron Paul assassinated by man named Oswald Harvey.

FEBRUARY 18: Oswald Harvey, while in solitary 
confinement and guarded round the clock by 1200 
policemen and the entire 3rd Army Brigade, is killed by man named Ruby Jackson.

FEBRUARY 26: Ruby Jackson suddenly dies in prison 
of a rare Asian disease heretofore unknown in the Western Hemisphere.

MARCH 6: US President Hopey Changey announces new 
draconian sanctions against Iran, Syria, North 
Korea, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba, 
declaring that they all possess weapons of mass 
destruction, are an imminent threat to the United 
States, have close ties to al Qaeda and the 
Taliban, are aiding Islamic terrorists in 
Somalia, were involved in 9-11, played a role in 
the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the 
attack on Pearl Harbor, do not believe in God or 
American Exceptionalism, and are all "really bad guys".

APRIL 1: Military forces overthrow Evo Morales in 
Bolivia. US State Department decries the loss of democracy.

APRIL 2: US recognizes the new Bolivian military 
junta, sells it 100 jet fighters and 200 tanks.

APRIL 3: Revolution breaks out in Bolivia 
endangering the military junta; 40,000 American 
marines are sent to La Paz to quell the uprising.

APRIL 8: Dick Cheney announces from his hospital 
bed that the United States has finally discovered 
caches of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq ­ 
"So all those doubters can now just go 'F' 
themselves." The former vice-president, however, 
refuses to provide any details of the find 
because, he says, to do so might reveal intelligence sources or methods.

APRIL 10: ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, General 
Electric, General Motors, AT&T, Ford, and IBM 
merge to form "Free Enterprise, Inc."

APRIL 16: Free Enterprise, Inc. seeks to purchase 
Guatemala and Haiti. Citigroup refuses to sell.

APRIL 18: Free Enterprise, Inc. purchases Citigroup.

MAY 5: The Democratic Party changes its name to 
the Republican Lite Party, and announces the 
opening of a joint bank account with the 
Republicans so that corporate lobbyists need make 
out only one check. In celebration of the change 
the new party calls for eliminating the sales tax on yachts.

MAY 11: China claims to have shot down an 
American spy plane over the center of China. 
State Department categorically denies the story.

MAY 12: State Department admits that an American 
plane may have "inadvertently" strayed 2,000 
miles into China, but denies that it was a spy plane.

MAY 13: State Department admits that the plane 
may have been a spy plane but denies that it was 
piloted by a US government employee.

MAY 14: State Department admits that the pilot 
was a civilian employee of a Defense Department 
contractor but denies that China exists.

JUNE 11: Homeland Security announces plan to 
collect the DNA at birth of every child born in the United States.

JULY 1: The air in Los Angeles reaches so bad a 
pollution level that the rich begin to hire 
undocumented workers to breathe for them.

AUGUST 6: The Justice Department announces that 
six people have been arrested in New York in 
connection with a plan to bomb the United 
Nations, the Empire State Building, the Times 
Square subway station, Madison Square Garden, and Lincoln Center.

AUGUST 7: Charges are dropped against four of 
"The New York Six" when it is determined that they are FBI agents.

AUGUST 16: At a major demonstration in 
Washington, the Tea Party demands an end to all 
government expenditures. They also warn Congress 
not to touch Social Security or Medicare.

AUGUST 26: Texas executes a 16-year-old girl for 
having an abortion and a 12-year-old boy for possession of marijuana.

SEPTEMBER 3: The Labor Department announces that 
Labor Day will become a celebration of America's 
gratitude to its corporations, a day dedicated to 
the memory of J.P. Morgan and Pinkerton strike 
breakers killed in the line of duty.

SEPTEMBER 12: The draft is reinstated for males 
and females, ages 16 to 45. Those who are missing 
a limb or are blind can apply for non-combat roles.

SEPTEMBER 14: Riots breaks out in 24 American 
cities in protest of the new draft. 200,000 
American troops are brought home from 
Afghanistan, Iraq, and 25 other countries to put down the riots.

SEPTEMBER 28: The Tea Party calls for giving embryos the vote.

OCTOBER 19: Cops the world over form a new 
association, Policemen's International Governing 
Society. PIGS announces that its first goal will 
be to mount a campaign against the notion that a 
person is innocent until proven guilty, in those 
countries where the quaint notion still dwells.

NOVEMBER 8: The turnout for the US presidential 
election is 9.6%. The voting ballots are all 
imprinted: "From one person, one vote, to one 
dollar, one vote." The winner is "None of the above".

NOVEMBER 11: US prison population reaches 2.5 
million. It is determined that at least 70 
percent of the prisoners would not have been 
incarcerated a century ago, for the acts they 
committed were then not criminal violations.

DECEMBER 3: Supreme Court rules that police may 
search anyone if they have reasonable grounds for 
believing that the person has pockets.

DECEMBER 16: The Occupy Movement sets up a tent 
on the White House lawn. An hour later a missile 
fired from a drone leaves but a thin wisp of smoke.

–

William Blum is the author of:
    * Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2
    * Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
    * West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir
    * Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire

Portions of the books can be read, and signed 
copies purchased, at <http://www.killinghope.org>www.killinghope.org

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