Letters to the Editor
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reality vs. rhetoric
America is in Iraq to control the energy resources and to build military bases. These foreign policy priorities haven't changed since the beginning of the Cold War. Everything else is nothing more then propaganda. Fortunately for the Bush administration, the American people, only 12 percent of whom even have passports, are so totally ignorant regarding world affairs and, consequently, so susceptible to propaganda, no matter how shallow it may be (think Fox Noise), that the deception doesn't require much imagination. America, supported by the majority of its citizenry, launched an illegal and immoral war that has killed at least twice as many Iraqis, largely women and children, in six years than the evil Saddam killed in four decades. Everyone who supported, and continues to support, this war shares the responsibility for these unnecessary deaths.
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please understand
the unspoken, unwritten bush administration agenda is to insure that the united states is engaged in endless, interminable war... there has never been any intent to either stabilize iraq or to withdraw... the so-called national debate on what happens next between the u.s. and the tragic country that we have taken from bad to infinitely worse is nothing more than an illusion, a deceitful distraction, designed to keep us thinking that the issue is open for discussion... it's not...
think about it... why the persistence in connecting iraq with the war on terror...? it's obvious... the war on terror has already been declared as a multi-generational war, a war that will never be won, and, if the public can be convinced that the war in iraq equates to the war on terror, by extension, it will never end... so, what does endless war do for those who espouse it...? again, think about it... all you have to do is follow the money... who stands to profit most from an endless war...? who stands to see their positions of power strengthened and perpetuated...?
http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/
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Read The Iraqi Constitution
I keep urging pundits and bloggers to read the Iraqi constitution (particularly chapters 4,5 and 6) It mandates the perfect political solution for Iraq including a resolution of the oil sharing problem. All we need to do is to urge the Iraqi's to do what their constitution requires(which we have discouraged) and we can then leave rather quickly. It seems to me that Joe Biden and Les Gelb are the only two Americans in positions of power that have read the Iraqi constitution and thus have seen the best way out of the quagmire.
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Classic Progressive Schizophrenia
You want to bug out of Iraq but don't want to because it will get worse for the Iraqis but having permanent bases is evil colonialism but you need them to stay there to keep the peace sort of which isn't any of our business so we should go but not now someday soon real soon but not too soon and not too long.
There's an expression in Arabic which is "What women want is roasted ice".
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Dollars, Sense, and Change
Mr. Conason wrote...
Why should the Shiite and Kurdish parties deal with the Sunnis when we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives to ensure their continued and uncompromising domination?
That argument could be applied to America's policy throughout the Middle East, if one subtracted the "thousands of lives" part. Why should Israel deal with the Palestinians when we are spending billions of dollars to ensure their continued and uncompromising domination?
Why should Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or Kuwait democratize when we're spending billions of dollars to ensure their regimes' continued and uncompromising domination of their countries?
Iraq's just one bloody part of the overall problem of our policy in the region, so it gets a lot of attention, since it's American lives being sacrificed in this policy. Will we be there permanently? I should think we'll be there only until every drop of oil can be wrung from the region -- and some of us might be alive still to see that happen, to watch us pull out of there. 50 years from now, perhaps?
But how many hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent to ensure our own continued and uncompromising domination of the region until that time? Will it be worth it? What will "The Homeland(tm)" look like then, with all of that money funneled over there into the great big Middle Eastern Money Pit? The colossal debt and utter decline of our country will be the legacy of this policy disaster.
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Number of coalition deaths
From icasualties.org -- the number of coalition deaths (which we should look at, since those Brits, etc. are on our side)
July 2007 -- 90
July 2006 -- 46
July 2005 -- 58
July 2004 -- 58
July 2003 -- 49
While these numbers include all deaths (not just combat deaths), the figures cannot possibly support a claim of reduction in violence against coalition forces.
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Refreshing?
What is refreshing about anyone saying a purely military solution is not possible?
What is revelatory about anyone saying we might be there permanently?
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Hostile July Coalition Deaths
Using the icasualties.org information, the number of hostile coalition deaths in July is about as follows:
July 2007 -- 76
July 2006 -- 38
July 2005 -- 48
July 2004 -- 45
July 2003 -- 29
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'democracy' for Iraq
Here's the cute part. Our current executive branch is confrontational, combative, secretive, imperialistic with rule by fiat; it suppresses civil liberties to excess with eradication of habeus corpus, uses illegal search and seizure, interminable detention without charge, denial of legal counsel, accepting of torture,and is nonchristian and a pariah in the community of nations. We have an effete State department unfamiliar with basic elements of diplomacy and a childish Justice department. If the Iraqi government embraces and accepts the Bush-Cheney corrupt concept of democracy, they will, de facto, have resurrected and reinstalled Saddam Hussein or a similar person.
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What if China Tried to Stablize California via Military Occupation?
It’s impossible to stabilize the region now.
Bush’s entire plan requires a stable cohesive Iraqi government and a relatively stable, cohesive citizenry who will work together to drive out foreign invaders.
You also need rule of law – as in trustworthy police forces and courts that treat all men and women equally regardless if they be Kurd, Shite or Sunni.
Currently Iraq has none of this. There is no cohesive stable government, there is no actual equality under the law as the police forces have all splintered along religious and ethnic lines – and there are no jobs, rampant poverty and little clean drinking water.
Basically what Bush did was remove Saddam and set up a coalition government comprised of several different gang members who all hate each other and want to keep the power for themselves!
Imagine if China invaded California and killed all the local politicians including Arhn-old. Now imagine that the Chinese government promoted the Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings, Earth First and the ACLU into a coalition government (Seems like a bad idea, right?) Now imagine China proclaiming they don’t care what “laws” they come up with so long as they all work together(!) and agree(!) on sweeping legislation that will determine how the entire state of California operates.
The massive political in-fighting and bloodshed that erupts in the streets rips the state apart.
Streets gangs begin shooting each other in the streets. Those bomb throwing Lefists The Weather Underground reunite and start blowing up police stations to protest China illegal occupation of California.
China decides to “stabilize” California by sending in 200,000 troops armed with machine guns – none of whom speak any English or have any idea what American culture is like. The idea is that just by being there the fighting will (magically?) stop and the Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings and Earth First! Will all (magically?) start working together – and then there will be victory!
Sounds like an insane, unworkable idea doomed to failure?
Yup.
And that is the situation you have in Iraq.
Gang leaders are the “government” citizens are shooting each other over religious differences and the cops are only looking out for “their own kind.” Meanwhile you got 100,000 US troops who don’t speak Arabic wandering around getting shot at trying to figure out who the bad guys are for this week (it changes almost hourly).