September Mourn

Many believe that come September the debacle that is now Iraq will be ending or at least beginning to end. Those who believe this still do not understand who or what they are dealing with. This administration will stop at nothing to further its agenda and the continued occupation of Iraq is a major part of that agenda. So what can we expect to hear in September from General Petraeus when he makes his report on the progress of the “surge” strategy?

Here is what I think is going to happen. The good general will appear before Congress and will be very polite and very engaging and will state unequivocally that the “surge” has had mixed results. That there will be enough meat on the bones to allow them to continue to follow this inane strategy is almost guaranteed. Why my cynicism you ask? Because this war serves the political agenda of both sides and no one in politics that can stop it wants to really stop it. All one has to do is to listen to the rhetoric of both sides to understand the political stakes at risk. There is an ongoing chorus echoing throughout the halls of power concerning Iraq. Just look at all the blog posts that are dedicated to it, if someone were to land from outer space they would think this is the only thing in the world happening.

How does this serve the powers that be? The Republicans still believe that they can salvage their grand plans of installing a client regime in Iraq and extending America’s colonialist power in the Middle East. Can you imagine the influence of having large military bases in the Middle East without the populace screaming “bloody murder”? I guarantee you they have and the possibilities are endless and much too rewarding to just give up. This war is not about Iraqis or freedom or anything else for that matter. It is about the grand scheme of domination by the wealthy using as proxies the poor. Do not be fooled there are more than a few Democrats that would accept this scenario as well as long as it’s somebody else’s idea. With bases in Iraq, America could extend its collection services on behalf of the large corporations and hold a mighty big stick over the uncivilized Islamist.

This world view has been spelled out over and over by all the neo-con thinkers and corporate apologists. America must exert its muscle to subdue an unruly world. The only small problem is that the world does not want to be subdued by America. If our involvement in Iraq continues at its current rate, I think the populations of the world will protest vehemently and could topple some governments. These protests will not be able to be contained by our “friendly” dictators and could spill over into regional violence. Make no mistake; this is no longer just about Iraq to many this is part of a larger global resources grab by the “greedy” Americans. There are many in these worlds that are willing to sacrifice themselves to right a perceived injustice. We have never been able to grasp this about our enemies. True strength is not in the type or amount of weapons one possesses; instead it is about being willing to do what the other guy won’t do. Anyone ever unfortunate enough to do any street fighting can tell you that.

We can see the Republican explanation for further bloodshed, but what could the Democrats possibly get out of our continued involvement? The answer to this is two-fold and depends on which side of the party you reside on. Believe it or not there are some “hawks” in the party who also share a similar world view as their Republican counterparts. There are some Democrats that are in bed just as deeply with corporate lobbyists as the Republicans and have the same agenda. It would be quite a coup to be able to inherit the Middle East at the Republicans expense, all the benefits with none of the bashing. If you listen to some of the Democratic candidates you can hear them laying the groundwork for continued involvement, if only in some limited capacity. Do not be fooled anyone that is not calling for the complete withdrawal from Iraq is playing both sides against the middle. They can claim to want to end the war and still for humanitarian reasons keep US forces in Iraq to continue the same agenda.

The other side of the same coin for the Democrats is that as long as the war continues the base and many independents have been whipped up to a seething rage. Fund raising has never been easier. It is so heady that many believe it doesn’t matter who is nominated, they will trounce the Republican nominee. This is fool’s gold. Not being George Bush will not get anyone elected. I caution the Democrats to take seriously their candidate and not be overwhelmed with the desire to see America as they want it to be and not as it truly is. It is one thing to have a friendly discussion about the merits of electing women and minorities to the office of President in June, it is an all together different matter in November. I know no one wants to talk about it, but there is a reason we have only had white males in that office and don’t see any compelling reason for that to change, even if it is on the heels of George Bush. We have had incompetent before.

In the final analysis the war will continue after September and there will be outrage, but not enough to change the course. The blogosphere will scream to the rooftops and the rest of the country will continue to be more concerned with “American Idol” than with “American idols”…

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Outdoor Market In Indiana?

I normally don't post to this blog until Sunday, but this is just too much, especially after today's stunning attack in the Green Zone.

The more I listen to these guys concerning the war, the more confused I become. Recently a congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain went shopping in Baghdad. Now depending on who you talk to the market they visited was either like a farmers market in Indiana or a suicide bombers paradise. Call me crazy, but I am more inclined to listen to the people who live there than some guys who were there for an hour surrounded by a full company of soldiers, six attack helicopters, sharpshooters on the rooftops, & redirected traffic, and they had to wear bullet-proof vests. Here is the typical itinerary for a visit to Iraq:

"Members rarely spend more than a night in Iraq, often flying back to Kuwait or Jordan at the end of the day. The trips are heavy on meetings with American military and embassy officials, with almost no opportunities for unscripted encounters with regular Iraqis."

Ok, it's been a while since I was in Indiana and I know those farmer markets tend to get a little rowdy when haggling over prices, but at what farmers market was Rep. Mike Pence at that resembled this one in Baghdad. Is it me or has there been a real departure from reality for a lot of politicians lately? This is the problem with politicizing every issue. Instead of giving the American people the facts and letting us decide for ourselves we must wade through the reams of spin and talking points to mislead and misinform. Do these guys think we are so stupid that we cannot see through the hype? Oh wait, George W was elected twice...

Senator McCain is in the middle of his "Straight Talk" tour. After this debacle I don't think there is a whole lot of straight talk going on in that bus. The American people deserve better than this. We deserve leaders that will be truthful and willing to trust us with that truth. Do these guys not trust that we can "handle the truth"? It is time we as Americans, not red or blue but just ordinary Americans demand the truth from our politicians. The lies must stop! And it is not just the politicians it is the "talking heads" on the news programs, the spin doctors on talk radio, and all the other status quo lobbyist pretending to be "ordinary Americans" or looking out for the "middle-class".

We must demand the truth and punish those who cannot or will not provide it to us. "I can't recall" is no longer an option. As long as we pay more attention to American Idol than American democracy we will continue to get what we have been getting. The time for complacency is over. This country, this world is at a crossroads and we must (all of us) stand and be counted. Remember, no decision is still a decision.

There was a time in America when we had an adversarial press and a functioning democracy that would not allow this misinformation to take place. However, today you can't tell the journalist from the Whitehouse spokespeople. I am all for rallying behind the troops and war time patriotism, but we still live in a democracy. What makes a democracy work is that we do question authority, we do ask the tough questions, and we investigate. When was the last time we've had any real investigative work by a journalist? I can't remember either.
Here is what the Iraqi's say about the security in that market.

Told about Mr. McCain's assessment of the market, Abu Samer, a kitchenware and clothing wholesaler, scoffed: "He is just using this visit for publicity. He is just using it for himself. They'll just take a photo of him at our market and they will just show it in the United States. He will win in America and we will have nothing."

During their visit on Sunday, the Americans were buttonholed by merchants and customers who wanted to talk about how unsafe they felt and the urgent need for more security in the markets and throughout the city, witnesses said.

"They asked about our conditions, and we told them the situation was bad," said Aboud Sharif Kadhoury, 63, who peddles prayer rugs at a sidewalk stand. He said he sold a small prayer rug worth less than $1 to a member of the Congressional delegation. (The official paid $20 and told Mr. Kadhoury to keep the change, the vendor said.)

Mr. Kadhoury said he lost more than $2,000 worth of merchandise in the triple bombing in February. "I was hit in the head and back with shrapnel," he recalled.

Ali Youssef, 39, who sells glassware from a sidewalk stand down the block from Mr. Kadhoury, recalled: "Everybody complained to them. We told them we were harmed."

He and other merchants used to keep their shops open until dusk, but with the dropoff in customers as a result of the attacks, and a nightly curfew, most shop owners close their businesses in the early afternoon.

"This area here is very dangerous," continued Mr. Youssef, who lost his shop in the February attack. "They cannot secure it."

But those conversations were not reflected in the congressmen's comments at the news conference on Sunday.
Come now Senator, when does the straight talk really begin?

Senator McCain's full letter to The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601781. html

Further evidence of how safe not only the streets of Baghdad are, but also the vaulted Green Zone.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP -Iraq.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

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Another Atrocity Waiting To Happen

What causes men and women to abuse and torture other humans? For many there is some degree of sadism and tendencies towards deviant behavior, but for many others it is the stress and frustration of constant fear and uncertainty.

We are about to increase the amount of time our service personnel spend in Iraq and we are decreasing the amount of time for leaves. By keeping our service people in these heighten states of fear for these extended periods, we are laying the groundwork for more atrocities on civilians in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Any military or civilian doctor will tell you that wars like these are extremely stressful on the soldiers, because there are no fronts to guard or hide behind. The soldier is constantly surrounded by both friend and foe and no real way to distinguish the two. As we put more and more soldiers in close proximity to civilians as the surge plan does, this increases the level of stress for the soldier. Our military personnel can only take so much stress before time has shown; they will become less inclined to abide by the rules and conduct of engagement with civilians.

The detailed mental health survey of troops in Iraq released by the Pentagon on Friday highlights a growing worry for the United States as it struggles to bring order to Baghdad: the high level of combat stress suffered during lengthy and repeated tours.[1]

The fourth in a continuing series, the report suggested that extended tours and multiple deployments, among other policy decisions, could escalate anger and increase the likelihood that soldiers or marines lash out at civilians, or defy military ethics.

That is no small concern since the United States’ counterinsurgency doctrine emphasizes the importance of winning the trust and support of the local population.[2]

In an effort to sway public opinion in America our political leaders are playing a very dangerous game with the lives of civilians in both countries. Because they have stretched our military to the point of breaking and new recruits are becoming more difficult to find, the current troops are being asked to do more than even the military knows they should. But rather than stand up to this Commander and Chief they are allowing the seeds to be planted and when the harvest comes in with more atrocities they will once again blame the ordinary soldier for behavior that they in fact put into motion by their cowardice.

Another component to all of this is the lowering of standards for the military. To try to keep pace with the growing need for bodies in uniforms, the military has been lowering the standards for recruits that are being accepted. As we lower our standards for military personnel, we increase the likelihood for abuse. The new recruits are more likely to have criminal histories or behavioral issues that could manifest themselves under stress related duty. Remember, we are putting these young men and women under some extreme conditions and expecting them to behave as robots, it isn’t going to happen. These conditions could bring out the savageness in anyone of us. Who is to say what any of us would do under those conditions?

By placing our troops in the middle of the sectarian violence, we are making them targets for both sides. Also, we are dealing with a civilian population that is growing more and more frustrated with the violence and the reconstruction efforts. This is a recipe for disaster, and it is unfortunate that no one is going to speak out until the next massacre or other atrocity. And again only to condemn the soldier, but not the policy that has placed them in this situation. As we place them in more and more stressful situations the casualty count will increase, as well as the mental health issues. We are already providing woefully poor care for our current veterans in the mental health area and now we are going to dump more people into an already congested pipeline. I hate to think it, but I have a feeling the number of veteran suicides may very well increase due to the current stress load being applied.

Those of us at home must not continue to stand pat while our military personnel are placed in these situations. Just because we may not have a direct stake or loved one involved; it does not allow us the right to be mute. In a democracy it is the people that decide inevitably when and where our soldiers fight. The President can declare a war, but without public support it cannot continue. The lives of our military and of innocent civilians are at stake. There are those who may say that innocents may die if we leave and that well may be true, but we won’t be the ones killing them.

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[1]http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/mentalhealthanddisorders/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier

[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/washington/06military.html?hp

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500 Billion

The cost of the war in Iraq is about to eclipse the 500 billion dollar mark. But what does that mean? Who among us really understands those kinds of numbers? I know I don’t have a clue as to how a figure like that impacts my life. Unfortunately, for too many of us it is some incomprehensible number in a sea of numbers.

According to this administration the cost of this war would be in the 50 billion dollar range, with the majority of the cost being recovered from the Iraqis. Most economists considered this figure to be a ridiculous understatement of the true cost, but again in the run up to this war the first casualty has always been the truth. Just as they underestimated the cost of this war in lives, reconstruction, and political capital, they also miscalculated the cost in dollars.

It is a known fact that the majority of people cannot get a handle on a figure like 500 billion, it is beyond the realm of our comprehension. It is usually beyond us to make sense of such large numbers, unless we relate them to other things or other numbers. How do we know if 500 billion is a lot of money? It sounds like a lot of money. To help get a grip on this large amount I found an example that might help. A group has put together a shopping spree comparison to help us manage this figure. The example is based on a shopper spending 20 dollars a second for 24 hours every day until the money is gone. It would take 792 years for our busy shopper to exhaust the 500 billion. This is spending 20 dollars a second, every day, for 24 hours a day. Or if you would like to see what the running cost of the war is and what we could be spending the money on instead check out Cost Of The War.

With the President and the Congress haggling over another war spending bill, the question at some point has to be asked, how much is enough? How much more money and lives are we willing to sacrifice for this man’s foolish venture at greatness. With no end in sight and no plan to bring about an end, how can we continue in good conscience to support this effort in silence? If we continue to not speak out, we are ourselves complicit in the continuing calamity that is now Iraq. Is there anyone left who is foolish enough to believe that we can solve this with more money and lives? If there are any who continue to believe, then left them volunteer to carry out this surge strategy. Anyone can be brave with someone else’s life; it is a far different animal to be willing to risk your own life for what you claim to believe in.

So what has our 500 billion bought us? Is Iraq any safer? Are we any safer? Have we improved the lives of the ordinary Iraqi’s?

A recent report concerning the reconstruction of Iraq has found that seven of the eight so called successful projects have been abandoned or are in disrepair.[1] These projects were supposed to represent our successes. These are the successes that the media is not reporting according to the administration. Well, if this is success I can’t wait to see the failures.

Unfortunately, our 500 billion has purchased little in the way of success or stability. Ordinary Iraqis have received little or no benefit from it. Iraq is less safe than under Saddam. This administration has managed to dispose of a dictator and make life worse for the Iraqi people. This is money well spent. Instead of helping to decrease the terrorist threat, we have managed to increase the threat. Their daily lives have deteriorated into a struggle just to survive. Those who have the means have left Iraq, placing a brain drain on this country when they desperately need their brightest and their best. So, even the projects we do create do not have the technical personnel to maintain them. They are in desperate need of maintenance and support personnel. The country is being run by sectarian bureaucrats and religious zealots that are more concerned with clan loyalty than rebuilding the sectarian society we helped to destroy.

It is time to make some hard choices about Iraq and nobody seems to want to make them. It is always more politically expedient to stay the course, but we can no longer afford such cowardice. Shall we wait for 3,000 more Americans to die, 40,000 more Iraqis to die, and 500 billion dollars more to be spent before we find the courage to end this outrage. Who among us has the courage to step forward and acknowledge a 500 billion mistake? Ooooops my bad! Until then, we will continue to send more troops, kill more Iraqis and spend more money. It appears we have more money than wisdom.

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[1] http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0502/p99s01-duts.html

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Mission Accomplished?

It was four years ago that President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier with the infamous “Mission Accomplished” banner and announced the end of major hostilities in Iraq. I remember the day exactly, I was over my folk’s house and we were discussing what the President had just done. I had hinted that it was for the upcoming election to be run as commercials with the President all decked out in his flight suit landing on the carrier. You know all the things he was suppose to do in the Guard and didn’t, but that is another story.

That was truly a Karl Rove moment. Everything appeared so rosy and bright for Iraq and for us. Unfortunately, it was exactly at the moment that we lost Iraq. It was at the height of their arrogance that the deal was sealed. Because they had not done their homework, which seems to be a recurring theme for the President, this administration believed and still does that liberation is about military force. Whoever has the most sophisticated weaponry and the most troops wins. Well, four years later we continue to pour in more sophisticated weaponry and more troops and we are no closer to accomplishing the mission.

Which leads me to a question that we should have asked four years ago, what was the mission? Was our mission to disarm Saddam of his “weapons of mass destruction”? Was our mission to enact regime change? Was our mission to liberate the Iraqi people? Was our mission to bring democracy to the Middle East? Was our mission to secure the rights to permanent military bases and oil concessions? What exactly was our mission Mr. President and what is our mission today?

Until we know what the mission is we cannot know if it has or will ever be accomplished. It appears right now that our main mission is to support our troops. Well, that to me is sort of like saying, “Do you support Iowa or Rhode Island?” The question or mission is not whether we support the troops; the question should be why our troops there are? By framing the question in patriotism this administration has framed the answer. If you want to control the answer you do it by the questions you allow to be asked.

If we really supported the troops we would want them to have a mission they can accomplish and a plan to get them home. At this time we have neither of those, but we support the troops. Because of the bullying tactics of this administration and the atmosphere of “McCarthyism” that they have created, they have in effect silenced all critics with the “unpatriotic or soft on terrorism” label. We, the people must rise above this demagoguery and foolish rhetoric and begin to hold this President accountable for this debacle. They have everyone afraid to admit that this mission is beyond our scope to repair. They say this is defeatist talk. They said the same things about Vietnam and all the rally behind the flag boys rhetoric did not change the circumstances on the ground. We are actually harming our troops and the Iraqi’s by prolonging this occupation. We cannot wait for this President to acknowledge he has made a mistake. This goes against everything he has shown us about his character. We have a better chance of pigs flying than for this President to admit he was wrong.

We are at a crossroads as a nation. We are at one of those pivotal moments in human history when we get to decide who we are as a nation and as a people. Do we believe in those principles we espouse? Continuing to support a failed policy based on lies is not patriotism, it is tyranny. Before we can teach others democracy maybe we should have a refresher course ourselves. We may not be able to save democracy in Iraq, but we can begin to save our democracy here in America. Let’s make that our mission for today.

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Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

Since 9/11 there has been much talk about the war on terror and on whether we are winning or losing. I submit that we are losing the war on terror.

How can I say we are losing after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq? How can I say that when we have had no more terrorists attacks here at home? I believe that the war on terror cannot be gauged based on those criteria alone. The goal of terrorists is not to win militarily because usually they are a lesser force, no the goal of terrorist is to get us to change how we live. How we view ourselves and each other. The reason I say we are losing this war is not based on what the terrorist are doing, but based on what we have done in response to the terrorist threat. We now have more repressive legislation at home, we have resorted to torture and imprisonment without due process, and we use fear and paranoia to justify any and all activities.

Of course it would be easy to blame an administration that used the attack to enact its agenda and justify its world view. But these things could not have been done without our acquiesce. We live in a democracy that is supposed to have checks and balances. We are four years into a failed foreign policy and we just now want to institute oversight and review. I am far removed from the civics’ class of my youth, but even then we learned that in a democracy the people are the “deciders”, not one man no matter what the justification. Are you smarter than a fifth grader? When in a democracy is having a healthy debate about the path of this country’s foreign policy “aiding and abetting the terrorists”? When in a democracy are all the citizenry guilty until proven innocent. No my friends the terrorist are winning, because America is no longer America. In a democracy there will always be opportunities for terrorist to act, that is the price of having a free society. It is not the acts of the terrorist that defines us; it is our responses to those acts that define us; if we are truly a democracy. We can respond as we have with the politics of fear and divisiveness or we can respond as a true democracy and tell the terrorists of this world that we will not live in fear and attack each other. Of course there have always been those who have used our fears to promote hatred and division. I remember from my civics days a gentleman by the name of McCarthy who made quite a name for himself hyping the fears of others.

The next administration will need to heal this land and reunite us as a nation. This will not be an easy task considering all of the damage that has been done. The first thing will be to roll-back the imperial presidency and return this country to a healthy democracy. The democracy we learned about in the fifth grade; remember the one “of the people, by the people, for the people”. It will require letting the world know that we do not have imperial aspirations on other lands. It will require us to once again take our role in the world community not as a bully, but as a leader by example. We must be a beacon of hope and freedom that the downtrodden of the world can look up to; a respecter of international law and international cooperation, and above all a nation that believes in diplomacy for solving conflict and uses force as a last resort. I believe that John Edwards can and will embody this philosophy more than the others. It is now up to us to choose what type of country we want for our children; what type of democracy we want to give them. Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

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