Lest We Forget ...

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that Michael Moore was the one who said:
"Lest we forget, the Vietnam War represented a mass slaughter by the United States government on a scale that sought to rival our genocide of the Native Americans. The U.S. Armed forces killed more than two million civilians in Vietnam (and perhaps another million in Laos and Cambodia).
The Vietnamese had done nothing to us. They had not bombed or invaded or even sought to murder a single American. President Johnson and the Pentagon lied to Congress in order to get a vote passed to put the war in full gear. Only two senators had the guts to vote "no.:" "

Does this remind you of Iraq? He went on to say:

"... John McCain flew 23 bombing missions over North Vietnam in a campaign called Operation Rolling Thunder. During this bombing campaign, which lasted for almost 44 months, U.S. forces flew 307,000 attack sorties, dropping 643,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam (roughly the
same tonnage dropped in the Pacific during all of World War III). Though the stated targets were factories, bridges, and power plants, thousands of bombs also fell on homes, schools, and hospitals. In the midst of the campaign, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara estimated that we were killing 1,000 civilians a week. That's more than one 9/11 every single month -- for 44 months."

Liliana Segura writes that in the absence of an effective media ...there are people who are uniquely qualified to ask tough questions about the war hero John McCaine and can't all be considered "surrogates" for Barack Obama. One of them is a man named Phillip Butler, who, has published an article whose point, really, is laid out in the title: I Spent years as a POW with John McCain, and His Finger Should Not Be Near the Red Button ~ saying further that he is fearful
"...that because McCain has a reputation for being a hot head ... he has a quick and explosive temper ... quite honestly, that is not the finger I want next to that red button ..."

Think about it....

Democrats ... another failure?

Michael Moore > always interesting .... and seems to be correct more often than not ...

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/94843

Check it out ....

THE WAY OF THE WORLD

If you have not had the opportunity to obtain the Ron Suskind's recent publication THE WAY OF THE WORLD, I urge you to do so and make your own judgements.

The facts as I understand them are that the CIA and other operatives affirm that the President's administration created forged documents resulting in the invasion of Iraq. There is much more to it ~ and the names and detailed verifications cause this reader to consider the terrible waste we have experienced under this President... the deaths of more than four thousand of our troops, perhaps more than a million Iraquis, and trillions of our treasure, not to mention the shambles of our national economy..

If proven true, I trust the Congress will not hesitate to move for immediate impeachment of the President and all that are involved. If not true Suskind should be tried for treason.

Crimes Against Humanity & Illegal Torture ...?

Congressman Dennis Kucinich has once again urged the Congress to begin Impeachment against President Bush. He sticks to his beliefs and has some very strong, clear arguements supporting
impeachment. It will not occur, of course, because the Congress has no interest in opening the matter ~ possibly because some of them could possibly be involved, as well. . . or such action might impact their seat in the coming elections.

The International Red Cross, however, has in effect charged our Administration in Washington ~
including the President ~ with illegal Torture, a serious crime that was carefully examined before their decision. So much for our belief to the contrary. It is likely, according to reports, that legal
action will follow.

A final bit that we should watch: Attorneys from several countries have been working with the International Criminal Court in The Hague evidently focusing upon our illegal invasion causing massive deaths and destruction evident in Iraq. Their focus is upon our President and Vice President, along with others involved. Understanding that presidents and high ranking officials tend to ignore such things out of self protection, the Eichmann case has supposedly been talked about as a last resort. You'll remember the Nazi criminal sought by the Israelis among others. They found him, secretly took him to Israel, tried him, and hanged him.

Noam Chomsky posted (July 12, 2008) an article you should read:
http://www.alternet.org/story/91123/
The lead is that Bush & Cheney Always Saw Iraq as a Sweetheart Oil Deal ... Lots of proven facts there as well. Among other things he states: " In fact, the whole invasion is a war crime -- indeed the supreme international crime, differing from other war crimes in that it encompasses all the evil that follows, in the terms of the Nuremberg judgement. This is among the topics that can't be discussed, in the presidential campaign or elsewhere. Why are we in Iraq? What do we owe Iraqis for destroying their country? The majority of the American people favor U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Do their voices matter?

Stay tuned....

Another Bush War ?

It honestly reminds me of early World War II when the Nazi propaganda caused great fear by repeating over and over that Germany was being undermined about to be attacked. The only solution, of course, was to attack the supposed soon-to-be attacker. They did and for a while had a strong citizen support. The creation of fear among citizens is always very effective although support declines as the deaths of troops and citizens increase.

Today we heard similar propoganda "out loud" that has been quietly said or implied over a long period of time. We need to attack Iran. The right-wing fanatics in this country are far more dangerous to our country than our supposed enemy. They will do anything to cause an attack
on our country or persuade our public that it is about to happen because fear will twist the minds of many otherwise thoughtful people. We are in the perverted hands of an arrogant President and Administration ~ and a Congress that seems helpless.

Israel is being used as our front line, threatening attack with their aircraft, assured that we will
support them. The hope is that deadly bombardments will cause complete surrender and compliance with Iran and the other countries. We tried that in Viet Nam and still lost the war.
We tried that in Iraq and after 7 years we insist that things are better ... how many lives, how much treasure will we lose? All we know for sure is that if we do withdraw from Iraq and proceed to "get Osama Benladen" in Afghanistan and elsewhere, more blood, more treasure ~ and most of all a military that has increasingly limited abilities. It could also be that our best
friend in the area ~ Israel ~ would cease to exist.

Is it so hard to understand that if we proceed with the stupidity of the the Republican Right Wing, Islam may well attack us ~ not just from Iran and Iraq and Afghanistan where they may be weakest, but also from all over the world. Our government's arrogance has alienated too many countries around the world and we are finding that Islam is not easy to defeat.

It is time to call arrogance and incompetence such as we have experienced and will likely experience again over the next months the real source of our problems.

The Military Draft ...

We recently viewed an old movie that was set in the dangerous days where forts and muzzle loading rifles were vital in protecting the American West from native peoples who resented our taking their lands from them. People on both sides were killed, of course, but the good guys (us) did win in the end.

An unrelated but interesting thought came to me concerning the need we have today to recruit troops for present and future conflicts. It all goes back to political propaganda that historically has been used to justify attacks or undermining other countries to the point that we have no option except to 'correct their behavior', moving them to a democratic society. The thought runs like this:

A Military Draft. Something similar to that imposed during World War II ~~ with some major
modifications such as
1. a clear definition of the requirements necessary (without exceptions) to maintain high
standards in all parts of the military.
2. all US citizens, male and female, are required to have in hand a Draft Notice, indicating
their abilities and their draft status as reviewed by a Draft Board at least annually.
3. persons of wealth or status of any kind will be subject to the Draft if they meet the
requirements defined. There will be no exceptions, even to offspring of a President.
4. failure to answer your country's call would be viewed as treason.

I could go on with this dream making the point that in the event those in power know that those in their own family ~ and them ! ~ could be 'sent to the front', we might just have less war and more negotiations. (We know that many 'in power' have and do volunteer their loved ones. Most do not.)

Back to the movie noted above ~ just before the battle started, the local Preacher spoke words like this during his church service: "... all men between the age of 16 and 60 will report to the fort
by dawn. Those who do not report shall be promptly hanged..."

We do sometimes need incentives.

Blackwater Mercenaries

Among the numbers of probable crimes our Congress and Administration have created ~ or allowed to be created ~ is the reliance upon mercenaries to fight in our wars. The Blackwater mercenaries are the best known and among the least to be held accountable for their many murders of civilians, among other reported acts.

These are things we Americans do not want to know about ... we need to know and we need to act. Contact your Congress person.

Please take a few moments to read:

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/88127/

Thank you.

PART II FACTS ABOUT OUR WARS: LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES

Part II is a summary continuation of excerpts of the recent work of the Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz in his THE THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR:

LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES

* Wars should not be funded through "emergency supplementals" except in the first year of a conflict;

* The administration should create a comprehensive set of military accounts, which include the expenditures of the Department of Defense, the State Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Labor, as well as Social Security and health care benefits that arise from military service;

* The Department of Defense should be required to present clean, auditable financial statements to congress, for which the Secretary of Defense and the Chief financial Office are held personally responsible;

* The administration and the CBO should provide regular estimates of the micro and macroeconomic costs of a military engagement;

* The administration should be required to notify Congress of any procedural changes that might affect the normal bureaucratic checks & balances on the flow of information. The Freedom of Information Act (which enshrines the basic principles of citizens' right to know what their government is doing) should be strengthened, with a more narrow carving out of exceptions, and with congressional oversight on these exceptions.

* Congress should review the heavy reliance on contractors in wartime. In particular, the use of contractors for "security services" should be limited, both in number and in duration, with a detailed justification provided for why the military itself cannot provide these services. Careful attention should be paid to hidden costs borne by the public, of the kind uncovered in this book, such as payment for disability and death through government-provided insurance.

Contractors have landed lucrative contracts to rebuild infrastructure and to feed American troops. Much of this work has been poorly managed and inadequately monitored, and yet private contractors have become indispensable to the war operation. There are serious fundamental flaws with this reliance on the private sector.

The GAO and other government watchdogs have repeatedly documented cases of over-billing, over payment, and outright profiteering during the Iraq war. This has increased to operational costs. A large percentage of military contracts have been awarded without full competition. Giant contractors have become adept at gaming the system.

* The military should not be permitted to call upon the National Guard or the Reserves for more than one year, unless it can demonstrate that it is not feasible to increase the requisite size of the armed forces.

* There should be a presumption that the costs of any conflict lasting more than one year should be born by current taxpayers, through the levying of a war tax. The financial costs of running the war should be borne by its current citizens, not simply transferred to the next generation. This means that current revenues must cover current spending; a war tax should be levied to fund such expenditures.

End of Excerpts from THE THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR by Joseph Stiglitz who was given the Nobel Prize in Economics.

PART ONE: FACTS ABOUT OUR WARS!

Perhaps few will pay attention to facts, being bound to a political party or other beliefs ~ still, what follows are facts:

1. The price in treasure has, in a sense, been financed entirely by borrowing. Taxes have not been raised to pay for it - in fact, taxes on the rich have actually fallen. Deficit spending gives the illusion that the laws of economics can be repealed...The costs of the war are real even if the have been deferred, possibly to another generation.

2. Operating costs for 2008 are projected to exceed $12.5 billion a month for Iraq alone, up from $4.4 billion in 2003, and with Afghanistan, the total is $16 billion a month.

3. The use of "emergency" funds to pay for nearly all of five years of war makes a mockery of the budget process.

4. When we add the present discounted value of interest through 2017 alone, the total, with interest, comes to $3.5 trillion. These are just the budgetary costs.

5. The full tally: The numbers are staggering. In the realistic-moderate scenario - the numbers that we believe conservatively best capture the cost of the Iraq venture, even without counting interest - the total for Iraq alone is more than $ 4 trillion; including Afghanistan, it increases to $5 trillion.

6. American's standing in the world has never been lower.


SOURCE: All of the above are excerpts from THE THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR,
THE TRUE COST OF THE IRAQ CONFLICT by Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize in Economics.
New York: W.W. Norton @ Company, 2008.

What People Say and What People Do (Politics)

Most people I've seen affirm that their support of a certain candidate for the presidency is based upon what is believed to be best for our democracy and for relationships with others throughout the world. Essentially, an upbeat, positive trust and hope for the future of us all.

We are human, of course, and affirmations of this kind may or may not be what is believed or what is intended in the ballot box. If you listen there is too-often a strong undercurrent of violent racial hatred and religious bigotry in our country that takes the breath away. We've come a long way since the 50's, I'm sure ... and we can do better if we would just think through the messages we receive from others. . . and challenge what you believe is not right! Even religious leaders can be wrong, as can any human. Even Presidents.

To stay silent is the greatest crime and will guarantee failure of our democracy.

PEACE

Ever since I can remember, people of all kinds spoke about Peace ... a world wide goal that will someday become reality. As an armchair historian I can affirm a belief that human beings have never truly experienced Peace for any length of time. If I were a bookie, I'd bet a million to one that there will never be peace for any length of time. Whether it is someone else's land, wife, food, oil, or whatever ~ humans will soon or later murder to achieve acquisition of that thing that is important and desired & that which is owned by others. Religions of all kinds urge for peace through prayers, reaching out to a god or gods to help others in many ways. And yet, religions of all kinds have also through history happily participated in blood baths ~ in the past, in the present, and some urge the same for the future. . . at the same time, religions can and have often done much good among us all.

Ultimate violence is something in us ... it may change for the better. We must try ~ but perhaps the old saying about Peace is true as put forward by Frederick the Great and many others: "Peace Is Best Guaranteed In the Shadow Of Bayonets".

That seems to be where we are now and have been since a man picked up a rock ~

How Will You Vote?

I had a relative that proudly stated intention to vote for Thomas E. Dewey for President ~ that was many years ago, of course. Upon questioning the reasoning became clear ... "...he has a mustache just like my father ..." This is not a joke. On the contrary, votes for this person or that person or for this legislation or that often happen along that line. It might be that a person "has always" voted this way or that ~~ or perhaps historically the family has voted Democrat or Republican regardless of candidates, or we "just don't like the looks of ... "

It remains a mystery that some ~ perhaps many ~ individuals just follow these habits, particular parties, or whatever their guiding light ~ unwilling or unable to make an independent personal decision based on the reality around them.

Our reality is a nation in severe trouble. No need here to list the deep, immediate problems we face, many of which we try very hard to ignore ~ resulting in inaction. Absent rapid change we will decline further and faster than we have already. We must stop hiding what we know is true in order to cling to what-has-always-worked. It won't work anymore. The world around us knows that and waits for their time in the sun.

Mea Culpa

I sent this to the Republican candidate for President ... in my opinion, Hagee is not only a bigot but a nutcase ...

"Rev. John Hagee continues to blame the people of New Orleans for the catastrophe of Katrina. Senator McCain: If you reject intolerance and bigotry, reject Hagee's political support and stop courting hate-mongers like him."

"Significant Progress"

"Significant progress" ~ words that have been used often in our present conflict. It calls to mind other wars. Korea, Viet Nam, and our present conflict in the middle east. In each, question has been often raised with respect to the enemy ~ ours is a powerful country. We plastered our enemy with the most modern weapons of death, on the ground and in the air. Korea ended as a "draw" to many since we failed to defeat them. Viet Nam endured our best destructive efforts but many of us remember our rapid evacuation by sea and by air as the enemy troops advanced into the South and assumed control of the country.

Each war had its public purpose that is debated back and forth. Many believe that our present war in Iraq is a war to control middle east oil. Not our oil, middle east oil. There are a dozen of other reasons and causes that are put forward but at the bottom the issue always seems to boil down to control of oil. Words used by politicians is that we are there to "protect our interests". Or "bring democracy" . . words that are sometimes close to acceptable truth but do ring hollow. At the same time we all know that we are desperately in need of oil and some suspect we will do almost anything to control management of it ...even to the invasion of another country. Those who own the oil are not fools. They know our desperation. They know our greed. They also know that our economy is in serious trouble. We cannot even take serious actions against China for their inferior products, some of which has poisoned and killed our citizens ~ Certainly we can shout at them and be angry but aggressive "either-or" actions cannot happen. This simply because they own our paper ... they have our bonds ...we are using their credit, along with credit granted by other countries to fight our wars in Iraq and elsewhere. . . and to finance other basic functions of our government. As one well known CPA stated: "...they own us...have you noticed taxpayers don't have to pay for the war here, now, today? Think about it". That's probably a exaggeration. I hope it is an exaggeration.

Military-Industrial-(Congressional) Complex

President of the United States (and former General of the Army) Dwight D. Eisenhower used the term listed above in his Farewell Address to the Nation on January 17, 1961. In part he urged us

"...In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist..."

It is important to note that in the penultimate draft of the address, Eisenhower initially used the term military-industrial-congressional complex and thus indicated the essential role that the United States Congress plays in the propagation of the military industry. The President chose to strike the word congressional in order to placate members of the legislative branch of the federal government.

Others have noted that the "Power Elite" class of military, business, and political leaders, driven by mutual interests, were the real leaders of the state and were effectively beyond democratic control.

All of this creates confusion and uncertainty for most people who are trying to decide which direction our country should move. Perhaps what we do or say has no real meaning whichever direction we move. Still, we are asked to choose, regardless of political games, what is best in our opinion.

War: Bits and Pieces

Pick some dates: November 2007 ~ to the present time, just for an example. Significant things have been said about our War but time does pass rapidly and new issues replace the old. And we forget. Well, some do remember, especially those families that have lost their sons and daughters to death and handicap.

Torture of prisoners comes up now and again ... not too long ago Andrew Sullivan observed in the Sunday Times of London that our "enhanced interrogation" techniques have a grotesque provenance: "Verscharfte Vernehmung, enhanced or intensified interrogation, was the exact term innovated by the Gestapo to describe what became known as the third degree. It left no marks. It included hypothermia, stress positions and long-time sleep deprivation." A US Marine told me that as we use this, it is certain that it will be or has been used against us. We can only trust your family will not be so dealt with.

We've been told that our contractors in Iraq (financed by unlimited taxpayer dollars) are actually on their own within their own organization ~ our military does not have oversight despite alleged illegal murders. ... Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq war combat veteran, said that should Baghdad implode, our contractors, not having to answer to the military chain of command, can simply drop their guns and go home. Vulnerable American troops could be deserted by those "who deliver their bullets and beans".

This is a familiar thing in recent years. Our government transfers tax money and oversight responsibility to corporations that in turn by their own nature will do what is best for the corporation ~ and incidentally the taxpayer may or may not be well served. In the meantime, we are told to praise the fact that our government reduces staff that historically have attempted to keep corporate waste & mismanagement to a minimum. A dangerous thing, I think, as we look to the terrific greed, misfeasance & malfeasance that is brought to light on a regular basis.

As the war has dragged on, it is hard to give Americans a free pass. We are too slow to notice, let alone protest, the calamities that have followed the original sin ~ the original sin in question is the invasion of another country and failure to pursue the real dangerous folks in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

This is America's longest War & perhaps we as citizens must examine our own responsibility for the hideous acts committed in our name.

Religion in Politics

We hear lately much heated discussion of certain religions or statements. One can almost feel the anger expressed. . . or perhaps more often the deliberate manipulation that is evident since the "anger" is directed most often to a political candidate. It is certainly nothing new since such has been the case for many years - Catholics, Mormans, Jews & many others have felt the vicious whips of the bigot and those who would believe differently and do anything to "win". The things we see and hear today are bound to create frustration since, after all, our present purpose is to elect someone who has the ability to lead our nation into the future, not attempt to shift the focus to some harangue about religion. After the disasters our present leadership has created, the next election is more important than ever ~ It is a vital survival issue.

American Politics of the Moment

The Republicans have settled upon their candidate for the US presidency and so many now turn seriously to the Democratic Party as it struggles to be coherent. It is often said that the bumbling about is actually a process wherein individuals are enabled say what they believe ~ as opposed to the Republican process that has at its root a single pattern that represents what every one should believe. . . deviate from the core belief system and you are suspect. That's probably a generalization but there is an uneasy "fit" to the thought.

On top of it all is a President of the United States who has established his total incompetence in the management of the Country. If that seems an unfair statement, take the time to look around you at our dangerous decline in so many ways under his administration. Obviously, our decline at home and in the world is not all our President's fault or the fault of the Republican Party. We have all had a part. We have watched how corporations have taken over public policy and have said nothing. We blame China. We supply deadly arms in huge numbers to every part of the world and then pretend sorry at the slaughter they cause. Our enemies constantly refer to our unending "greed" as a nation of consumers. They are right, you know. We talk about change and fixing the problems once there is a change in the Congress. Perhaps. And perhaps we'll experience the same timid incompetence we have experienced in the present Congress. If we cannot lead, China, Russia, India, and others will.

We do know that the coming Summer and Fall will shape our future.

After all, he's just an old man ....

A while back in this Blog, I quoted a very old member of the Ojibwa saying briefly in reaction to recent events that

" ... I am sorry for you. You whites have only a short time on top of the world. Your greed is destroying you. Your arrogance will guarantee it ..."

I've brought it up again because of the uneasiness the words cause ... and the doubt that we will choose to do nothing about what he implied in his comment. He was right, you know. He was right...and I fear for what we will finally decide to do as a nation.

Who Can We Trust?

I do wonder who we can trust ~ we seem to float along accepting an unconscionable rate of interest demanded by money lenders without a whimper ~ usury in the worst sense ~ health care costs are ought of sight ~ millions cannot afford health care ~ corporate America controls our government, resulting in massive lay-offs of employees and on and on ... and then there is the war ~ more to the point, the wars. As Frank Rich put it in the New York Times: ' It was always the White House's plan to coax us into a blissful ignorance about the war. Part of this was achieved with the usual Bush-Cheney secretiveness, from the torture memos to the prohibition of photos of military coffins. But the administration also invited our passive complicity by requiring no shared sacrifice. A country that knows there's no such thing as a free lunch was all too easily persuaded there could be a free war ... Instead of taxing us for Iraq, the White House bought us off with tax cuts. Instead of mobilizing the needed troops, it kept a draft off the table by quietly purchasing its auxiliary army of contractors to finesse the overstretched military's holes.'

Since Bush took office, he has doubled the federal debt to more than $ 5 Trillion. According to US Treasury figures, on net, foreign investors have purchased close to 100% of that debt. That's $3 Trillion borrowed from the Saudis, the Chinese, the Japanese and others. Very recently, King Abdullah's nephew, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, already the top individual owner of Citibank, joined the Kuwait government's Investment Authority and others to mainline a $ 12.5 billion injection of capital into the New York Bank while at the same time, the Abu Dhabi government and the Saudi Olayan Group are taking a $6.6 billion chunk of Merrill-Lynch. As it has been said, it was no mere coincidence that Bush is in Abdullah's tent when the money-changers made the deal just outside it ..

Who can we trust? In all honesty, I don't know.

The Violence of War

A few years ago, James Brady, a Korean War veteran, published an article that may express in part why so many veterans continue to be seriously troubled by their experiences in violent warfare ~ using his own experience as an example. This is not for pity or for gain. It is just one man's life as he sees it, many years after the slaughter in Korea. The following is his
view:

"...Over the years I tried several times to write of all of this, to try to make sense of Korea. Tried to figure out why we went, and so willingly. I had answers for that: We were the children of the Great Depression. A job was a job. More to the point our elder brothers and fathers had fought the Japanese and the Nazis and beaten them. There freshly remained an honorable tradition of duty. Of Service. Of the corny old chromo, patriotism ...

(After the dedication of the Korean War Memorial in Washington, Brady's daughter telephoned asking how it went. He writes the following)

"...I couldn't answer. But sat there on the bed crying, holding the phone and unable to talk. I hadn't realized the hold Korea still had on me. It was some time before I could call her back and talk. Was it the loss of friends, or of my own youth, that weighed on me? Why should I be so emotional after so long a time ... Occasionally in the mail I receive an offer to make a trip back ... why didn't I go and attempt to ... shake off Korea, to write an end to it? ... I answered that myself ... I knew I would never go back to Korea, never sign up for an old soldiers' tour. I didn't want to see the hills again or feel the cold or hear the wind out of Siberia, moaning. I didn't want to disturb the dead ... "

If you've been there, you know the feeling. The extreme was perhaps called "shell shock" years ago. Today the extreme is called by other terms. This may be partly that but actually something else that is up to each of us to describe or try to bury ... regardless, somehow, sometimes, Korea is an unwelcome, alive, memory.