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.