This war was not worth a stubbed toe on the foot of any human being. That is no more an insult to those who died
truly believing they were fighting for their country (even though they weren't), or who simply had little choice, than it is to the innocent Iraqis who were killed during "Shock 'n' Awe." ALL of them are victims of the wealthy, heartless plutocrats who play Risk with peoples' lives.
Whatever happened to REAL conservatism in this country? Most of the so-called "conservatives" now are in favor of war for its own sake -- they love to see "America kickin' ass!" on the TV in between pro Wrestling and Rush "lock up all the drug users (except me)" Limbaugh.
This is what genuine conservatives (as oppose to the Straussian neocons who've hijacked the GOP) have always believed:
John Quincy Adams said:
"America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."
The Founders wanted a free republic that set an example to the world, not a belligerent empire and national security state that forced "democracy" on people (even if that were the true motive behind the Iraq war). I can hear their bones rattling in their graves.
The real reason for the Iraq invasion had NOTHING to do with WMDs or US security. It was primarily a scheme to benefit Israel at US expense in lives, limbs, and money. (And before anyone levels a knee-jerk accusation of anti-Semitism at me, I'll have you know that my mother is Jewish -- though she converted to Christianity when she married my father, and I was raised Christian. Despite my Jewish ethnic background, I support American interests over Israel's. If that makes me a "self-hating Jew," then so be it.)
The following paper from an Israeli think tank, published in 2002, provides a good summary of the neocon plan, although there are indications from other sources (e.g., the PNAC) that the plan extended back as much as a decade prior to this:
http://www.acpr.org.il/publications/policy-papers/pp141-xs.html
DEMOCRATIZING ISLAM
Paul Eidelberg
Policy Paper No. 141, 2002
Executive Summary
“Democratizing Islam” shows that “Islamic fundamentalism” or “Islamism” is in fact authentic Islam – the Islam of Muhammad. To democratize Islam it will be necessary for the United States to conquer Iraq and other Islamic regimes and maintain an occupation force for two or three decades, as was done in post-war Japan and Germany.
A generation of Muslim children will have to be re-educated. Anti-Jewish and anti-Christian verses in the Qur`an should be neutralized by contrary verses and commentaries. The principle of Jihad must be eliminated from the four schools of Islamic law. Islamic regimes must abide by the Seven Noahide Laws of Universal Morality.
Non-Arab states should follow the example of Turkey and remove Arabic from public documents and public education and establish their native language as the only official language of the state. This will diminish pan-Arab as well as pan-Islamic sentiments.
Prior to this, the Project for a New American Century -- a staunchly pro-Israel neocon group -- had advocated in one of its documents ("Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategies, Forces and Resources for a New Century," 2000) that the US military should take military control of the Gulf region by fighting multiple wars in the region. But in order for this to happen, a lot of new defense spending would be required in order to transform the military into a force capable of carrying out this mission. And
"The process of transformation," the plan said, "is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event—like a new Pearl Harbor."
Guess what the "new Pearl Harbor" was, folks? Maybe that's why those five Israelis who were arrested in NYC filming the attacks (reported by ABC News) were cheering and dancing as they happened. (They were later deported, and the government is tight-lipped about them.)
Not long after this, the "Office of Special Plans" was set up to provide intelligence supporting a case for the Iraq invasion directly to the White House by means of "stovepiping." The latter term refers to the sending of intelligence directly to leaders without having it go through the standard intelligence analysis by experts, including "quality control." Hmmm...I wonder why they wouldn't want their intelligence to go through quality control?
Who was in charge of the OSP? Douglas Feith, who has been investigated for ties to Israeli espionage against the US:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougla...ged_firing_and_security_clearance_controversy
Other architects of the war include the extremely pro-Israel Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle. Anyone who doesn't know their background can search on them.
The intelligence was not "faulty"; it was
deliberately falsified by the OSP. And they're going to try to do it again with Iran and possibly with other Middle Eastern countries, even if a Democrat gets elected. They're all in the pocket of the Israel lobby, and Israel comes first in US foreign policy. That is not only because of the minority of Jews who are ultra-Zionist; it is also because of the Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson crowd who think Jesus can't come back unless there's Armageddon in the Middle East.
Thanks to these neocon warmongers, the US Department of Defense has become the US Department of Foreign Aggression, and my heart goes out to those whose willingness to serve and sacrifice has been so cynically taken advantage of. Meanwhile, while US troops are "fighting for freedom" in Iraq, we're losing our freedom right here at home, with new laws constantly being introduced to restrict our rights "for our own safety." How many US laws has the Iraq war repealed? How can we be said to be more free today than we were before this all started? We're not even more safe, as the Arab world and much of the rest of it now hates us more than ever.
