Thursday, October 08, 2009

I Hate The War

This news release from the Department of Defense October 8 is notable for a couple reasons. First, the introduction from the news release:
"The Department of Defense announced today major units scheduled to deploy as part of the next force rotation in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The announcement involves three brigade combat teams, and one armored cavalry regiment totaling approximately 15,000 personnel. The scheduled rotation for these forces will begin in the summer of 2010."
The first thing to note is that all four elements mentioned in the press release are COMBAT forces. The three brigade combat teams (the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from the 3rd Infantry Division, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team from the 25th Infantry Division, and the 4th Brigade Combat Team from the 1st Cavalry Division) are just what their names say they are: brigade COMBAT teams. They are made up of COMBAT troops with weapons designed for COMBAT. The armored cavalry regiment, the 3rd ACR, is a combat unit with tanks and infantry troops. How will all COMBAT troops be out of Iraq by mid-next year if we are sending COMBAT troops to Iraq in mid-next year?


The above is from AC W's "Iraq: US Combat Troops Headed to War" (Gather) and good for AC W for being one of the few people in the country actually paying attention. It is possible. The media distracts you, the White House wants you to forget. We've had the anniversary of the vote that Bully Boy Bush went on to use as an excuse to invade Iraq. And, other than US House Rep Dennis Kucinich, who bothered to note it?

We saw Barbara Lee do her usual sermonette of self-praise. We saw her pretend to be willing to stand up to Barack and she yammered on about the Afghanistan War. And her speech, her supposed glorious speech, was yet again played -- and of course the same ones on the left who boo and hiss at Christians just smile blankly as Lee sounds like Falwell's half-cousin.

We're all supposed to pretend -- and all the beggars of Panhandle Media will help out with that -- that Barbara Lee does a damn thing when, reality, Barbara Lee made her deal on Obama in 2007, Barbara Lee made her trade back then. Barbara Lee's not doing a damn thing to end the Iraq War and, in fact, has been flat out rude to other Democratic members of the House who do want the Iraq War to end and who do want the Afghanistan War to end.

Barbara cut her deal in 2007. And its why the Black Caucus is so toothless today. You'll hear that from some who actually report on the Black Caucus -- Glen Ford and Bruce Dixon at Black Agenda Report, for example -- but even then, there's a refusal to call out Lee as if she's not the leader of the Black Caucus. As if all that's going wrong under her watch is somehow happening without her catching on. (One example of that kind of 'commentary,' click here.)

And the little beggars of Panhandle Media can't tell you about it because they joined the Cult of St. Barack too. See a number of her peers in the Out of Iraq Caucus refused to support Barack because they knew where he was going. But Babsie Lee was all for him (and not at all bothered by his remarks over the last six years about the Iraq War including that he would have voted for the authorization). That's when the realities began to sink in for those House members who want to end the Iraq War and that's when they began to grasp who Barbara Lee really was. They should have grasped it a long time ago as she strutted into hearings to grab some glory with a five minute exchange and then rushed right out. She never helped build on anyone else's questioning. How could she? She refuses to be present for hearings except for her five minute round. Barbara Lee's greatest accomplishment has been creating the facade that she's either anti-war or a working member of Congress. (To create that facade, she needed a lot of people ignorant of her parents.)

And why does the Iraq War drag on? Because Let-Me-Hide-Behind-Jesus Barbara Lee is falsely presented as a voice of peace. If it takes long to unearth the lies of Barbara Lee, it's only due to the fact that they start so early -- in fact, they go back to the very beginning. And mistakenly calling her an anti-war member of Congress distorts the whole standard. (This is the cheerleader for the Israeli government, after all. But no one's supposed to notice that either. Late to the party? Here, here, here and here just for starters.)

When all illusions fall to the wayside, we might be able to end the illegal war.


It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)

Last Thursday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4347. Tonight? 4349.


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