Since last Saturday, there have been more bombings of Iraq -- bombs dropped from the air -- and more US troops sent into Iraq.
And more serious discussions from those of us opposed to war?
I'm not seeing it.
Justin Raimondo's biggest cause these days appears to be JustinRaimondoIsRight with bitchy a close second.
If anyone's aided the conversation at all, I'd say it was Cher. [See "Media: Barack Lies, Cher Tweets and Martha Plays (Ava and C.I.)."]
Otherwise, I'm just not seeing or feeling it.
We have walked away from David Swanson.
So an e-mail informed me.
I wasn't aware of that.
We highlight Swanson from time to time which is more than nice of us when you consider the history there. (It goes back to the Bully Boy Bush years.) But we didn't walk away from his content. He hasn't sent any since August 2nd (I searched the public e-mail account).
I then went to his site to see what we were 'walking away' from. Saw pages of other topics. First thing on Iraq was Danny Schechter.
A sad little piece that only demonstrated (a) how tight the circle jerk remains and (b) how sad Danny's become.
I'm going to stand with the Arab world and reject Patrick Cockburn. Other lefties can do as they see fit. But I don't embrace racism, sexism, xenophobia or homophobia.
Cockburn hates Sunnis.
Danny's so eager to be in the circle jerk, he quotes Cockburn's xenophobia without even realizing it.
The main victor in the new war in Iraq is the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (Isis) which wants to kill Shia rather than negotiate with
them.
Is that right, Patrick?
This group of Sunnis (a group you tend to lump all Sunni resistance into) is doing something novel, are they?
You really never did call out the Shia, did you, Patrick?
In fact, long before Moqtada al-Sadr found leadership skills and maturity, when he was a bit of a thug and headed a violent militia, Patrick wrote a book glorifying him.
No real concern over Shi'ites targeting Sunnis. No real concern over a group that 'wants to kill Sunni rather than negotiate with them.'
Nouri al-Maliki, Patrick's personal cum rag, targeted Sunnis repeatedly and Patrick didn't decry it. Nor did Danny Schechter.
It's been open season on Arabs and it's really time for the left to say no to the demonization of Arabs. What happens in Gaza over and over happens due to the demonization.
When we're okay with it being done in coverage of Iraq, we're okay with it being done to the Palestinians.
I'm not going to embrace Patrick's hatred of the Sunnis and I'm not to be part of the silence on it either.
It's very typical of the left gatekeepers to look the other way on their own. That's how trashy Amy Goodman not only stole property from Pacifica Radio but also how she got away with publishing in H**tler magazine.
It's also how she stole the radio program Pacifica created (Democracy Now!) and made it her own, how she's become a millionaire off the show. Salim Muwakkil didn't get rich off the show, did he? But Goodman did. It's cute little con job where they pretend they care.
Muwakkil co-founded the show. But Amy pocketed the cash, didn't she? She ripped off a lot of people but her rip-off of an African-American man should be remembered the next time she tries to whip up racial tensions. Give her the corpse of an African-American and Amy cares, she really cares. But a living African-American, one who doesn't take marching orders? They'll be gone quickly. Ask the African-American interns, the very few African-American interns, she's employed or 'employed' on Democracy Now! and you'll find out that they see Goodman as just another plantation owner and you'll find out they have good reason for seeing her as such.
But Danny won't tell you that and Patrick won't tell you and they'll be in the circle jerk -- Amy included -- because that's more important to them than the Iraqi people or, for that matter, you.
So they stayed silent while Nouri al-Maliki slaughtered protesters. They won't call each other out now, of course. They'll just pretend like it never happened.
They stayed silent when Iraq's LGBTQ community was under attack by Nouri.
They stayed silent when journalists -- and journalism -- were attacked by Nouri.
Even his frivolous law suit against the Guardian -- which he initially won -- didn't prompt them to condemn him.
They are the problem.
Their 'history' of Iraq on display today looks more like elective plastic surgery as they rush to enhance this detail and cover up that reality.
They did little to help anyone in Iraq but they did help their buddies in the circle jerk.
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!)
The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4491.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraq
i hate the war
the ballet
