During the past week, as President Barack Obama announced the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq, there was considerable media commentary focusing on the lies that had been utilized to build public support for the war. The two that received almost exclusive attention were the argument that Saddam had an active WMD program and the assertion, made most vigorously by Vice President Richard Cheney, that there were "proven links" connecting the Iraqi leadership to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
Both were, of course, deliberate fabrications but both did play important roles in shaping public opinion and justifying the invasion of Iraq. But the propaganda effort to win support for the war involved much more.
As I note in my forthcoming book Arab Voices, proponents for the war, preying on the public's lack of basic information about Iraq and its people, made exaggerated claims expressing confidence that the effort would be relatively painless. A former Pentagon official termed it a "cakewalk". Cheney said "it'll go... quickly. Weeks rather than months". Paul Wolfowitz estimated the cost of the entire enterprise not to exceed one or two billion dollars, with Iraq's oil revenues quickly kicking in to "finance its own reconstruction". President Bush and others added that "we would be greeted as liberators" ushering in a new democracy that would be "a beacon for a new Middle East".
Throughout the media universe, commentators echoed these boasts, regularly churning out outrageous claims on par with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's pre-Gulf War outrageous warning that that conflict would be the "mother of all battles."
Before the invasion began, for example, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, wagered "the best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego that military action will not last more than a week." A similarly euphoric (and ultimately equally misleading) statement by Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, soon followed: "There is a certain amount of pop psychology in America that the Shi'a can't get along with the Sunni. . . . There's almost no evidence of that at all." Finally, journalist Fred Barnes, another Fox News host, chimed in, saying, "The war was the hard part. . . . And it gets easier. I mean, setting up a democracy is hard, but not as hard as winning a war."
This endless and deadly "spinning" didn't end with the invasion. One half year into the war, Zogby International conducted the first-ever nationwide poll in Iraq -- showing that a disturbingly high percentage of Iraqis (including almost the entire Sunni population and strong majority of Shi'a) wanted the U.S. to leave their country, did not have a favorable view of the U.S. military's behavior, and were not inclined to establish a democracy in Iraq. A few days after we released our findings, Cheney was on "Meet the Press" citing our poll as evidence of "very positive news" and then forcing the results to make his case that all was going well.
The same penchant for fabrication was in evidence in the hype surrounding the "surge" the Bush Administration implemented in early 2007. It is true that sectarian and intra-sect violence declined during this same period. But the reasons for this decline had more to do with the fact that the "ethnic cleansing" operations launched by sectarian groups had already left Baghdad's neighborhoods purged and divided by barricades, and Sunni tribal groups had organized and armed themselves to fight against al Qaeda before the surge of U.S. troops began.
Despite all this, the same cast of characters who promoted the fabrications that led the U.S. into the war, had the temerity to upbraid President Obama for failing to give President Bush credit for successfully implementing measures that ended the war.
The U.S. combat forces have now been withdrawn, but this war is not over, it has not been a success, and U.S. responsibility has not ended. Iraq remains a fragile country, divided internally and surrounded by neighbors, some wary of the country's instability and others eager to exploit its vulnerability. In addition to the 4,400 Americans who died, tens of thousands have been severely wounded and their continued care will remain a national priority. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis also perished and one fifth of that country's population remain refugees (placing an enormous burden on Syria and Jordan -- where most have taken refuge) or internally displaced persons, unable to return to their homes. Meanwhile, instead of a "beacon of democracy" we see a dysfunctional political order that cannot easily come to closure and implement the results of an election that took place more than one half year ago.
As the nation responsible for this calamity, America will continue to have a role in Iraq's future. Vice President Joseph Biden was right when he noted that "American engagement with Iraq will continue" with a new mission to help the country through reconstruction and reconciliation.
And the story doesn't end there. At some point in our history those who brought this disaster down on us all must be called to account for the fabrications, the embarrassment to our honor, and the death and waste of so many lives and resources. Until that occurs, the conclusion to this sad chapter will not have been written.
Rep. Charles Rangel: Bring All the Troops Home
"The United States anticipates that this Agreement will usher in an era of reconciliation with the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam as with all the peoples of Indochina. In pursuance of its traditional policy, the United States will contribute to healing the wounds of war and to postwar reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and throughout Indochina."
But the United States reneged on its treaty obligations to help rebuild Vietnam. I anticipate that the same thing will happen in Iraq. Vietnam recovered very slowly, but that was partly because of its commitment to a socialist planned economy. Since it moved to "socialist-oriented market economy" it has grown much faster and is expected to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world over the next ten to fifteen years.
I love America and most Americans but how do you allow this man to burn a holy book and claim to be THE most religious nation in the world? I was a Thatcherite for all my years as a businessman in the UK. I have no affiliation for the right at all and that grew from day one of my nine years here. I have lived in several countries and you don't even deserve a leader like Obama. You even hate his popularity. I was a soldier in Berlin when JFK made his famous speech. He was my C-I-C. He still is. I was in NATO. There are Brits in NATO in Afhganistan who might retire here one day. Hopefully you as a nation will have 'wised up' by then.
But if truth be told, we need to remind ourselves we have so much more to do.
Now, members of our current government still hold with keeping the perpetrators of the Iraq scam above the law, and just go on dragging us down this worsening path, do not listen or care about massive public opinion to the contrary. They are perfectly willing to keep disregarding the present and future costs to ordinary people and civilization. We will be destroyed by the unaccounted-for actions of these few wealthy and greedy sociopaths who know they will never have to pay for their crimes.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12308.html
Obama does get credit for withdrawing, as he promised, the combat forces in advance of the total withdrawal required by the SOFA, but they were already forbidden to leave their remote bases without the approval of the Iraqi government so it made very little sense to keep them there.
1. Public Debt - According to TreasuryDirect.gov's "Debt to the Penny" calculator, while Bush increased the debt at 3 times the rate Clinton did, Obama is increasing it at 3 times the rate Bush did!
2. You Ran For It - Obama ran, and won, on fixing the mess Bush left him. Kind of lame to now cry when things go wrong that "Bush did it". The only reason the American people elected him was because he falsely claimed he could fix the problems Bush left. For him to now back out and try to use the excuse that "it's Bush's fault" is not the level of responsibility, accountability, and just plain maturity the American people were expecting.
3. Supported Bush Agenda in Congress - It takes more than just a president to run a country. Congress also has to go along with it. And as part of Congress - which by the way was ruled by Democrats since 2006, Obama was part of the problem.
* Obama voted for Iraq War funding. (HR 1268, HR 1242, S 1042)
* Obama voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act and supported FISA. (HR 3199, HR 6304, S 2248)
* Obama supported Bush's TARP program, aka the Bailouts. (HR 1424)
* Obama voted for free trade agreements. (S 3569)
-CNN: http://articles.cnn.com/2008-10-13/politics/wall.bush-obama_1_obama-affirmative-action-teaching-abstinence?_s=PM%3APOLITICS
-Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121495450490321133.html
Until the people stop reelecting the politicians and party leadership that got us here, we wont be leaving.
Go Green, or wait another two years.
Sometimes, James, it's apparent the Dems actually enjoy OUR government and especially the CONgress partially paralyzed, so they can ALSO then rake in those lobbyist 'bundled' campaign contribution checks - just as the more corrupted CONS and CAN'TS are always doing.
I used to do animal rescue. Amazing how many people have a problem, you go help them out, work for months to get all the strays on their property. Then they give you this long lecture on how people expect something for nothing, and did they pay anything for all the work in getting the cats on their property, getting them vaccinated, no. Even when you do this, well, we need to get them vet checked, brushed, groomed, shots, fed, all this while they're out for adoption. God forbid a Republican ever pay for a service. Its all mine, mine, mine, me, me, me. Whats in it for me. Narcissists. And selfish.
God help this country with that attitude they've created.
And we did if for the cats, not the clowns that called.
James Zogby
t happen.