On the eve of our Grand Celebration of the extraordinary decree that declared us a free republic, we find ourselves chained to the wreckage of a brutally flawed casus belli.
Victory has not been won, nor has America's responsibility ended.
To pretend that Iraq is sovereign is just the latest insulting verbal Quonset hut the Washington military-political-media establishment has constructed for its own temporary shelter.
In addition to small numbers of outright public refusals to deploy or redeploy, troops are going absent without official leave (AWOL) between deployments, and actual desertions may once again be on the rise.
Our presence is an ongoing affront to democracy and human dignity, and yet now that the damage is done, everyone's stuck between that rock and a hard place.
The puppet government in Iraq has named June 30th "National Sovereignty Day." This is U.S.-style Hallmark hype and will remain so until every last occupation soldier leaves Iraqi soil.
The fireworks fired into the air and the pomp and circumstance of so-called Sovereignty Day cannot mask the grief felt by hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who lost loved ones in the past six years.
The withdrawal is a huge occasion for the nascent Iraqi state: it will test the durability of the institutions that have emerged from the embers of the almost total state collapse of 2003-04.
The on-line and on-air campaign, anchored by Ning-based CommunityofVeterans.org, was established to support veterans coming home. The first quarter brought in $26 million in donated media.
If our soldiers are out of Iraqi cities, and the Iraqi security forces start shouldering more and more responsibility as a result, do we really need all 130,000 troops sitting in their bases?
There haven't been any results in Iraq, either because President Obama hasn't tried hard enough, or because his efforts have failed.
I would guess that in the past year, there were more regime-change-in-Iran plots floated by members of the intelligence community than there are Iranians.
Anybody who has lived with an addict knows about denial. So it goes with Congress and defense spending. Case in point this week is the F-22, a gold-plated Cold War barnacle.
Today's feature on Religion Dispatches was written by the most eminent interpreter of the American liberal theological tradition today, Gary Dorrien. ...
Why is there still no US-formulated "international strategic plan" to deal with the world's largest refugee crisis caused when our nation invaded Iraq over 6 years ago? On World Refugee Day, we can do better.
While we wait for the situation in Iraq to improve, we must continue to help those who cannot go home. We in Jordan have committed ourselves to providing aid and support to this population.
More in sorrow than in anger, I see that this utopian social engineering craze could encourage people with guns to use them.
In the Loop is a swift, virulent and richly verbose slam at British and American governmental officials trying to avoid or ensure a joint US-UK invasion of the Middle East.
My father expressed the hope that my daughter would not have to go through as terrible times as he. Unfortunately the world continues its crazy ways.
No one ever went broke betting on the hypocrisy of congressional Republicans.
There has been a war of words written about Washington's recent increase in spending. However, this war hasn't focused on the numbers. Let's take a look at the numbers and see what they tell us.
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"... from 59 countries..." So that's what happened to the coalition of the willing. They are now American citizens.
Yes, that's what Saddam was,and he deserved to hang. He was no loss to the world. Let's hope the Iraqis willlearn from history and never allow anyone like that to come to power again.
So long as the US is involved the Iraqis have little choice!
not really freedom now is it?
You're young aren't you? Or don't remember history very well...you need to do a little research and see who "helped" Saddam get into power.
Saddam Hussain: After murdering thousands in his own country, some by poison gas, some by horific torture, most by hanging, he moved on to kill a million people in the iraq/iran war. Then he was responsible for the killing of 40,000 people in Kuwait. He kidnapped an additional 600 who were never seen again. After completely destroying Kuwait, he threatened the other surrounding countries, violated all the cease fire and economic sanctions and in complicity with the UN used the oil for food money for his own family and supporters. I have no problem with SOB. and I have no problem saying we liberated Iraq from this Hitlarian dictator and Iraq has its first democracy in 400 years. Thank you Marines.
Such blatent ignorance you spout!
Us Corporate America made Saddam and killed a million Iraqis in the process and the beat goes on!
Wow Jerry, you either have selective memory or need to catch up on International/Middle East affairs. Yes, Hussein did these things but it was the good ole USA that backed him. It was us that gave him money, weapons and chemical weapons for the Iran/Iraq War. We didn't care that he/we killed hundreds of thousands of people and permanently maimed many thousands more. Why because we were still all pissy about Iran and the fall of the 'lovely' Shah, whom by the way WE installed after WE overthrew Mossadegh back in '53. All because of oil. So yea Saddam is to blame but we are eqaully to blame as well.
Thank you lkim65, what you said was something, I suppose completely skipped Jerry mind.
Very well said.
That's classy...not.
Gotta love Joe
Love?
Yes love Joe, but love all....all!
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