No, ethnic-cleansing worked...
UCLA study here at Think Progress.
I tried to post my take on this but found I couldn't find the right words.
I heard an interview with McCain the other day, he's touting the Bush line that violence is down because of the surge of troops (which he was always for), instead a much simpler, yet more horrifying answer seems to be emerging.
Last night Nerdwife and I attended a candlelight peace vigil in remembrance of the 5th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. It was a walk around Silver Lake. The organizers were only expecting a dozen or so to show up, as it was a last minute thing, but more than 40+ arrived. We talked about the war, its cost. The future, hope. Hope that we as a people will put an end to the war and find a way to insure it will not happen again. It was a beautiful night.
So, Bush gave his speech to sign off on the policy he wrote for the General.
Iraq, indefinite occupation then? We're policing a civil war that we instigated.
Makes perfect sense given the real policy goals of Iraq, which was to seize and control the access to the last places on Earth where cheap and somewhat reliable fossil fuel energy are located, and to force an oil law on Iraq that only really benefits American oil cartels. That wasn't what was sold to the American people, but then Realpolitik was always about making up some shit and lying to the citizens, all while keeping the real reasons a secret.
This is Nixon repeating.
This is Vietnam repeating.
This is a permanent occupation.
Congress, he's made it clear he's not going to change. He's going to go on lying, evading, and doing whatever he wants, and men and women die so we might have perhaps another year or two of cheap easy fill-ups at the gas station before the civilization shattering reality of peak oil coupled with the ecosystem shattering reality of global climate change finally force us to start acting responsibly and with an eye to future generations instead of just the current fiscal quarter.
You're going to have to grow a pair and cut off funding. Not one penny for the military except to fuel the planes bringing the troops home. He won't stop. He'll just go on. He'll bomb Iran. He'll use the thugs of corporate media to build his case. He might even approve a false-flag op and blame it on Iran. The mission will 'evolve'. He'll push us back again and again, 'just another six months', until finally, it becomes someone else's problem.
This is our problem. This President is America's problem.
Stop enabling this war criminal and his psychotic, antidemocratic fascist administration. End the war. Bring the troops home. Stop funding for the war. The American people are ready for it to end. The troops are ready for it to end. The world is ready for it to end.
I don't think Hillary is sitting around grappling with her vote decision. I do think that the cartoon suffers from an artist's laziness. But of course political cartoons are all about caricature - Hillary = poll watcher, Bush = dumb/ignorant, Gore = boring, Obama = Jesus. I did some background reading and found her statements about her vote in Iraq. Basically it boils down to, the intelligence provided by the administration (which we now know to be cherry picked) indicated immediate action was necessary. The Iraq war resolution, because of alleged WMDs, did give Bush the authority to use military force but with the understanding that he was going to do it to uphold UN sanctions. And, during a time which the country (Congress included) turned to its president for honorable leadership, Bush showed his true colors as an a-hole (not waiting for the UN inspectors to finish) and basically did what he wanted. Hillary is now defending her vote pretty consistently. If anything, I think her resoluteness on this issue goes against the popular idea of her as a poll chaser. The decision to go to war is complicated so is the explanation, and I think that's what is tripping Hillary. Saying I'm sorry simply ignores that life is full of nuance and comes off as placating if not a bit pandering. I'd also like to point out one more quote from the NYT,
Though Mr. Obama is framing his candidacy to appeal to Democrats who have long opposed the war, until recently he was not among his party’s most outspoken voices against it. He campaigned strongly against the war in his bid for the Senate in 2004, but when he arrived in Washington he waited 11 months to deliver a major speech on Iraq.
I started seeing more and more of this popping up since Wednesday, the idea the Bush is advocating a war (or at least armed conflict with Iran).
here which links to here. (and here and here)
In the past I would have considered this merely posturing for Iran's sake to say we are serious about their nuclear ambitions, but now I am not so sure.
I use this to illustrate the increasing parallels with Orwell's 1984. Its becoming less a work of fiction and almost a work of history and history in the making.
We are not at war with Iraq. We are at war with Iran. We have always been at war with Iran.
"We've always been at war with Eastasia." - 1984
How soon till we start having 'Hate Week'?
How soon until they come for me? I'm a liberal, I've committed thoughtcrimes.
We already have groups taking advantage of the climate created by this Administration in America and abroad to advance their own agendas (in some cases they are even supported by Bush). We have those who used to be marginalized and written off as extremists now garnering more attention than they ever should and taking advantage of the intellectual and informational monopolies to spout forth hateful rhetoric (again see my previous post about hateful nut-jobs). I feel my place in this society eroding. Not just economically, but politically and intellectually.
The turn of events last November had given me some hope. But listening to the fence jumping, and the rhetoric coming from Capitol Hill this last week leaves me with less a feeling of actual change (and choice) but more an illusion of change/choice. The parrots and puppets are still there. Their apparent pandering is not action. Bush does not, as Commander-in-Chief have to listen to them. They don't have the stones to cut the budget. They won't impeach or make any kind of binding punishment. The House's attempt at enacting domestic social change (minimum wage increase, Medicare negotiations, ethics reform, stem cell research) are very good ideas, but this is more show. They will be hard to get through the Senate, and Bush has already said he will veto (stem cell research, Medicare negotiations).
One of the principle themes of the Matrix movies was the illusion of free will and choice. I enjoy it as fiction, I do not in my society.
What can be done? At this point I don't know. 2008 is close, but none of the people who have announced Presidential aspirations (either side) give me any hope, with the exception of Barack Obama, I would get behind him. Coleman is on the hot-seat. Pawlenty has done an about face on a lot of stances lately since November. This gives me a little hope that Minnesota will once again become solidly blue.
But, politicians are politicians. I seriously doubt this Congress will take Bush and his Administration up on investigation or charges of any kind anymore than the last one did (they make talk about it, but talk is not action). We'll see. I hope I am wrong.
