The bipartisan 717 billion dollar rip-off of the public's resources to line the pockets of the military-industrial-intelligence complex.
Until we are willing to cut off the war industry, we're never going to have the money we need for the things we need. We spend far too little on the American people and far too much on war.
We need to get our priorities in order. A national conversation is sorely needed; however, no one in the media wants to encourage that because everyone knows that the American people do not want war.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, August 21, 2018.
Yesterday, a US helicopter crashed in Iraq. One US service member died in the crash, many more were injured and three were injured so badly that they had to be evacuated, per the US Defense Dept. The US Defense Dept notes:
Yesterday’s military aircraft crash in Iraq highlights the dangers service members face every day, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Robert Manning III told reporters today.
Yesterday, a US helicopter crashed in Iraq. One US service member died in the crash, many more were injured and three were injured so badly that they had to be evacuated, per the US Defense Dept. The US Defense Dept notes:
Yesterday’s military aircraft crash in Iraq highlights the dangers service members face every day, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Robert Manning III told reporters today.
An American service member died in the crash, and several others were injured.
“The aircraft was conducting a partnered counterterrorism mission against [the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] in support of Operation Inherent Resolve,” Manning said.
Our heartfelt condolence to the family of @CJTFOIR service member who died in a helicopter crash in #Iraq last night. While the incident was not a result of enemy fire, it further demonstrates the sacrifices of #Coalition service members & and the danger they face everyday
"And the danger they face everyday."
Why?
Can they cut the cutesy crap and sloganeering and answer the damn question of Why?
Why are US troops in Iraq.
Let's go to Barack Obama:
But the notion that somehow we have succeeded as a consequence of the recent reductions in violence means that we have set the bar so low it's buried in the sand at this point. And I've said this before. We went from intolerable levels of violence and a dysfunctional government to spikes and horrific levels of violence and a dysfunctional government. And now, two years later, we're back to intolerable levels of violence and a dysfunctional government. And in the meantime, we have spent billions of dollars, lost thousands of lives. Thousands more have been maimed and injured as a consequence and are going to have difficulty putting their lives back together again.
Now that's not President Barack Obama speaking or former President Barack Obama speaking. That's US Senator Barack Obama speaking on January 31, 2008 at a debate when he was running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
It's ten years later.
US troops are still in Iraq. US taxpayers on the hook for even more billions of dollars, Iraq continues to have a dysfunctional government, the violence ebbs and flows but never vanishes. Not one damn thing has changed.
Why are US troops still in Iraq?
Another US service member is dead. At least three more are seriously injured. This is the time to ask those questions. They should have been asked all along but they surely need to be asked when yet more US troops have been harmed for a -- what?
There's no strategy. There's nothing. There's just war, war and more war.
These are not 'honorable' deaths because the government has dishonored the troops they hide behind. The government cannot explain the mission, cannot explain what allows the US to leave Iraq. It's as murky as it ever was but that's generally the case when it comes to actions started with lies and actions that continue due to lies.
15 years and counting and US troops remain in Iraq.
US military spokesperson Sean Ryan said on Sunday, "We'll keep troops there [in Iraq] as long as we think they're needed."
For what?
For what are they needed?
"Stabilization efforts"? How many years is the US government going to spend trying to 'stabilize' a government that they impose on Iraq, one that is not supported by the Iraqi people.
May 12th, Iraq held national elections. Ahead of the elections, there had been big hopes -- these hopes included a large turnout. Ali Jawad (ANADOLU AGENCY) noted, "A total of 24 million Iraqis are eligible to cast their ballots to elect members of parliament, who will in turn elect the Iraqi president and prime minister." On the day of the election, the big news was how so few were turning out to vote. NPR reported, "With more than 90 percent of the votes in, Iraq's election commission announced voter turnout of 44.5 percent. The figure is down sharply from 60 percent of eligible voters who cast their ballots in the last elections in 2014." AP pointed out the obvious, "No election since 2003 saw turnout below 60 percent." AFP broke it down even more clearly "More than half of the nearly 24.5 million voters did not show up at the ballot box in the parliamentary election, the highest abstention rate since the first multiparty elections in 2005 [. . .]."
The US imposed governments have not been a hit. The US government itself wants to keep US troops in Iraq to stabilize a government that they impose on the Iraqi people, a government that the Iraqi people do not want and do not support.
In that January 2008 debate, then-Senator Hillary Clinton was ridiculing Senator John McCain for his statement about US troops staying in Iraq for years, possibly 100 years. She was insisting that she'd withdraw them all and the withdrawal would start within 60 days of her becoming president.
It's ten years after she made that claim. Now we all know she can Tweet and we all know she can give speeches and interviews. What we don't know is why she never seems to discuss Iraq. She's very vocal about 'hot topics' but if she wants to be seen as presidential, she might want to stop acting like a host of THE VIEW and start addressing serious topics.
Seriously addressing the issues would mean acknowledging that no one has suffered more than the Iraqi people. US media, US officials, even some Americans can't get honest about that reality.
You see it in idiotic Tweets that talk about violence -- for example the gun obsessed. You'll see the anti-gun crow offer their crazy and rabid Tweets about how X died from gun violence in the US and only X died in Iraq. Uh, no. The X that they offer is US troops. Now they can't even be bothered -- because they're so immature and uneducated -- with adding in the number of UK troops. But what's worse than that is that they completely the ignore the Iraqi deaths. You cannot talk about the dead in a war without noting the number dead from the host country.
That's beyond stupidity.
The Iraqi people are the story. They are not extras or background players. They are not even supporting actors. This is their story.
And the nonsense of saying only X died in Iraq which does not acknowledge the over one million Iraqis that have been killed (it was over one million before Bully Boy Bush left office -- now days no one would even date -- not even THE LANCET -- attempt a count of the Iraqi dead).
In the US, we'll soon be in another presidential election cycle. November 2020, Americans will have the chance to vote. There will be two years leading up to that vote where politicians will make promises and try to act as though they give a damn.
Some will -- as has happened in every election cycle -- note the Iraq War and they will say they've had to hug crying mothers (apparently fathers don't cry?) who lost children in Iraq.
If they do that, they should be stopped.
And not just because they're not acknowledging the Iraqi people who have died but also because it's time to stop playing.
US troops have died in Iraq. That's awful. They've been betrayed by their own government. They've been tasked with an undefined mission that goes far beyond anything that the military can or could accomplish.
But the US government didn't just betray those citizens, it betrayed every American. It's time for people to start showing up at rallies and town halls and explaining, "My child died because the US couldn't afford to provide adequate healthcare." Or "My child couldn't get the education she needed because all the money went overseas into never-ending war."
The entire country is suffering because of this never-ending war.
Politicians who choose to ignore the Iraqi people should be confronted with the damage this war is doing and has done to the American people because we can't have basic services when all the money goes into the war machine.
On the war machine . . .
I may comment on the topic above, not the individual, later this week.
Instead, let's go to crazy lady. Tammy Duckworth and her phantom balls as she tries to out macho everyone else in the Senate.
Saddened to learn of another American casualty in Iraq. We must always support our troops in harm’s way. They deserve our gratitude and appreciation for sacrificing and putting themselves at risk to keep us safe.
Quit your damn lying.
You didn't lose your legs because you were keeping "us safe."
You lost your legs in an illegal war.
You'd think you could be honest about it.
But not only she continue to lie, she continues to put others at risk with her lies. There is no keeping the US safe via the Iraq War. If anything, the wars have made the US -- and the world -- less safe.
Iraq did not attack the United States.
Tammy Duckworth is a really sad woman. Not only is she forever trying to 'out man' everyone else, she lost both legs and she can't be honest about why. She lost both legs and she continues to lie putting others at risk of the same pain she went through.
She's a bit like Celie telling Harpo to beat Sofia (Alice Walker's THE COLOR PURPLE). For those who need a visual reminder, from the film.
Maybe some people need to confront Tammy like Sofia confronted Celie?
In the meantime, the US government tries to impose a government on Iraq.
EMB Baghdad: “We welcome Sunday’s certification of national election results by the Federal Supreme Court and are encouraged by the commitment of Iraq’s newly elected leaders to form a new government on Iraq’s constitutional timeline.”
He'd Tweet more but he's too busy attempting to bribe officials in Iraq to back the government the US wants.
Remember all the TRUTH our gov & spooks like U gave us about Iraq & WMD's? & NOT ONE person was held accountable for those lies? Remember all the TRUTH in the TORTURE REPORT? about how spooks like U committed war crimes & lied about them & a corrupt pres sealed those TRUTHS?
They lie and then they lie again. And then, in Robert Mueller's case, they give breaks to pedophiles instead of prosecuting them to the full extent of the law. Is there a reason (pattern?) for Mueller and his pedophile connections? There's his 'star' witness George Nader, convicted pedophile and there's the big case he had as a prosecutor where the pedophile walked with a slap on the wrist. I'm not accusing Mueller himself of being a pedophile but I am saying if you look at his career he seems to encounter a large number of them and they always seem to cut a deal with him.
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