The Story of How Bush Went Into Iraq, As Told by the British
The Story of How Bush Went Into Iraq, As Told by the British
The Independent confirms a report by the Guardian on a newly-revealed British memo. The memo claims that Bush made the decision to attack Iraq two months prior to the war. Furthermore, the memo states that Bush was thinking about baiting Iraq into a breach of UN resolutions by “flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colors.”
This most-recent memo is just the latest in a series of official British government documents that have revealed shocking information about how Bush misled the nation into Iraq (see the original Downing Street Memo and the British Briefing Papers revealed previously by ThinkProgress).
There are two things all these memos share in common: 1) none of the memos’ validity has been disputed, and 2) the U.S. media has been slow to cover every single one of them. In fact, while reputable British papers such as the Guardian, the Independent, and the Financial Times have already reported on the most recent memo, no American newspaper has.
If the American media decided to aggressively report on the evidence contained in these British memos, here’s the story they would find:
“Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” [Link]
“US is scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and Al [Qaida that] is so far frankly unconvincing.” [Link]
“Even the best survey of Iraq’s WMD programmes will not show much advance in recent years on [the] nuclear, missile or CW/BW fronts.” [Link]
“Indeed if the argument [for attacking Iraq] is to be won, the whole case against Iraq and in favour (if necessary) of military action, needs to be narrated with reference to the international rule of law.” [Link]
“A legal justification for invasion would be needed. Subject to law Officers advice, none currently exists.” [Link]
“The NSC (National Security Council) had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime’s record.” [Link]
“The two leaders [Bush and Blair] were worried by the lack of hard evidence that Saddam Hussein had broken UN resolutions, though privately they were convinced that he had. According to the memorandum, Mr Bush said: ‘The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach.’” [Link]
“On January 31 2003 – nearly two months before the invasion – Mr Bush made it clear the US intended to invade whether or not there was a second UN resolution and even if UN inspectors found no evidence of a banned Iraqi weapons programme.” [Link]
“[Bush] added that he had a date, 10 March, pencilled in for the start of military action. The war actually began on 20 March.” [Link]
“What happens on the morning after?” [Link]
“There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.” [Link]
“Bush said that he ‘thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups.’” [Link]
“We have to answer the big question — what will this action achieve? There seems to be a larger hole in this than anything.” [Link]
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We need to start up another campaign to pressure the media to report on this. our lazy, good-for-nothing media needs to get its act together. is there anything more important than bush lying us into war?
February 4th, 2006 at 5:05 pmthis is stunning
February 4th, 2006 at 5:15 pmwe Brits have been appalled at Bush’s poodle’s actions. We have consistently spoke out against the war from its inception despite many other MSM (mostly owned by Rupert Murdoch) in Britain parroting Government lies to the contrary.
February 4th, 2006 at 5:21 pmIt is because of our huge, collective, almost unanimous opposition to the war that responsible MSM cover the war honestly at all.
You guys need to increase your antiwar numbers to coerce the American MSM to report more honestly. The root cause of this problem will not come until America divorces Corporations from Capitol hill.
Wrote a letter to my paper today asking why they have not reported on this story.
February 4th, 2006 at 5:26 pmThe only place I have seen this covered in American MSM is Countdown with Keith Olberman on MSNBC. Leave it to an ex-sportscaster to do the job of journalism.
February 4th, 2006 at 5:26 pm[...] … as detailed on Think Progress. Link there to read it all. The Story of How Bush Went Into Iraq, As Told by the British [...]
February 4th, 2006 at 5:29 pmAnother fake British memo?
big deal..
February 4th, 2006 at 5:32 pm[...] Think Progress raises the point I mentioned yesterday, in a a far more thorough way. The astounding thing about the “New Downing Street Memo” is not its content, we all knew Bush was a War Hawk and deceiving America, the surprising part (actually sadly not that surprising) is that save for Keith Olberman, I have yet to see this covered by the American Media. An omission made even more obvious by the fact that CNN international is covering the story. [...]
February 4th, 2006 at 5:33 pmAnother stupid post from Gary Ruppert?
big deal…
February 4th, 2006 at 5:35 pmTheir seems to be quite a silent following of whats Blogged Here.
Truth is a very effective weapon against these criminals Its slow, It takes time to break thru the Media Fog. Its hard for many to imagine that our Leaders, praised in books and museums, have lied and lied often for war. Many simply refuse that.
The people whom come here are looking for that sliver of light, they know somethings amiss. That the Story isnt Complete.
Ahh But when they Leave Here, or blogs of this type, and run into the Neo-con Bully over at the water Cooler whom starts his Rush Limbaugh Parrotting (office Politics).
February 4th, 2006 at 5:36 pmSomething Happens..
Suddenly the water cooler bully is gone..
Flayed by the Lowly office Worker, the Neo-Con Retreats to his Office.
“There are two things all these memos share in common: 1) none of the memos’ validity has been disputed”
Gary Ruppert,
Can you read or are you too stupid?
February 4th, 2006 at 5:36 pmKeep it up FAIZ, truth is slow, but its sure.
February 4th, 2006 at 5:37 pmGary likes to be Flayed =)
February 4th, 2006 at 5:38 pm#
Another fake British memo?
big deal..
Comment by Gary Ruppert — February 4, 2006 @ 5:32 pm
Kinda like that Yellow Cake Forgery? Say isnt that WHAT got LIBBY fired?
February 4th, 2006 at 5:44 pmGary Ruppert. Does he just leave a turd in the punchbowl, or is he the turd in the punchbowl?
February 4th, 2006 at 5:51 pmI Get So Pissed About All This B.S.
Was Up at 5… Making A New Image
1949 IKE to NOW Poster, U Can Down Load FREE
& PASS IT AROUND it’s at
http://www.RogerART.com
Scroll Down a bit…
Feel Free 2 Use It As U See Fit…
Thank U, All For Your Works… RogerART.com
Way Way Past Time 2 Jail the Bush Gangsters All… NOW
February 4th, 2006 at 5:57 pm“Another fake British memo?
big deal..
Comment by Gary Ruppert — February 4, 2006 @ 5:32 pm”
Oh sweetie, I forgive you. Clearly you’re just another victim of ‘partisan brain syndrome’. You clearly care for your country, but your brain keeps you from facing reality or processing facts that undermine your partisan prejudices. Poor pumpkin – so much enthusiam and so little brain facilities left to process the real world.
February 4th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Reuters
February 4, 2006
Bush: IAEA action sends ‘clear message’ on Iran
So, Bush is also backing the IAEA. You know the guys we blew off when they said Iraq had no WMDs?
Why does Bush support them against Iran, but ignored them for Iraq.
Oh, that’s right, because it really doesn’t have anything to do with WMDs.
BUSH IS THE ONE ADDICTED TO OIL! HE CAN’T STOP HIS LUST FOR ATTACKING OTHER COUNTRIES FOR IT!
February 4th, 2006 at 6:04 pmTHE SPOILS OF WAR
February 4th, 2006 at 6:06 pmI say again – why did W move all those men and material into Kuwait, starting in mid 2002? A staging area for Afghanistan? – You have to be kidding!
February 4th, 2006 at 6:08 pmI really don’t know how much it will take to make people wake up and smell the coffee. The evidence is so obvious. The media here in America seems to be afraid of reporting the facts.
Bush won re-election, not because people belived in the war, but because of the “Fags Getting Married” and “Protect The Sacred Union of Marrige” When we live in the country were divorce is over 50%, the sacret institution of marriage is already broken.
That’s why i so regret voting, or even getting registered to vote. Peole don’t take things seriously.
The Bush administrations fails to put in practice what it preaches, when it comes to rules and regulations.
I think is so funny to see Bush, talk about “Jesus this, Jesus That” but yet, he taken gods name in vain, and lied. Doesnt the biblie say “Thou shalt not lie?”
February 4th, 2006 at 6:20 pmClose enough, but it says “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” Same thing.
February 4th, 2006 at 6:38 pmBush is the boy who cried wolf. He dissed the IAEA, he dissed Blix and his inspectors, he dissed the UN, all in the run up to his preplanned war in Iraq. NOW, he supports the IAEA and the UN effort to control Iran.
February 4th, 2006 at 7:25 pmWhen will people see how phony he is, how he lies and deceives. He is a twisted man, a dry drunk who never faced up to his personal weaknesses, he has a perpetual love-hate relationship with his father. He is the worst that could have (s)elected as president.
Or should it be: “Thou shalt not bare false witness.� The king doth have no clothes.
February 4th, 2006 at 7:27 pmFor Bush it is “Thou shalt beer witness”
February 4th, 2006 at 8:18 pmI seem to recall the Bush Administration putting a great deal of effort into an attempt to have Mohammed El Baredai(sp?) removed as the head of the IAEA, because he would not give in to the Bush Administration, and allow their lies to be presented as “fact”. And when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, they ripped him to shreds. But now that they need his credibility, as they have none, it’s “Bygones!’ They are SOOOOOOO pathetic. Their desperation should be a big fat warning that they are up to no good, once again.
February 4th, 2006 at 8:40 pmBush planned to attack Iraq even before 9/11/2001 occured, so the WTC destruction just gave him an excuse to blame Saddam!
February 4th, 2006 at 8:43 pmIn fact, regime change in Iraq became official US policy in 1998, when President Clinton signed into law the Iraq Liberation Act.
February 4th, 2006 at 9:13 pm#26 Spudge_Boy,
February 4th, 2006 at 9:19 pmGood point, tomorrow’s SB day. Where do we send the pretzels? Camp David, Crawford or Chewney’s estate – that place on the Maryland map that is bleeped out on Sat Maps from Google.
See the Bush defenders always claim that President Clinton did something or signed something before Dubya did it too! If all else fails blame Bill > lol.
February 4th, 2006 at 9:21 pmAhhh yes, “It’s Clinton’s fault”
I’ve never heard that before. That is a pretty original idea. Why don’t you post a link or will it not back you up?
February 4th, 2006 at 9:23 pmThe Iraq Liberation Act merely states that the United States would support the opposition in Iraq and implied a peaceful transition of power from the current powers (at that time) to a more democratic government. It was a matter of campaign financing, not invasion and occupation.
February 4th, 2006 at 9:31 pmSpudge_Boy,
February 4th, 2006 at 9:33 pmLink -
http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/libera.htm
Spudgeboy, are you really incapable of doing a simple Google search? And of course I didn’t “blame” anyone, I stated a fact. And Democrats never bring up Clinton, do they?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Iraq+Liberation+Act&btnG=Google+Search
February 4th, 2006 at 9:34 pmSo now that we’ve established the fact that regime change in the terror state of Iraq was US policy at least since 1998, the only remaining question is whether Faiz is more ignorant or dishonest.
February 4th, 2006 at 9:41 pmAmerican,
February 4th, 2006 at 9:42 pmSpudge_Boy asked for a link, not a lesson, give the guy a break – he served. He supplied the correct termanology in a prior post. Did you ever put your ass on the line?
Even if the media does cover this story, the headline will read, “New british memo angers war critics”. Thats what the last one said, and that was in the “Liberal” New York Times. CORPORATE media is NOW.
February 4th, 2006 at 9:48 pmThe NY Times is quite liberal, essentially a mouthpiece for the Democratic party. No need for the scare quotes.
February 4th, 2006 at 10:04 pm#39- You should schedule an appointment for an MRI, a.s.a.p.! I think you may have a Brain Tumor! It would certainly explain alot…
February 4th, 2006 at 10:13 pmThe New York Times is owned by a conservative Republican now, but some of the reporters are still liberals! The paper is more pro-GOP than it used to be!
February 4th, 2006 at 10:15 pmOkay, let’s see here. American said:
So, I took the time to read the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 by going to the link provided by one of our people. Thanks WaltTheMan. I knew American didn’t want to provide the link for a reason.
It starts like this:
So, it says Congress should support regime change, but what American wants to blur is how Clinton wanted to go about this regime change.
The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 says:
I don’t see anywhere in the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 where it says that the United States should get itself involved in a “generational war” that costs the American taxpayer $480 billion.
Nope, the Iraq Liberation Act is definitely a call for diplomacy in removing Saddam.
You lose again. But, thanks for pointing me to this great piece of information. I will be cure to use it against right wingers every chance I get.
February 5th, 2006 at 1:02 amJudith Miller anybody?
February 5th, 2006 at 1:04 amAmerican you obviously did not read very much of the Google link that you posted here because if you had then ;
Sec. 8. Rule of constriction.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorise or to otherwise speak to the use of United States Armed Forces(except as provided in section 4(a)(2)) in carrying out this act.
and so you don’t have to do the HARD work of finding:
Section 4(a)(2)Military assistance-(A) The president is authorised to direct the drawdown of defence articles from the stocks of the Department of Defence, defence services of the Department of Defence, and military education and training for such organizations.
And to translate this for your meager mental abilities,
The president may help train and supply an internal Iraqi opposition party but may not use the forces of the military in any action of overthrowing Saddam, To put it simple enough for even you to understand the Iraqi Liberation Act did not allow for the use of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines to overthrow Saddam.
Do you understand yet, are you willing to admit you really do not know what the hell you are talking about?
You listed the Google list and what the excerpts I posted came from the third item on Google’s list but to make it easier;
February 5th, 2006 at 1:12 amHttp://www.iraqwatch.org/government/US/Legislation/ILA.htm
The link did not post
February 5th, 2006 at 1:14 amThe US did send in the U2s in UN livery, but the Iraqis did not take the bait….
“A U2 spy plane was used again on Thursday in U.N. weapons inspections, said the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
Iraq allowed surveillance flights by U2 spy planes over its territories recently under tremendous international pressure.
A Foreign Ministry statement said, “At 9:55 am (0655 GMT) a U2 surveillance plane entered Iraqi airspace and surveyed several areas of Iraq then left the airspace at 4:25 pm (1325 GMT).”
Thursday’s operation, which involved the second U2 surveillanceflight since the resumption of weapons inspections in November, lasted for six hours and 20 minutes, the statement said.
”
Report
February 5th, 2006 at 1:40 amDemocrats are right-winged as well, a shill, to make it look like we have a choice.
February 5th, 2006 at 2:54 am42 (Spudge) and 44 (Cliff) Also from the statement:
“There are, of course, other important elements of U.S. policy. These include the maintenance of U.N. Security Council support efforts to eliminate Iraq’s weapons and missile programs and economic sanctions that continue to deny the regime the means to reconstitute those threats to international peace and security.”
As opposed to Bush, who seems to think the UN doesn’t count!
February 5th, 2006 at 7:50 amLily I quoted from the Law passed by congress, not the statement issued by Bill Clinton for a reason, the Bill, passed by congress when signed by Bill Clinton, becomes the law of the land as per the Constitution of the United States of America, the statement that Bill Clinton issued does not, so is not relevant to the discussion as to what the policy will be “under the law”.
February 5th, 2006 at 8:11 amOk, thanks. I was only trying to point out to the “Clinton did it too” bloggers that Clinton did not intend to side step the UN, as Bush did.
February 5th, 2006 at 8:39 amNo problem, I was just pointing out what is a law under the US Constitution and what is not, with your and my posts combined the law is laid out and Clinton obeyed it, unlike someone else we know of.
February 5th, 2006 at 9:06 amNo problem, I was just pointing out what is a law under the US Constitution and what is not, with your and my posts combined the law is laid out and Clinton obeyed it, unlike someone else we know of.
Comment by Clif
Don’t tell me. Let me guess. Carter? Kennedy? lol
February 5th, 2006 at 10:26 amEveryone is going at this in the wrong way. If you apply Occam’s razor and ask the one question, “would the US and UK have wanted to invade and occupy Iraq if it had no oil?” then you will know WHY they did it. There is no reason to keep on whipping a dead horse that wasn’t even entered in the race to start with.
If you know WHY they went to war in the first place, then you don’t need to keep on fulminating over a dozen or more bogus reasons that were NOT why the US and UK wanted Iraq so badly they could taste the oil and vinegar.
February 5th, 2006 at 12:22 pmOn the news yesterday I heard that suddenly cases of the Avian Bird Flu are now mysteriously in Iraq.
Mysterious I say because I can’t imagine a desert with practically no trees, has so many birds they now have a threat of the virus.
At least a big enough threat that the makers of TAMIFLU have already volunteered to send over large amounts of the drug to Iraq.
February 5th, 2006 at 1:45 pmI wonder how big the tax breaks and subsidies to Roche will be for sending over huge amounts of TAMIFLU to the lucky citizens of Iraq?
Funny, that a country, which is made up primarly of desert, and almost NO trees, has a sudden budding epidemic of Bird flu.
Is there that many birds in the bombed out treeless deserts of Iraq?
February 5th, 2006 at 1:47 pmBut whats even funnier, is that 3 weeks ago the World Health Organization reported that the girl from Northern Iraq who died had NOT died from Birf Flu.
BBC Jan 19 2006
Iraqi girl’s death not bird flu
The World Health Organization has dispelled fears that a girl who died in northern Iraq earlier this week had contracted bird flu.
Tests were carried out to see whether she had the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed four people in Turkey, but the results were negative.
February 5th, 2006 at 1:50 pmBut suddenly, 2 weeks later, the same World Health Organization decided that the same tests were now positive.
Officials confirm bird flu death in Iraq
USA TODAY
RANIYA, Iraq (AP)
A 15-year-old Kurdish girl who died this month had the deadly H5N1 strain, Iraq and U.N. health officials said.
The discovery prompted a large-scale slaughter of domestic birds in the northern area where the teen died as the World Health Organization formed an emergency team to try to contain the disease’s spread.
February 5th, 2006 at 1:53 pmHmm, I smell something “fowl” here. :|
February 5th, 2006 at 1:55 pm‘Discounted’
Dick Thompson, a WHO spokesman in Geneva, told Reuters news agency the case had been “investigated and discounted”.
“It is not an H5N1 case,” he said.
BBC Jan 19, 2006
February 5th, 2006 at 2:24 pmCould this be a case of Fowl Play?
February 5th, 2006 at 2:25 pm“Conservatives are fond of pointing out there are problems in this world can’t be solved by throwing money at them. There are even more that can’t be solved by dropping bombs on them. ” — Molly Ivins
February 5th, 2006 at 3:07 pmBattle Plans for Iran?
By Mike Whitney in OpEd News
In less than 24 hours the Bush administration won impressive victories on both domestic and foreign policy fronts. At home, the far-right Federalist Society alum, Sam Alito, has overcome the feeble resistance from Democratic senators; ensuring his confirmation to the Supreme Court sometime late on Tuesday. Equally astonishing, the administration has coerced both Russia and China into bringing Iran before the United Nations Security Council although (as Mohamed ElBaradei says) “There’s no evidence of a nuclear weapons program.†The surprising capitulation of Russia and China has forced Iran to abandon its efforts for further negotiations; cutting off dialogue that might diffuse the volatile situation.
“We consider any referral or report of Iran to the Security Council as the end of diplomacy,†Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told state television.
The administration’s success with Iran ends the diplomatic charade and paves the way for war.
Now, UN Ambassador John Bolton can make his appearance before the Security Council with allegations of “noncompliance†that will rattle through the corporate media and prepare the world for unilateral military action.
The administration has no expectation of securing the votes needed for sanctions or punitive action. Its all for show. The trip to the Security Council is simply a ploy to provide the cover of international legitimacy to another act of unprovoked aggression. The case has gone as far as it will go excluding the requisite “touched up†satellite photos and spurious allegations of unreliable dissidents.
We should now be focused on how Washington intends to carry out its war plans, since war is inevitable.
Those who doubt that the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld team will attack Iran, while so conspicuously overextended in Iraq, are ignoring the subtleties of the administration’s Middle East strategy.
Bush has no intention of occupying Iran. Rather, the goal is to destroy major weapons-sites, destabilize the regime, and occupy a sliver of land on the Iraqi border that contains 90% of Iran’s oil wealth. Ultimately, Washington will aim to replace the Mullahs with American-friendly clients who can police their own people and fabricate the appearance of representative government. But, that will have to wait. For now, the administration must prevent the incipient Iran bourse (oil-exchange) from opening in March and precipitating a global sell-off of the debt-ridden dollar. There have many fine articles written about the proposed “euro-based†bourse and the devastating effects it will have on the greenback. The best of these are “Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar†by William R. Clark, and “The Proposed Oil Bourse†by Krassimir Petrov, Ph.D.
The bottom line on the bourse is this; the dollar is underwritten by a national debt that now exceeds $8 trillion dollars and trade deficits that surpass $600 billion per year. That means that the greenback is the greatest swindle in the history of mankind. It’s utterly worthless. The only thing that keeps the dollar afloat is that oil is traded exclusively in greenbacks rather than some other currency. If Iran is able to smash that monopoly by trading in petro-euros then the world’s central banks will dump the greenback overnight, sending markets crashing and the US economy into a downward spiral. The Bush administration has no intention of allowing that to take place. In fact, as the tax-cuts and the budget deficits indicate, the Bush cabal fully intends to perpetuate the system that trades worthless dollars for valuable commodities, labor, and resources. As long as the oil market is married to the dollar, this system of global indentured servitude will continue.
Battle Plans
The Bush administration’s attention has shifted to a small province in southwestern Iran that is unknown to most Americans. Never the less, Khuzestan will become the next front in the war on terror and the lynchpin for prevailing in the global resource war. If the Bush administration can sweep into the region (under the pretext disarming Iran’s nuclear programs) and put Iran’s prodigious oil wealth under US control, the dream of monopolizing Middle East oil will have been achieved.
Not surprisingly, this was Saddam Hussein’s strategy in 1980 when he initiated hostilities against Iran in a war that would last for eight years. Saddam was an American client at the time, so it is likely that he got the green light for the invasion from the Reagan White House. Many of Reagan’s high-ranking officials currently serve in the Bush administration; notably Rumsfeld and Cheney.
Khuzestan represents 90% of Iran’s oil production. The control over these massive fields will force the oil-dependent nations of China, Japan and India to continue to stockpile greenbacks despite the currency’s dubious value. The annexing of Khuzestan will prevent Iran’s bourse from opening, thereby guaranteeing that the dollar will maintain its dominant position as the world’s reserve currency. As long as the dollar reigns supreme and western elites have their hands on the Middle East oil-spigot, the current system of exploitation through debt will continue into perpetuity. The administration can confidently prolong its colossal deficits without fear of a plummeting dollar. In fact, the American war-machine and all its various appendages, from Guantanamo to Abrams Tanks, are paid for by the myriad nations who willingly hold reserves of American currency.
This extortion-scheme is typically referred to as the global economic system. In reality, it has nothing to do with either free markets or capitalism. That is just philosophical mumbo-jumbo. It is the dollar-system; predicated entirely on the ongoing monopoly of the oil trade in dollars.
Invading Khuzestan
In a recent article by Zolton Grossman, “Khuzestan; the First Front in the War on Iran?â€, Grossman cites the Beirut Daily Star which predicts that the “”first step taken by an invading force would be to occupy Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan Province, securing the sensitive Straits of Hormuz and cutting off the Iranian military’s oil supply, forcing it to depend on its limited stocks.”
This strategy has been called the “Khuzestan Gambitâ€, and we can expect that some variant of this plan will be executed following the aerial bombardment of Iranian military installations and weapons sites. If Iran retaliates, then there is every reason to believe that either the United States or Israel will respond with low-yield, bunker-busting nuclear weapons. In fact, the Pentagon may want to demonstrate its eagerness to use nuclear weapons do deter future adversaries and to maintain current levels of troop deployments without a draft.
Tonkin Bay Redux
On January 28, 2006, Iranian officials announced that they would “hand over evidence that proved British involvement in bombings in the southern city of Ahvaz earlier in the week†that killed eight civilians and wounded 46 others. This was just one of the many bombings, incitements, and demonstrations that have taken place in Khuzestan in the last year that suggest foreign intervention. The action is strikingly similar to the 2 British commandoes who were apprehended in Basra a few months ago dressed as Arabs with a truckload of explosives during the week of religious festival.
Coincidence?
Probably not.
Step by step, Iran is being set up for war. What difference does the provocation make? The determination to consolidate the oil reserves in the Caspian Basin was made more than a decade ago and is clearly articulated in the policy papers produced by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) The Bush administration is one small province away from realizing the its dream of controlling the world’s most valued resource. They won’t let that opportunity pass them by.
We’re in for another war.
February 5th, 2006 at 3:56 pmREAD THIS EVERYBODY WAR IS COMING SOON
http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2006/02/battle_plans_fo_1.html#more
February 5th, 2006 at 4:04 pmSimply out Iraq served 2 purposes. It helped elect Repubs and increased their majority and it helped Israel get rid of a major source of funding for Hamas. Now that we are there, we will be fighting Iran instead of Israel.
Karl Rove wanted to win elections and Darth Cheney wanted to help Israel so they use the WOT as excuses. Brilliantly crafted, delivered with a helping hand from medis whores.
Iran Resolution is coming up shortly so I just hope Democrats have a battle plan ready. If not, Democrats will get rolled again in November.
February 5th, 2006 at 4:11 pmTAMIFLU.
Another victory in Iraq for the Bush wealth machine.
February 5th, 2006 at 4:53 pmI saw articles on the British memo in USAToday and the Christian Science Monitor. You hurt your cause without checking the facts.
February 5th, 2006 at 5:31 pmREAD THIS EVERYBODY WAR IS COMING SOON
http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/ archives/ 2006/ 02/ battle_plans_fo_1.html#more
February 5th, 2006 at 6:14 pmBush’s answer to every question is “nine-eleven”.
Our answer to every question should be “Niger Forgery”.
February 5th, 2006 at 6:59 pmFrom 2003, ‘A lesson for my son,’ by Irma S. Chambers
My 9-year-old son wanted to know why we were at war. My husband thought for a few minutes and then told my son to go stand in our front living room window.”Son, stand there and tell me what you see?”
February 5th, 2006 at 6:59 pm“I see trees and cars and our neighbor’s houses,” he replied.”OK, now I want you to pretend that our house and our yard is the United States and you are President Bush.”Our son giggled and said, “OK.”
“Now son, I want you to look out the window and pretend that every house and yard on this block is a different country,” my husband said.”OK, Dad, I’m pretending.” “Now I want you to stand there and look out the window and see that man come out of his house with his wife and he has her by the hair and is hitting her. You see her bleeding and crying. He hits her in the face, he throws her on the ground, and then he starts to kick her to death. Their children run out and are afraid to stop him. They are crying; they are watching this but do nothing because they are kids and afraid of their father. You see all of this, son. What do you do?” “Dad?” “What do you do, son?” “I call the police, Dad.” “OK. Pretend that the police are the United Nations and they take your call, listen to what you know and saw, but they refuse to help. What do you do then, son?” “Dad, but the police are supposed to help!” “They don’t want to, son, because they say that it is not their place or your place to get involved and that you should stay out of it,” my husband says. “But Dad, he killed her!” my son exclaims. “I know he did, but the police tell you to stay out of it. Now I want you to look out that window and pretend you see our neighbor who you’re pretending is Saddam turn around and do the same thing to his children.” “Daddy, he kills them?” “Yes son, he does. What do you do?” “Well, if the police don’t want to help, I will go and ask my next door neighbor to help me stop him.” “Son, our next door neighbor sees what is happening and refuses to get involved as well. He refuses to open the door and help you stop him,” my husband says. “But Dad, I need help! I can’t stop him by myself!” what do you do, son?” Our son starts to cry. “OK, no one wants to help you. The man across the street saw you ask for help and saw that no one would help you stop him. He stands taller and puffs out his chest. Guess what he does next, son?” “What?” “He walks across the street to the old lady’s house and breaks down her door and drags her out, steals all her stuff and sets her house on fire. Then he kills her. He turns around and sees you standing in the window and laughs at you. What do you do?” “Daddy.” “What do you do?” Our son is crying and he looks down and he whispers, “I close the blinds, Daddy.” My husband looks at our son with tears in his eyes and asks him “Why?”
“Because, Daddy, the police are supposed to help people who need it, and they won’t help. You always say that neighbors are supposed to help neighbors, but they won’t help, either. They won’t help me stop him. I can’t do it by myself, Daddy. I can’t look out my window and just watch him do all these terrible things and do nothing. So I’m just going to close the blinds, so I can’t see what he’s doing. And I’m going to pretend that it is not happening.” I start to cry. My husband looks at our 9-year-old son standing in the window, looking pitiful and ashamed at his answers, and he tells him, “Son” “Yes, Daddy?” “Open the blinds, because that man is at your front door. What do you do?” My son looks at his father, anger and defiance in his eyes. He balls up his tiny fists and looks his father square in the eyes. Without hesitation he says: “I DEFEND MY FAMILY DAD! I’M NOT GONNA LET HIM HURT MOMMY OR MY SISTER, DAD! I’M GONNA FIGHT HIM, DAD, I’M GONNA FIGHT HIM!” I see a tear roll down my husband’s cheek and he grabs my son to his chest and hugs him tight. “It’s too late to fight him. He’s too strong and he’s already at your front door, son. You should have stopped him before he killed his wife. You have to do what’s right, even if you have to do it alone, before it’s too late.” That scenario I just gave you is why we are at war in Iraq. When good men stand by and let evil happen, it’s the greatest evil of all. Our president is doing what is right. We, as a free nation, must understand that this war is a war of humanity. We must remove this evil man from power so that we can continue to live in a free world where we are not afraid to look out our window and see crimes on humanity. So that my 9-year-old son won’t grow up in a world where he feels that if he just “closes the blinds” the atrocities in the world won’t affect him. The second day of the “War on Iraq” I felt compelled to write this and pass it along. Hopefully, you will understand the lesson my husband tried to teach our son.
“You must never be afraid to do what is right, even if you have to do it alone!” Be proud to be an American. Be proud of our president. Be proud of our troops. Support them. Support America so that, in the future, our children will never have to close their blinds.
On Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves
By Dave Grossman
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.
Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.
Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.
“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there that will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.
“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.”…
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
Let me expand on this old soldier’s excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, which is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids’ schools.
But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid’s school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep’s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.”
Until the wolf shows up! Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.
The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.
Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.
Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.
There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.
There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.
Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I’m proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.
Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, “Let’s roll,” which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers – athletes, business people and parents. — From sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.
“Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?”
“There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men.” – Edmund Burke
Here is the point I like to emphasize; especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn’t have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.
If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust, or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior’s path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.
For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.
I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, “I will never be caught without my gun in church.” I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy’s body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?”
Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for “heads to roll” if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids’ school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.
Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?”
It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.
Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn’t bring your gun, you didn’t train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear, helplessness, and horror at your moment of truth.
Gavin de Becker puts it like this in “Fear Less,” his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: “…denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn’t so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling.”
Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.
And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.
If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be “on” 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself… “Baa.”
This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically, at your moment of truth.
February 5th, 2006 at 7:00 pmWorfeus re: birds in Iraq. At least in Saudi Arabia (same desert) the hoopoe bird is quite common. I’m sure the palm trees (Iraq is also famous for its dates) are a large draw for those birds. I seem to remember them taking the dates. Just because a country is a big desert doesn’t mean there aren’t areas that support agriculture…hence birds. There were lots of other birds in Saudi Arabia but I only remember the hoopoe, but it seems to me that it was on the migratory path from Europe to Africa. Since Bird flu was found in Turkey and it is just to the north of Iraq it doesn’t sound unreasonable to me.
Timothy…no one wants to read all that sanctimoneous drivel.
February 5th, 2006 at 7:29 pmTimothy,
You are a Bush-worshipping moron.
Bush promised us that there would be a mission to Mars in last year’s State of the Union Address.
What happened to that idea? Why don’t you people who worship that fascist pig just get on a space-ship and go to mars?
I’m sick of your bullshit. You are a lying sack of shit and you know it on a subconcious level, but it is the nature of the lying shitbag to lie to himself and to everyone else.
February 5th, 2006 at 8:28 pmThis information is absolutely on point and relevant, credible and damning, for the Congress’ “PHASE II” investigation of 9/11.
If we recall, Phase I specifically avoided “pointing fingers of blame”, and only established a rough chronology of what we already knew from the White House.
Phase II was then stonewalled by the GOP majority, untill Harry Reid shut down the Senate by calling it into a shutdown session. This OUTRAGED the Republicans, but they promised to restart the PHASE II investigation on November 14.
November 14 came and went, and not a peep about the investigation, and no protests heard from the Democrats. So, what’s going on? The EVIDENCE needed for the PHASE II investigation, that will focus on who did what, and who KNEW what and when, and especially what was KNOWN that was kept from the American People, is contained in these British reports.
The are not only damning in the max, but they also directly contradict what we were told by our president and his Administration. For example, he told us up to the last minute that he hadn’t made the decision to invade Iraq. He lied. In America, a president who lies gets impeached, right?
February 5th, 2006 at 8:46 pmAnne
I am aware there are some birds in Iraq. But enough to warrant an epidemic of Avian Flu? In China they were talking abou the poultry farms and such, not the exoctic species of rare birds that are normally found in Iraq.
No one could reasonably argue Iraq has a huge population of birds, and I can’t imagine the avian flu springing up in such a dry population and doing too much damage. They said it thrived in humid climates. Most viruses do.
Besides, you neglected to mention the girl from RANIYA who died. She was tested and proved to NOT have the Bird Flu.
Dick Thompson, a WHO spokesman in Geneva, told Reuters news agency the case had been “investigated and discounted”.
“It is not an H5N1 case,” he said.
BBC Jan 19, 2006
But then, just a week or so later, suddenly the same tests were now positive.
RANIYA, Iraq (AP)
A 15-year-old Kurdish girl who died this month had the deadly H5N1 strain, Iraq and U.N. health officials said.
Dosen’t this sound the least bit fowl to you?
February 5th, 2006 at 8:49 pmI mean, one of the doctors must have been a quack.
February 5th, 2006 at 8:51 pmDon’t you think this story has wings?
February 5th, 2006 at 8:52 pmOr am I just being birdbrained?
February 5th, 2006 at 8:53 pmBecause it really ruffles my feathers.
February 5th, 2006 at 8:57 pmPost 77 WORFEUS > Yes the British memo is factual and has wings, but the American press is controlled by the GOP now!
February 5th, 2006 at 9:02 pmIt should be another nail in Bush’s coffin for removal from office, but could end up buried like the other British memos?
Its cuckoo.
February 5th, 2006 at 9:26 pmMany people have a Jim Jones attitude towards government, just believe in them and trust them. Yeah, right. When government is not held accountable by its citizens, you get what you get. Bush has no credibility and it has been proven that Bush mislead the US and tried to do the same with the United Nations. We as a nation look foolish to the world with Bush in office. Congress investigated a former president’s cat, yet has done no oversite or investigations of this Administration. Why? Because of politics, pure and simple. Bush knows that he can’t win a clear cut victory in Iraq. There will be no “liberal democracy” in Iraq, just an elected theocracy at best. He knows that he can’t pull-out because that would be an admission of failure. The real reason for not pulling out now is because the civil war would seriously esculate, we are there just to prevent that. We are not fighting for freedom or any other platitude remarks by Bush. This president will not take responsibility and will not admitt failure, period. So when people say “Support the Troops” my hair on the back of my neck stands up and I ask “What does that really mean”? Does that mean letting a foolish and incompetent president, that used 911 to create a war in Iraq under false pretenses, off the hook? Then he later excuses himself for his actions by saying its not his fault, it was the intelligence fault. I so sorry that so many of Americans have been injured or killed in Iraq, I really am. But what I’m really sorry for is the fact that our government, of checks and balances, allowed this to happened in the first place. Supporting the troops is not placing magnetic stickers on your car that are made in communist China. Its not lying to them, I mean the troops, when placing them in harm’s way. We Americans have a Superpower mentality, but as we learned in VietNam, we can’t always bully others to get our way.
February 5th, 2006 at 9:26 pmIn Viet Nam they stood up to bullies and the bullies were driven out The superpower had to retreat from an unjust war of aggression. Tony Blair gets donations from Bush to his Labour Party
February 5th, 2006 at 9:59 pmOr am I just being birdbrained by WORFEUS
No, you’re being an asshole.
February 5th, 2006 at 10:16 pmSo far I haven’t seen or heard of any of the major media sources reporting on Bush’s decision to go to war no matter what. I’m grateful that Thing Progress has gotten the story out and appreciative of the British press for keeping the truth alive. It’s very frustrating to see the tragedy in Iraq in terms of lives lost, cities destroyed, and billions of dollars wasted. Power has corrupted this cabal of war lovers-and it’s just going to get worse.
February 5th, 2006 at 11:57 pmNo, you’re being an asshole.
Comment by Steve G — February 5, 2006 @ 10:16 pm
That would be your mother Steve G.
That would be your mother.
February 6th, 2006 at 12:03 amWe need to peel off the shell and get at the yolk of this story
February 6th, 2006 at 12:30 amIn the sanctimonious, moronic, simplistic manner of Timothy’s post…
Little Timmy looks out the window and sees that his next door neighbour has a huge pool of oil in his backyard. “Dad”, says little Timmy, “How come they have all that oil, and we don’t?” “Timmy”, says his father, “We used to have a lot of oil too, but we’ve been using it up fast.”
“What happens when our oil is all gone?” asks little Timmy.
“Simple,” says his father, “We’ll call the police, have our neighbour arrested, and then we’ll just take his!”
“But what if the police don’t come?” asked cute, button-nosed little Timmy.
“Then we’ll just kill ‘em ourselves!” said his conservative, Christian, God-fearin’, family-values father.
This would seem more of an accurate parable than the wife-beater across the street; because, while we’re staring at the wife-beater, the guy next door is making eight-year olds work fourteen hours a day so Timmy can have a cheap shirt; and the guy beside him is busy torturing people that Timmy’s dad sent over for that purpose.
It is astounding that there are still those who feel that, in order to redress the wrongs of the wife-beater, the Christian thing to do is to bomb everyone on the block, including Timmy.
February 6th, 2006 at 11:28 amTimothy’s posts must be the dumbest things I’ve read in a long, long time.
February 6th, 2006 at 1:13 pmTimothy…no one wants to read all that sanctimoneous drivel.
Comment by anne — February 5, 2006 @ 7:29 pm
Timothy,
You are a Bush-worshipping moron.
Comment by Balzac
Timothy’s posts must be the dumbest things I’ve read in a long, long time.
Comment by Gregor Samsa
Never mind the trolls Tim, good article. I’d only suggest you pull out a couple of good paragraphs and provide a link. These losers don’t have to read all that and attend circle jerk too. But the writer is correct, they are sheep. dirty, stinking and stupid but the fact is that is their choice. There’s not much that can be done for them. Nice try though.
February 6th, 2006 at 2:47 pmbut as we learned in VietNam, we can’t always bully others to get our way.
Comment by michael
What we really learned from Vietnam is the the enemy inside our country must be treated like any other enemy else we will never survive. I think there are enough of us that have learned that lesson to make a difference this time around. That’s why I’m holding on to my stock in ACME Hemp and Razor Wire Co., LLP.
February 6th, 2006 at 2:50 pmThose who doubt that the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld team will attack Iran, while so conspicuously overextended in Iraq, are ignoring the subtleties of the administration’s Middle East strategy.
Bush has no intention of occupying Iran. Rather, the goal is to destroy major weapons-sites, destabilize the regime, and occupy a sliver of land on the Iraqi border that contains 90% of Iran’s oil wealth. Ultimately, Washington will aim to replace the Mullahs with American-friendly clients who can police their own people and fabricate the appearance of representative government. But, that will have to wait. For now, the administration must prevent the incipient Iran bourse (oil-exchange) from opening in March and precipitating a global sell-off of the debt-ridden dollar. There have many fine articles written about the proposed “euro-based†bourse and the devastating effects it will have on the greenback. The best of these are “Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar†by William R. Clark, and “The Proposed Oil Bourse†by Krassimir Petrov, Ph.D.
The bottom line on the bourse is this; the dollar is underwritten by a national debt that now exceeds $8 trillion dollars and trade deficits that surpass $600 billion per year. That means that the greenback is the greatest swindle in the history of mankind. It’s utterly worthless. The only thing that keeps the dollar afloat is that oil is traded exclusively in greenbacks rather than some other currency. If Iran is able to smash that monopoly by trading in petro-euros then the world’s central banks will dump the greenback overnight, sending markets crashing and the US economy into a downward spiral.
The Bush administration has no intention of allowing that to take place. In fact, as the tax-cuts and the budget deficits indicate, the Bush cabal fully intends to perpetuate the system that trades worthless dollars for valuable commodities, labor, and resources. As long as the oil market is married to the dollar, this system of global indentured servitude will continue.
Battle Plans
The Bush administration’s attention has shifted to a small province in southwestern Iran that is unknown to most Americans. Never the less, Khuzestan will become the next front in the war on terror and the lynchpin for prevailing in the global resource war. If the Bush administration can sweep into the region (under the pretext disarming Iran’s nuclear programs) and put Iran’s prodigious oil wealth under US control, the dream of monopolizing Middle East oil will have been achieved.
Not surprisingly, this was Saddam Hussein’s strategy in 1980 when he initiated hostilities against Iran in a war that would last for eight years. Saddam was an American client at the time, so it is likely that he got the green light for the invasion from the Reagan White House. Many of Reagan’s high-ranking officials currently serve in the Bush administration; notably Rumsfeld and Cheney.
Khuzestan represents 90% of Iran’s oil production. The control over these massive fields will force the oil-dependent nations of China, Japan and India to continue to stockpile greenbacks despite the currency’s dubious value. The annexing of Khuzestan will prevent Iran’s bourse from opening, thereby guaranteeing that the dollar will maintain its dominant position as the world’s reserve currency. As long as the dollar reigns supreme and western elites have their hands on the Middle East oil-spigot, the current system of exploitation through debt will continue into perpetuity. The administration can confidently prolong its colossal deficits without fear of a plummeting dollar. In fact, the American war-machine and all its various appendages, from Guantanamo to Abrams Tanks, are paid for by the myriad nations who willingly hold reserves of American currency.
This extortion-scheme is typically referred to as the global economic system. In reality, it has nothing to do with either free markets or capitalism. That is just philosophical mumbo-jumbo. It is the dollar-system; predicated entirely on the ongoing monopoly of the oil trade in dollars.
February 7th, 2006 at 11:00 amGod: I’ve lost faith in Blair
A high-level leak has revealed that God is “furious” at Tony Blair’s attempts to implicate him in the bombing of Iraq. Sources close to the archangel Gabriel report him as describing the Almighty as “hopping mad … with sanctimonious yet unscrupulous politicians claiming He would condone their bestial activities when He has no way of going public Himself
March 10th, 2006 at 9:03 amhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1725799,00.html
[...] Think Progress raises the point I mentioned yesterday, although they do it in a a far more thorough way, complete with links. The thing about the “New Downing Street Memo” is not its content, we all knew Bush was a War Hawk and deceiving America, the surprising part (actually sadly not that surprising) is that save for Keith Olberman, I have yet to see this covered by the American Media. An omission made even more obvious by the fact that CNN international is covering the story. [...]
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