After All We Did For Them in Fallujah
Published on Dissident Voice (first in Z Magazine https://zcomm.org/zmag/ ), by Edward S. Herman, Oct 5, 2015.
… There is a vagueness in these references to a supposed “mission” and “reasons.” We should not forget that the U.S. leader in this Iraq enterprise, U.S. President George W. Bush, had originally claimed that the sole reason for invading Iraq was its possession of weapons of mass destruction and the threat that this posed to international peace and security. Once that was admitted to have been a fraud the mission and its purported reasons would seem to have disappeared and immediate withdrawal should have been called for . However, this was quickly adjusted to the mission of bringing democracy to Iraq, presumably to help the Iraqi people improve their lives as well as reduce the external threat of dictatorship. But any sensible person should recognize that a U.S. leadership that stands firmly with Saudi Arabia, and had earlier supported Saddam Hussein when he was attacking Iran, couldn’t be expending resources for any democratic objective … //
… The media’s role in this aggression and mass murder operation has been extremely important. While reporting on the shaken faith of the Marines who fought in Fallujah in 2004, the media don’t explore what that “mission” was and put it into meaningful context. You may be certain that they won’t hark back to those alleged but non-existent weapons of mass destruction that the initially claimed mission was supposedly designed to eliminate, nor will they discuss the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the claim of an alleged new mission of bringing democracy to Iraq. And you may be even more certain that they won’t discuss how all this conflicts with the express norms of the UN Charter and international law. They’ll save that for Putin in Ukraine! … //
… The U.S. methods of fighting further disaffected the people and consolidated the political strength of the communists. It was a merciless war against a people. And while killing literally millions of Vietnamese, mostly civilians, it was a failure. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan show that the U.S. military has not learned a lesson and continues to create enemies faster than it kills them. Sadly, this does not result in their leaders being brought to justice, so that the lesson is not learned and their successors are able to kill on a large scale once again, perhaps creating an Iraq syndrome to be overcome in the future as this country has overcome its Vietnam syndrome (with the help of using a mercenary army).
Links:
One in five UK employees were on low pay last year, on Left Foot Forward, by Ruby Stockham, Oct 5, 2015; New report finds proportion of employees on the minimum wage has been rising steadily over past 15 years;
Daily Mail says ‘sexist’ Peppa Pig is indoctrinating children, on Left Foot Forward, by Adam Barnett, Oct 5, 2015: Yes, really;
Jeremy Corbyn’s acceptance speech – full, 21.59 min, ln Labour List.org, Sept 14, 2015;
Was Karl Marx White? And Is He? on The Public Autonomy Project, by Steve D’Arcy, June 16, 2015.