2004 Credit Suit

America's race to selfdestruct - not in MY name!

Since I rarely watch TV, I was stunned when I got a call from Europe yesterday about pictures of naked Iraqi prisoners piled on top of each other, genitals wired with electrodes, naked prisoners forced to mime sex acts, prisoners hooded and humiliated, and American soldiers proudly posing.

In this same call I got to hear about a documentary claiming that the Bushes personally and knowingly benefitted from the gruesome events in Auschwitz. The footage showed Jews having to work in winter in pyjamas until they fell over and died. Supposedly, some of the profits from the forced labor went to the Bush family. I knew that a lot of wealthy Americans supported Hitler and empowered him to do his horrendous deeds (as with Saddam Hussein) and that America could have acted to save many lives, but deliberately chose not to.

But I didn't believe the reports of torture and humiliation by American soldiers in Iraq until I read the interviews with military officials, acknowledging it's all true.

At the English Aljazeera site:

At the Arabic http://www.aljazeera.net/ today:

At Drudge:

Of course only "a few" of the Americans in Iraq are sick enough to proudly pose. But there is no way that only the 5 or 6 who are currently charged knew about this.

And this is NOT the first time that pictures of torture have surfaced, last year the British had a similar scandal. Apparently, the American leadership was not outraged enough to make it clear to the troops that nothing short of impeccable conduct is acceptable in the American military.

The UK Mirror:

"Yesterday Frederick said he would deny abuse, claiming he was not shown Geneva Convention rules on how to treat captives."

I also read somewhere that Fredericks was a prison guard in Virginia. Is that how prisoners are treated?

"VILE: Iraqi PoWs are forced to parade before their jeering captors"

The administration made a big freaking deal over alleged violations of the Geneva Convention when Aljazeera showed pictures and video of American POWs - fully dressed and NOT hooked up to wires.

"'Brig Gen Kimmitt said: "These pictures may reflect the actions of individuals. But, by God, it doesn't reflect my army.

"If we can't hold ourselves up as an example of how to treat people with dignity and respect, we can't ask that other nations do that to our soldiers."

Former Marine Lieutenant Colonel Bill Cowan warned: "We'll be paid back for this after these people are let out.'"

That's wishful thinking. He must have said that before these pictures were broadcast all over the world.

I'm really really sorry for the troops who have to remain in Iraq.

From http://thememoryhole.org/ (Warning: extremely graphic)

You might recall the 4 contractors' bodies were burned and hung from a bridge near Fallujah on 3/31/04.

Who Were the Men Killed in Fallujah?

"According to news reports, the Americans who were killed and mutilated in Fallujah were "private contractors." This is a euphemism for "mercenaries": ex-military soldiers of fortune who operate outside the rules of combat."

And: "Thomas, a security consultant with a private company contracted by the government, recorded the first known enemy kill using a new — and controversial — bullet.

The bullet is so controversial that if Thomas, a former SEAL, had been on active duty, he would have been court-martialed for using it."

Nir Rosen, one of the few independant journalists in Bagdad: Everyday Chaos

"I sipped a strawberry smoothie while Rana, a cheerful young woman with a colorful headscarf, ate imported ice cream. She explained she didn't eat local ice cream, fearing the milk has been contaminated by the radioactive residue of allied ammunition. She noted that the scene before us reminded her of the days before the war, when she would go out at night with her sisters, unafraid of the dangers that now keep Iraqi women sequestered in their homes.

Rana was waxing nostalgic about the good old days. The days before Saddam's army broke and he ran. It's a refrain I have become accustomed to, and I was trying not to roll my eyes. Then two sharp shots cut through Rana's words. The were too close to ignore, too out of place in the bustling evening crowd. I saw two men walking hurriedly across the street, weaving through the traffic, arms raised and pistols in the air. "They killed a man!" someone shouted. ...."

Most Iraqis did not like Saddam. But they like the US even less. Can you blame them?

The Bush administration's leader of choice for a "liberated" Iraq is Ahmed Chalabia - corrupt bankster and convicted felon.

America made a huge mistake by supporting scumbag Ahmed Chalabi, loathed by most Iraqis. He has all the qualities admired by the Bush administration: convicted felon, ruthless and corrupt, another Saddam Hussein, but a little more polished.

Profile: Ahmed Chalabi

"In 1992, he was sentenced in absentia by a Jordanian court to 22 years in prison with hard labour for bank fraud after the 1990 collapse of Petra Bank, which he had founded in 1977."

If the Iraqis throw him out, Capital One or Bank One might offer him an executive position.

I really hope that Americans have enough sense to not only vote out Bush, but to demand the immediate withdrawal from Iraq.

Unfortunately, I'm not comfortable with Kerry either. He has no position and no plan, he says whatever people want to hear, and he hasn't determined yet what exactly that is.

Dennis Kucinich is still the only person with a realistic plan to get out of Iraq.

Four-star General endorses Kucinich plan for withdrawal from Iraq

"Retired U.S. Army Gen. William E. Odom, who is also a former head of the National Security Agency, has criticized President Bush's Iraq policy and demanded that U.S. forces return from Iraq as rapidly as possible for the sake of American security and economic power alike.

His remarks echo the perspective and exit-strategy of Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.

"In several interviews and published reports over the past few days, Gen Odom, a fluent Russian speaker who teaches at Georgetown and Yale, has urged the removal of U.S. forces "from that shattered country as rapidly as possible." Odom says bluntly, "we have failed," and "the issue is how high a price we're going to pay - less, by getting out sooner, or more, by getting out later." ...

Odom, who heads the pro-Republican Hudson Institute, also sees the sum total of what the U.S. occupation of Iraq has achieved is "the radicalization of Saudi Arabia and probably Egypt, too. And the longer we stay in Iraq, the more isolated America will become."

Sign the petition to withdraw from Iraq.

Posted by Christine at April 30, 2004 02:38 PM | TrackBack