Yesterday's violence in Iraq may well mark another downward turn in the civil war that our troops are currently caught in. The
Askariya Shrine in Samarra - whose gold dome was destroyed over a year ago, marking a
previous rise in sectarian violence - was attacked and its
two minarets were
destroyed (see side-by-side pictures of the Shrine courtesy of the
New York Times). Sadly, the bombing is already increasing the
level of violence in Iraq and
decreasing any chance for the Iraqi parliament to make progress towards the political benchmarks that have already been set for them.
Confusing as it may be,
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow thinks a further descent into violence and chaos in the Iraqi civil war is actually a sign of American success:
It does fit a pattern that we see throughout the region, which is that when you see things moving towards success, or when you see signs of success, that there are acts of violence.
Were it that we were so lucky as to have violence be a sign of success and not failure. Unfortunately the surge has not worked - violence in Iraq has actually risen since the Bush administration initiated an escalation of America's presence in Iraq this winter. A Congressional study was just released documenting
this rise in violence. And thus, contrary to what Mr. Snow would like us to believe, yesterday's violence, like the violence of the day before it and the day before that, is only a sign of the absence of a workable plan in Iraq.
The White House needs to be honest with the American public. This sort of lipstick-on-a-pig rhetoric does a disservice to the American people and the troops serving in harms way in Iraq.
It's time for America to recognize that the surge of troops has not worked. What we need now, to borrow Senator Dodd's words, is a clear plan for Iraq that includes an enforceable deadline for responsibly redeploying America's troops out of Iraq. In
April Senator Dodd said:
It is time to bring an end to a war that at every turn has failed to make America safer.
The hour is late. It is time to begin putting our country on a more secure path.
The moment has arrived for leadership that stands up and announces without equivocation that prolonging this war will not make us more secure – ending it will.
The best way to end the Iraq war is to pass the Dodd Amendment onto the Defense Authorization Bill. The Amendment will start responsibly redeploying our combat troops from Iraq immediately and complete the process by the end of March 2008, using the Congressional power of the purse to ensure that our troops are brought home to the heros welcome they deserve. The Dodd Amendment will also require the Bush administration to report to Congress on the progress of the redeployment and make funding for the Iraq war contingent on the progress of the drawdown of forces.
America needs leaders with conviction to put our country on a more secure path. The time for denial and misrepresentation has long passed. Senator Dodd is offering bold leadership on the most important issue facing America today. It's time for us to stand up with him.
Comments
Americans need to realize the ONLY way this war ENDS is when CONGRESSIONAL members stop standing down to WH pressure:
Bush & Cheney et al have violated law, thwarted Congress, and blatantly lied to both Congress and the American people. They have committed mass murder; they have been negligent and complicit in a scheme so diabolical and it has all been presented to you and to me; wrapped in the American flag - the Bush brand of patriotism; or in religioius rhetoric.
It all began with AEI/Pentagon cronies cooking up the "coup strategy" via Project Anabasis; in which Libby dreamed of a
US covertly trained mercenary army of Iraqi dissidents - 5K
strong - but only 50 were escorted into the Nevada desert
via "CIA Air" - and multiple meetings in Walnut Grove, CA
with Chalbi squared.
There are so many LINKS:
March 5, 2003 CAPSTONE ADDRESS in which keynote (former) speaker
Newt Gingrich said: "'Men! Prepare your troops! The United States will invade Iraq in 2 to 2.5 weeks! Get your affairs in order!'"
The officers in the ballroom erupted into chaos - literally chaos:
The men shot up out of their chairs, knocking them over; women began crying; questions were fired at Newt like ammunition from an automatic weapon: "We don't have armor," shouted one voice. "My men aren't ready," protested another - and so it went - for about 8 minutes. (I was there)
But, the most damning words were these:
Newt: "When the American people ask you WHY we are invading Iraq; you are to TELL them the reason we are invading Iraq is to liberate the Iraqi people. YOU MUST USE THE WORD LIBERATE."
This war is NOTHING more than AEI vs. Big Oil. AEI wanted to "bust OPEC" via an Iraqi invasion - flood the market with oil and drive the cost down. But Big Oil would have nothing to do with it - they count on short supply to drive up costs; hence their exceedlingly large profits in recent years -
So, with knowledge of all of this, our Congressional leaders and the Bush WH have KNOWINGLY engaged in the shameful sacrifice of United States servicemen and women.
All you have to do is ask yourself this question:
IF, another nation came to our shore; killing thousands upon thousands of people; to access a natural resource that OUR country had, and their country lacked; in an attempt to stabilize a sector of their economy: how would we, Americans respond?
Would we allow it? NO!
OSP = the Office of Special Plans; which operated illegally out of Doug Feith's office in the Pentagon. Who comprised OSP?
Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle, Rubin, LIBBY, Shulsky, Maloof,
Chalabi, Luti, GINGRICH, Feith, among many others. Are any of these names familiar to you?!
Think of the Downing St. memo; the Wilson/Plame - Niger yellow cake debacle; the extraordinary web of lies, spun to dupe the American people into false conflict.
Do you honestly think, that the United States of America had NO way of knowing 9/11 was coming? THEY knew - for months, they knew, and chose NOT to act. Marketing lies that result in countless casualties and permanent psychological and phyical trauma is also a form of TERROR.
Demand the TRUTH! Learn about Grover Norquist's "tax strategy" - the real IRAQ STRATEGY - learn about his new "patent laws and tax reform" for Iraq - BEFORE we invaded - why? Job #1 - confiscate Iraqi state owned assets - OIL - a highly coveted resource among others. The prize that would provide an economical buffer: control of supply (oil) with a rapidly growing world-wide demand from emerging economies: China and India. DOn't you see? With ALL the LIES and CONFLICT-of-INTEREST within the Bush White House; how could you possibly expect a strong strategy to emerge?
AEI vs. Big Oil
Bush White House "Strategy" vs. that of the Generals who "retired"
Sound strategy is built on strong evidence - Bush lied and the subsequent strategy was built upon those lies. How could you EXPECT it succeed?
Demand that our troops come home. Demand that this greed and power driven Congress implement "NO Conflict of Interest" legislation. Demand that as a "civil servant" that they withdraw from all of their board positions - demand that they can no longer act as "paid consultants," and if they are majority shareholders in a company that their shares are housed in an escrow account and managed by a neutral third party.
Rather than work for the American people, they work at the behest of globe-trotting multinational corporationsthat pull political strings to access "political capital" : selling Americans out at every juncture just to maximize their gain.
I URGE every American to go to the FEC website and learn who is donating money to whom, who is lobbying whom, and for what the price tag is . . .
. . . they donate, but it's WE who pay - our blood is spilled, our jobs are lost overseas, our pensions are slashed, our healthcare is whittled away year after year, on corporate conference tables of greed.
. . . corporations like Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and many others owe Americans billions of dollars in tax dollars for social programs that go unpaid -
Gee - some of that could be utilized toward our injured veterans, don't you think; or toward healthcare; college scholarships, etc?
Offshore Accounts: the tax havens for the rich - where tax evasion, profit laundering earn shell companies money that has been documented to support terrorists!
Do NOT believe what you hear without conducting your own research -the media is controlled by corporate interests, editors who censor the real story . . . even though the "Truth in Broadcasting Act" - passed in the Summer of 2005 - empty words.
Raise your voice - don't allow the Political Marketing Machine to silence your voice - please . . .