2.    War on Iraq for “regime change” was planned long before the 9/11 attacks
 (http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1203-21.htm , http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/comment/0,12956,1036687,00.html , and
 http://pnac.info/index.php/2003/4-years-before-911-plan-was-set/ )

3.    Intelligence about Iraq was “fixed” starting in 2002 to support Bush and Blair’s decision to attack Iraq
 (http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/ and http://globalresearch.ca/articles/SMI505A.html ) 

4.    The U.S./U.K. invasion and occupation of Iraq is illegal and constitutes the supreme war crime, that of an unprovoked, 
 preventive war of aggression similar to Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939
 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3661134.stm , http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/13670 , and
 http://www.counterpunch.org/freeman09172003.html ) 

5.   Over one million Iraqis died, including over 500,000 children, as a result of the sanctions imposed by George H.W. Bush after the 1991 Gulf War and then maintained by Bill Clinton and George W. Bush until the U.S./U.K. invasion in March, 2003
(http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/iraq1/2002/paper.htm#summary , http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/418625.stm,
http://www.infowars.net/articles/march2007/270307Iraq_toll.htm , and http://www.thenation.com/doc/20011203/cortright )
as all three administrations tried to provoke “regime change” in Iraq 

6.    Detainees held in U.S. prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in Afghanistan, and in Iraq have been tortured
(http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/afx/2005/06/24/afx2110388.html and http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/project.jsp?project=us_torture_abuse ) 

7.    CIA “Rendition” (kidnapping) of terrorist suspects to nations known to torture started in the Clinton administration, continued and increased under Bush, and was known by “top officials” (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/04/60minutes/main678155.shtml and http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510512006 )

8.   U.S. forces have committed war crimes by using weapons such as napalm (Mark 77 firebombs), depleted uranium, white phosphorous, and cluster bombs in Iraq (http://www.brusselstribunal.org/WMD.htm , http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/was-there-napalm-in-fallujah/ , http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11020.htm , and http://www.consumersforpeace.org/pdf/war_crimes_iraq_101006.pdf )

9.    Between 600,000 and one million Iraqis have died since the March, 2003 illegal U.S./U.K. invasion and occupation* (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/world/middleeast/11casualties.html?ex=1318219200&en=516b1d070ff83c15&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss , http://pressesc.com/news/99409082007/one-million-iraqis-killed-us-invasion )

10.   In spite of prior warnings, Bush failed to have the New Orleans levees repaired or see New Orleans was properly prepared for Hurricane Katrina (http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,372455,00.html and http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11627394/ )

11.   Bush admitted he broke the FISA law, an impeachable offense (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1216-01.htm , http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20051230.html , and http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/19/1515212 )

*If you consider the one million Iraqis who died as a result of the 1991-2003 sanctions and the one million who have died since the 2003 invasion, the word genocide comes to mind.  If you consider the four million Iraqi refugees resulting from our invasion and occupation, and the resulting sectarian violence causing the creation of unprecedented sectarian enclaves in Iraq, the term ethnic cleansing comes to mind.

As Americans, supposedly believing in the rule of law, supposedly believing in fairness and compassion, what do we do now that we know these facts? 

Do we deny them because they clash with our view of America as the “greatest country in the world”?

Do we shrug and say, “Well, every country has its dark side”? 

Do we throw up our hands and complain that we can’t do much because Cheney and Bush have so much power and, besides, they’ll be out of office soon?

Or do we simply turn the page and see what else is on TV?

The “Good Germans” who did nothing had similar reactions while Hitler destroyed Europe and murdered 6 million Jews, and 5 million Poles, Russians, Communists, homosexuals and other “non-Aryans” in his death camps.  They denied, or accepted and approved, or said they didn’t know, or (justifiably for many) feared punishment or death in Hitler’s dictatorship.

But we don’t live in a dictatorship. 

And we DO know what has been done in our name.

So who are we?  What have we become? 

Right now there are three massive U.S. aircraft carrier task forces in the Persian Gulf, and B-1 and B-2 bombers and many fighters on airfields in countries surrounding Iran.  They are there waiting for Bush, with Cheney’s urging, to give the signal to repeat “shock and awe’, this time on the Iranian people.

Right now another propaganda campaign, similar to that which preceded our 2003 Iraq invasion, is beginning, but this time charging Iran with unproven “evils” against our troops in Iraq. Again it is accepted without challenge by our compliant, corporate mainstream media with its many links to the so-called “defense” industry.  Meanwhile, that same media distracts us with “coverage” of Larry Craig’s men’s room saga, or the death of Princess Di ten years later, or John Edwards’ haircuts, or Britney, or Lindsay, or Paris, or…

And right now, Iranian forces are accused, with little, if any solid evidence, of helping kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Meanwhile, ignored by our media, U.S. Special Forces and CIA operatives are in Iran selecting targets for our planes, drones, and cruise missiles and supporting anti-Iranian government groups there.  In effect, we have been waging war on Iran from inside Iran for almost two years already  (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4180087.stm and http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0620-31.htm ). 

And now Bush wants our always-accommodating Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to declare a part of Iran’s military as “terrorists.”  This will enable him to attack Iran without Congressional authorization.

These are also facts.

So what will you do about this?

Will you be a “Good German?”

                        ERIC COX
                        “BUSH TO LET THE NEXT PRESIDENT DEAL WITH HIS IRAQ MESS” 

In his most recent speech, President Bush makes the astounding observation that the next president will have to deal with the failed, on-going war in Iraq war that he started.  This turnover was long suspected and, finally he owned up to it.  And he still holds onto the foolish notion that success is possible. This is a stretch. In this day and age, an occupation by one country of another cannot succeed, especially by a Christian, Israel-supporting nation that occupies a Muslim country.  

The flight from reality by this President continues, illustrated by his bragging to the head of Australia that "we are kicking ass" in Iraq as some 80 or more of our brave soldiers are slain monthly. It seems he still has the mind set of his earlier comment regarding those who fight us in Iraq to "bring them on". That Bush is lost in the real world is seen by the recent New York Times-CBS poll when respondents were asked whom they trust most with successfully resolving the war in Iraq. There was strong support for the military commanders and twenty one percent for Congress but only a mind-boggling five percent for our President. 

Bush's last ploy was the surge to give Iraq time to make their government work. But that is more fantasy. The Iraq government is dysfunctional as Ambassador Crocker testified.  It is obvious that the surge failed in its main purpose to give time for the Iraq government to get its act together. 

But in a sense for Bush the surge worked providing him a weak reed on which to rest his war policy and thereby shore up his eroding political base. Many Republican members of Congress were comforted by the alleged success of the surge as are many Bush supporters.  

I contend that one reason for what support there is for the war rests on gross, amazing misinformation. The same poll said that six in ten believed that administration officials deliberately misled the public. But the misinformation goes beyond these figures.  One third of the public believed Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks on Sept. 11, including 40 percent of Republicans and 27 percent of Democrats. Bush has said publicly that this was not the case but he, many of his supporters and some of the media continue to conflate Iraq with the September attacks. One can speculate that if these many who are deceived knew the facts, that what support remains for the war would collapse.   

I am a partisan with strong views. I attended the September 15 rally in Washington to end the war. I am realistic. I did not think it would do any good. But it made me feel good. And it was fun to be among thousands against the war. I helped carry on a long string the photos of the some 80 soldiers from New Jersey who were killed in this immoral war. The photos were carried on the edge of the march from the White House to the Capitol.  The photos were arranged by Mareen Glover of New Jersey. She has photos of all our soldiers slain in this war and has displayed them at seven demonstrations.  

A poignant display at the event was a coffin on wheels with the boots and uniform on top of it of Alexander Arrendondo who was slain in this war. The mobile coffin was pushed by his father Carlos Arrendondo. When the marchers reached the west front of the Capitol, they were greeted by about 100 policemen in riot gear guarding the Capitol. Some 200 demonstrators were arrested when they crossed the barrier protecting the Capitol. As they were being arrested, the anti-war crowd shouted "arrest Bush".

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