War in Iraq

The war in Iraq, an innocuous phrase common in the United States media, is a very effective propaganda tool in and of itself. To see how, ask yourself these questions:

1. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991, overpowered it with a vastly superior army, and then took over its oil and government, was that a "war"? What words might you use instead? When George H.W. Bush responded with "This shall not stand", was he being "anti-war"?
2. When U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft gutted the Bill of Rights and effectively destroyed the Freedom of Information Act, what was his legitimate excuse? Why did hardly anyone complain?
3. When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia claimed that "in wartime, 'the protections will be ratcheted right down to the constitutional minimum. I won't let it go beyond the constitutional minimum'" [1], where did he get the idea that this is "wartime"? Why do people agree with him?
4. When George W. Bush claims that "you are with us or with the terrorists", intending everyone in the world either to agree with him or be branded a deadly enemy, why did people accept this statement?
5. When will the war end? (See War on terrorism.)
6. When those who object to the Bush style of leadership and diplomacy are labelled "Anti-war Activists" or the "peace movement", and then told to be quiet because "we won the war already", what is their unified reply?

Now consider this quotation:

"...[V]oice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." --Hermann Goering, April, 18, 1946.

Does this apply to the U.S. here and now? Was the U.S. actually attacked? How many Iraqis participated in this attack or its planning? Are we really making war "in Iraq" or "on Iraq"?

Is the U.S. currently at war? If so, with whom, and how will we know that the war is over? If not, why haven't observance of the Constitution and the FOIA been returned to normal? Why is the news always about Iraq, Iran, and Syria, countries that haven't threatened or attacked the US in any way since 1980?

Is America really acting as it should?

Rationales for War

So that leaves...what?, 201k.com blogger pookastew asked May 8, 2004:

• The first rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. But he didn't - as we well know after extensive searches since the beginning of the US invasion. [2]

• The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam had ties to terrorists. But he didn't.

• The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam was a brutal dictator who had killed hundreds thousands of his own people every year. But then we killed tens of thousands of his people in less than two years time - perhaps even a hundred thousand, according to a demographic research published in the Lancet. [3]

• The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that we could make democracy flourish in the Middle East, put a dent in militant Islam, improve America's standing in the Arab world, and make Israel safer--all by "liberating" Iraq. But we haven't created a democracy, militant Islam is at a fever pitch, our occupation of Iraq has created unparalleled ill will in the Arab world, and it would be delusional to think that Israel is safer today than before the war.

• The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam was a brutal dictator who had tortured his own people in prisons like Abu Ghraib. But then the whole world saw that we 'tortured' his people in prisons like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

What does that leave?

By our thinking it leaves arrogance, abuse of power, religious zealotry, and oil.

Conception

"The war in Iraq was conceived by 25 neoconservative intellectuals, most of them Jewish, who are pushing President Bush to change the course of history. ... It is not only the neoconservatives who led us to the outskirts of Baghdad. What led us to the outskirts of Baghdad is a very American combination of anxiety and hubris," Haaretz reported May 4, 2003.

Second Anniversary

"The traditional gift for a 2nd year anniversary is ... cotton?"

CounterPunch's William A. Cook wrote that March 19, 2005, marked the "now annual date of America's March of Madness into Iraq, where the Neo-Con forces of liberation became the forces of occupation, we witness these very same Pharisees lift their respective heads above the roiling waters of the river Styx into which they sunk this country, tentatively waving their cheerleaders' pom-poms in celebration of their ultimate triumph, the democratization of the mid-east." In celebration we have "an advertising campaign from the board rooms of the American Enterprise Institute, the Project for the New American Century, AIPAC, the Pentagon, and the White House extolling the success of Bush's 'shock and awe' as it elevated the Arab states from their 'Age of Darkness' to the 'Enlightenment' of civilized Capitalistic society." [4]

Related SourceWatch Resources

• adapting to win
• 'A war sold on deception'
• Bush administration propaganda and disinformation
• Bush administration lies that led to war
• Bush doctrine
• Bush lies and deceptions
• Bush regime
• civil war in Iraq
• Congressional actions on the Iraq War
• Defend The Press
• Ehren Watada
• Exit Strategy from Iraq
• Iraq as an imminent threat
• Iraq War Powers Repeal Act of 2006
• Iraqi Constitution
• Iraqi insurgency
• Is the war in Iraq a "noble cause"?
• New Iraq
• Post-war Iraq
• Sarah Olson
• stay the course
• The alleged linkage of Saddam Hussein with Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction
• "The Path to 9/11" (2006 Docudrama)
• violence in the Middle East
• war in Iran
• Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan

External links

• "Iraq on the Record: The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq" presented by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform website. Searchable by name of Bush administration official, topic, or key word.
• "Kean, Hamilton: Iraq War a Mistake," NewsMax, August 13, 2006.
• Dana Priest and Ann Scott Tyson, "Bin Laden Trail 'Stone Cold'. U.S. Steps Up Efforts, But Good Intelligence On Ground is Lacking," Washington Post, September 10, 2006.
• Karen DeYoung, "Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Hurting U.S. Terror Fight," Washington Post, September 24, 2006.