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'''The war in Iraq''': This 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:
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"?
When U.S. Attorney General [[John Ashcroft]] gutted the Bill of Rights [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/dec2001/ashc-d12.shtml] and effectively destroyed the [[Freedom of Information Act ]] [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/01/06/ED125108.DTL], what was his legitimate excuse? Why did hardly anyone complain?
When U.S. [[Supreme Court ]] Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] claims that "in wartime, 'the protections will be ratcheted right down to the constitutional minimum. I won't let it go beyond the constitutional minimum'", [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jul2002/rehn-j24.shtml] [http://www.oaoa.com/columns/edit032503.htm], where does he get the idea that this is "wartime"? Why do people agree with him?
When [[George W. Bush]] claims that "you are with us or with the terrorists[[terrorist]]s", intending everyone in the world either to agree with him or be branded a deadly enemy, why did people accept this statement?
When will the war end? (See [[War on terrorism]].)
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?
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.
The next rationale for the war in Iraq was that Saddam had ties to [[terrorist]]sterrorists. But he didn't. Everybody knows Al-Quaeda had a phobia of being in Iraq.
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 thousands of his soldiers, about a tenth the number he would have murdered by now had he stayed in power.
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, if you don't count their wall.
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 there are uglier revelations on the way, yet more gay-website stagings).
