Mission Accomplished? Not!

It has been five years since George Bush stood on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln under the now infamous banner declaring MISSION ACCOMPLISHED and announced victory and success in the Iraq war. Not!

Five years later and we've lost more troops, killed more Iraqi civilians, and spent our country into recession. Just today, the NYT reports that a car bomb in Bagdad killed nine. And this month alone, another 49 young Americans have died in this misguided conflict. Bush lied, people died. It really is that simple. You remember, there was incontrovertible evidence of WMD. Not! Then there was Al Qaeda, who it is now revealed came to Iraq only after we invaded. So countless lives and almost a trillion dollars later we're locked in a conflict that appears impossibly complex and difficult, with only the incompetent in both government and the military to lead us out of this Middle Eastern Hell. Proving once again that George Bush is without argument the most ignorant and clueless chief executive this great country has ever endured.

Iraq

Mil Blogger Dies in Iraq - Leaves Final Post

Major Andrew Olmsted, a noted military blogger stationed in Iraq, died yesterday of injuries sustained in the war. May he rest in peace. Read his final, "if I'm killed in Iraq" post at Obsidian Wings. I guarantee you'll laugh, then cry. As the toll of US dead climbs toward the 4,000 mark after five years of war, our thoughts go out to Major Olmsted's family in their moment of personal loss and grief. War sucks.

Is Homeland Security an Excuse for Corruption?

By now most Americans who are paying attention know that the Iraq war has cost us a half a trillion dollars in direct costs, the lives of over 3,500 US soldiers, and over a million dead Iraqi locals - most of whom were the victims of sectarian violence that simply didn't exist until we invaded. Many are also aware that whatever the outcome, the war has served as a massive profit machine for the military industrial complex, corrupt politicians and lobbyists, and the middle-men who lurk in the darkness waiting to broker deals. Paul Bremer, the first US administrator of occupied Iraq, personally lost 8 billion dollars in taxpayer money. We armed everybody in sight, including our enemies. Cash was imported to Iraq and doled-out from palates stacked with $100 bills. Uh Huh.

Now, Brave New Films in cooperation with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washinton (CREW) today released a new video that chronicles the cronyism and corruption around the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FEMA's Katrina fiasco and gulf-coast clean-up. Turns out that there is a lot of officially-sanctioned corruption involved. Surprised? No, I didn't think so. Check it out for yourself.

Aussies Change Direction - Dump Howard

The results are in and one can only hope that U.S. voters are as resolute next November as the Aussies were in their national elections yesterday. Australians finally tired ot the neo-conservative ideology of Bush buddy John Howard and sent him away, with prejudice. Looks like he won't even hold on to his seat in parliament. The Australian Labor Party, led by Kevin Rudd, swept into office in a landslide. And in a time of relative economic growth and propserity.

Rudd, who will be the next PM, promises to immediately withdraw all Australian troops from Iraq (so much for the coalition of the willing) and to sign-on to the Kyoto protocols for reducing green-house gasses. Rudd is also an Australian republican, and though not a top-priority issue, the country's relationship with the British crown could change.

I know a little bit about Australian politics, as my second-cousin Frank Crean was a vice PM and a Labor Party leader for years - as his son Simon is now. To be honest, though family, Crean senior was perceived to be a bit stodgy - a remnant of the days when Labor was run by the dock workers and had a much more English-style feel. Rudd has transformed the party with new faces, celebrity candidates and more effective appeals to the average, working bloke. Simon Crean has been a shadow minister for a number of years and will likely now get the trade and development portfolio.

Bush and his minions made no bones about their high-regard for Howard. If Tony Blair was Bush's Poodle, then Howard was his pit bull terrier. Australians, in my experience, have a special love for Yanks and are inclined to go the extra mile as our loyal friends. That apparently has its limits and has - at least for a time - come to an end.

Freedom Watch - Funding Fascism in America

By now you've probably seen a number of the pro-war, pro-administration ads that are running on nationwide television. You know the ones, featuring grieving family members exhorting us all to finish the job in Iraq. Juxtaposed against Alan Greenspan's recent public admission that the war is all about oil, one wonders just what job our young and talented troops are supposed to finish?

The war, in case anyone's forgotten, was started with a lie about WMD. Then, it morphed into a war against International terrorism, after the hostilities attracted every Jihadist on the planet that wasn't already committed to the Afghan conflict. Let's be totally clear about that: terrorists and foreign fighters came to Iraq after we did, to fight the occupation of an Arab and Islamic land by a western power in league with other oil consumers and Israel.

But I digress. I'm posting today to focus attention on Freedom Watch, funding the new fascism in America. Brought to you by Dick Cheney and the very neo-cons that promoted the Iraq war and promised a quick victory, Freedom Watch is underwriting the new ads. And according to this article in the New York Times, the group is just getting going. Funded by corporate hegemonists with very deep pockets, this propaganda arm of the uber-rich is busy readying ads promoting an attack on Iran. Like we need another war. Un huh.

Don't forget it was president Eisenhower, himself a retired five-star general and war hero, who warned about the consequences of an unbridled military industrial complex. That's right, if you leave the corporate interests to their own devices they're more than happy to make a profit on the excesses of war. And the more wars the better, it seems.

So what exactly is fascism? And what do we have to fear from it? Retired Columbia University professor Robert O. Paxton describes the essence of fascism this way: "......a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond reach of traditional solutions; 2. belief one’s group is the victim, justifying any action without legal or moral limits; 3. need for authority by a natural leader above the law, relying on the superiority of his instincts; 4. right of the chosen people to dominate others without legal or moral restraint; 5. fear of foreign `contamination'." (ref)

Sound familiar? I thought so. Fascism's threat is to the individual, and to the foundations of law and democracy itself. As Fascism progresses, individual rights, personal liberty and democracy recede until finally, they are no more. A totalitarian, police state is often the result.

What a great excuse to surf right over to Moveon.org; True Majority or Democracy for America and make a contribution. That's the thing about the net and the power of bottom-up politics. If enough of us make $25 contributions when asked by trustworthy, progressive orgs, we can counter the influence and effect of the very rich, American fascists seeking to maintain the status quo at all costs (it preserves their authority, revenue streams and makes their actuaries happy).

Rhetoric & Costs of War - Make Love not Stress

As candidates for president parade for the cameras and conduct their first series of presidential debates, the war in Iraq is never far from the surface. No wonder. The entire country is reeling from the human and financial costs involved and our very reputation as a world power is being called into question.

In this scenario, the Bush White House is rushing to shape perceptions, control the message and frame events in a positive light - only to have reality on-the-ground lay waste to all their efforts. Can you say: poetic justice? Mark Danner, professor of journalism at UC Berkeley and author of a number of books on war and the war in Iraq recently delivered the commencement address at the University's "School of Rhetoric." In that address, reprinted in its entirety in the Asia Times, he holds forth on the rhetoric of war and how politicians manipulate language to their own ends. The upstart is, in this case, that reality has outpaced the administration's ability to frame events and control the message. It is a very long piece, but way worth the read.

One of my favorite online sources of opinion and news, the Asia Times also takes a much-needed look at "Financing the Imperial Armed Forces" of the US. The hard-hitting and fact-filled piece notes that we're going to spend $1 trillion this year alone, in the absence of any credible threat. Living in a county that has just closed all of its libraries due to cutbacks in federal timber subsidies (hey, we take care of the roads and steward the land), I can tell you that this kind of expense is hard to justify. The country is suffering financially, with millions of families and children without health insurance and a decaying transportation infrastructure, and we're sending this kind of money overseas. I recall Paul Bremer, the first Duke of Iraq, reporting that he gave away billions in unaccounted for cash that was literally loaded onto palates in bundles for distribution. A government investigative report issued in 2005 found that under Bremer's leadership, $9 billion in reconstruction funds (taxpayer $$) just plain disappeared. Uh huh.

What has this staggering investment bought us other than a host of deceased young men and women and countless misspent dollars? Certainly not the end of terrorism as we know it, which has fed on our folly. And if you believe as many do that Bush is on a crusade against Islam and you buy into the "Clash of Civilizations" scenario, consider this: Muhammad is now the most popular name for newborn boys in Great Britain, and maybe in the entire world. That's right. Check it out.

On a lighter note, Der Speigel reports today on the dangers of all work and no nookie. German scientists (bless their hearts) have finally established a direct link between a lack of sex and increased stress. Flip side: the more sex, the less stress. Like we didn't know that. But the study went further, indicating that postponing resolution of sexual frustration leads to more work - and even less sex. Read the study, there are some thought-provoking observations as well as a few wickedly clever lines.