What the average person thinks of us in Iraq...

[fourx]

...spinning in ever smaller circles, untill you vanish up your own butt..? Sounds like a great idea- the time for sackcloth and ashes was way back when Clintion allowed the power-base responsible for this-  those same Neo-Cons who have only the protection of Israel as their main function in Government-  in his administration to take root, and Bush G cemented them and their warped agenda into place.

[Sassy]

Who is fueling and funding
the insurgents in Iraq?

The war-mongers in the
Bush administration say
that it's Iran.

But who destroyed the social
order of Iraq?

Who left thousands of tons
of conventional arms and
ammunition unguarded in the
months after the invasion?

Who fired an entire army of
well trained, well armed professional
killers and left them on the
streets with no means of supporting
themselves or their families?

The answer to why Iraq suffering
from chaos is here:

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/120.html

[glenn-k]

Continuation of winning hearts and minds.  

[Sassy]

http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/141602

U.S. Is Paying Off Iraq's Worst War Criminals in Attempt to Ward Off Attacks

By Katie Halper, AlterNet. Posted September 18, 2007.

Title: Director's Cut: New Video shows the truth in Anbar that Petraeus does not want us to see.

"When Bush was in Iraq two weeks ago he posed for photographs with Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Anbar Awakening, an alliance of Sunni tribes who vow to back the United States and fight against al Qaeda.

Last Monday, General Petraeus testified to Congress that "a year ago" Anbar province "was assessed 'lost' politically ... Today, it is a model of what happens when local leaders and citizens decide to oppose al Qaeda and reject its Taliban-like ideology."

Three days later, the assassination of Abu Risha in Ramadi dramatically undercut Bush and Petraeus' claims of Anbar victory and peacekeeping. But what else is the administration keeping from us about Anbar?" con't at link above...

[Sassy]

Why Iraqi Farmers Might Prefer Death to Paul Bremer's Order 81
By Nancy Scola, AlterNet. Posted September 19, 2007.

"Anyone hearing about central India's ongoing epidemic of farmer suicides, where growers are killing themselves at a terrifying clip, has to be horrified. But among the more disturbed must be the once-grand poobah of post-invasion Iraq, U.S. diplomat L. Paul Bremer.

Why Bremer? Because Indian farmers are choosing death after finding themselves caught in a loop of crop failure and debt rooted in genetically modified and patented agriculture -- the same farming model that Bremer introduced to Iraq during his tenure as administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American body that ruled the "new Iraq" in its chaotic early days.

In his 400 days of service as CPA administrator, Bremer issued a series of directives known collectively as the "100 Orders." Bremer's orders set up the building blocks of the new Iraq, and among them is Order 81 [PDF], officially titled Amendments to Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law, enacted by Bremer on April 26, 2004."  cont at link
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/62273/

[Sassy]

War is the ultimate ego trip... that's why people choose it. It makes us feel important and alive (after all, mortality hangs in the balance).

To reduce the attractions of war we have to somehow gain perspective on the ego satisfaction it provides and find alternatives to that.

The Greek invention of competative sports is one...

Just rec'd the latest article by Ron Paul going over the reasons/questions of our going to Iraq... 
Texas Straight Talk

A weekly column
Predictions vs. Reality in Iraq

On September 10, 2002  I asked 35 questions regarding war with Iraq. The war resolution passed on October 16, 2002.  Now today, as some of my colleagues try to reestablish credentials regarding spending restraint, I want to call attention to my 18th question from six years ago:

"Are we willing to bear the economic burden of a 100 billion dollar war against Iraq, with oil prices expected to skyrocket and further rattle an already shaky American economy?  How about an estimated 30 year occupation of Iraq that some have deemed necessary to "build democracy" there?"

Many scoffed at my "radical" predictions at the time, regarding them as hyperbole.  Six years later, I am forced to admit that I was wrong.  My "radical" predictions were in fact, not "radical" enough.

I warned of a draining 30-year occupation.  Now, politicians glibly talk about a 100-year occupation as if it is no big deal.  On cost, according to estimates from the Congressional Research Service, we have already burned through around $550 billion in Iraq, at a rate of about $2 billion per week.  Economist Joseph Stiglitz's estimates are even higher, at $12 billion a month.  It is a total price tag quickly heading into the trillions, if we don't stop bombing and rebuilding bridges in Iraq that lead us nowhere but bankruptcy!  Bridges in this country are crumbling along with our economy, while some howl about earmarks.  Earmarks are a drop in the bucket compared to war and occupation.

Yes, I was wrong about Iraq.  I knew it would be bad.  I didn't know it would be this bad.

The American people deserve better.  Being asked to endorse such a farce is beyond insulting.  Clearly, the rosy predictions of the neo-Conservatives from before the war are not coming true.  Far from it!  With a straight face, one official estimated the TOTAL cost of reconstruction in Iraq would be just $1.7 billion.  Turns out that we spend more than that in ONE WEEK.  Our friends are not pitching in to cover the cost.  Expenses are not being covered by oil from a grateful and liberated Iraqi people.  Rather, big corporate interests are benefitting, the price of oil has more than quadrupled, and the American economy is on its knees and sinking fast.

No one predicted the exact course of this war before it started.  But to continue to listen to the foreign policy advice of those that were the MOST offbase will only lead to more foreign policy disasters.  We need to keep this in mind as we think about Russia, Iran, Cuba and other countries.  Keep in mind - the doomsday predictions on the Iraq War from six years ago, sound like a cakewalk today.  While what leaders in the administration had predicted, reads like a fairytale.  Ask yourself, when listening to the same foreign policy "experts" explaining situations around the world and suggesting policy positions: In light of the facts of today, and the predictions of yesterday, how expert have they shown themselves to be?

Passing HR 2605 to sunset authorization for the use of force in Iraq is the first step to stopping this bloody war, and the consequent bleeding of our treasuries.  Serious fiscal conservatives will support it, as will those who have been paying attention to foreign policy predictions and reality.

Posted by Ron Paul (09-22-2008, 02:12 PM) filed under Foreign Policy
con't @ link to find other articles by Ron Paul
http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/document.php?id=1123

[glenn kangiser]

Genocide in Iraq

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=9821

[glenn kangiser]

Pentagon Hands Iraq Oil Deal to Shell

http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/177384

"The Pentagon's Shell deal came during one DoD's periodic petroleum benders - massive multi-day spending sprees where hundreds of millions or billions of taxpayer dollars are paid out to oil companies. This one, on September 17th and 18th, netted Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and seven other oil companies a grand total of over $1.5 billion.

The fact that the U.S. government secretly facilitated dealings between Shell and the Iraqi Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts; that the U.S. military - the primary occupation force in Iraq - regularly pays Shell billions of dollars each year; that on the heals of a contract worth hundred of millions of dollars with the U.S. military, Shell just inked a deal with occupied Iraq and set up an office in the U.S. military's secure "Green Zone" should raise myriad questions about the tangled relationship between the major players in Iraq. These complex issues go ignored because they are viewed as so routine as not to be worth mentioning, but in any other context the confluence of guns, oil and billions of dollars would certainly raise eyebrows."


http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10439