Archives

July - October 2003

28 October

From Chalmers Johnson and the November, 2003 issue of HARPERS we learn that Donald Rumsfeld is a proponent of privatizing war. During Iraq I there was one private contractor for every 100 soldiers. For Iraq II that number is one in ten. The Washington Post reports that up to 33% of the money being spent for Iraq II is going to private US bank accounts.

In 1995 Rummy [former White House Chief of Staff and former Defense Secretary under Gerald Ford] wrote a monograph entitled, "Thoughts from the Business World on Downsizing Government." In this monograph, Rummy said, "Government programs are effectively insulated from the rigors of the marketplace, and therefore are denied the possibility of failure." He also wrote, "Sometimes, nothing short of outright privatization can restore the discipline of a bottom line."

The war has become a bonanza for the private sector. Yet, from all reports coming out of Iraq these days, the war has been a miserable failure. As we've all learned by now there were no weapons of mass destruction despite claims from the Bushies that they knew where WMD were located and how many there were and blah blah blah. The war has been a failure on the propaganda front as well. The Iraq people were glad to see Saddam go away and now they would like their liberators to leave as well. As far as traditional warring is concerned, the Iraq War has been a failure too. American soldiers are still being killed and injured along with collaborators. A strong resistance ["criminals" in the vernacular of the Bushies - "freedom fighters" as Ronald Reagan would call them] is building. On the budget front, the war has also been a failure as Bush keeps demonstrating every time he comes to the Congress with a request for more money.

Failure, failure and more failure. If this was a "failing" school, funding would be withdrawn. Sounds to me that Rummy's suggestion for privatizing war is a bad idea. Unless, of course, you are in the business of making and selling munitions. War profiteering has taken the place of the energy and telecom deals pioneered by Enron and WorldCom as the best way for well-connected capitalists to fatten themselves at the public trough.

27 October

Percentage points by which George Bush Sr.'s approval rating in August 1991 exceeded his son's last August : 11

Percentage of Americans who will save less than $100 on their 2006 federal taxes as a result of this year's tax cut : 88

Average amount these Americans will save : $4

[source: Harpers Index, October, 2003]

22 October

Iraq is a money pit. Bush wants $87 billion, with about $20 billion of that earmarked for reconstruction. The rest? Read this and discover some of the more interesting uses for our tax dollars.

13 October

What happened to looted Iraqi nuclear material? According to this USA Today story [10/5/03] by Brett Wagner, "The release Thursday of chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay's report detailing America's six-month search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has reinflamed the debate over whether anyone will ever uncover that country's alleged stockpiles of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

24 September

  During the war for independence, facing a superior force in terms of arms and men, George Washington had by 1778 reached an elemental understanding of military strategy, "...namely that captured ground - what he termed a "war of posts" - was virtually meaningless. A score of genuinely brilliant military leaders who also confronted a superior enemy force - Hannibal, Robert E. Lee and Napoleon come to mind - were eventually defeated because they presumed that victory meant winning battles." The United States was supposed to have learned this in Vietnam, evidence from Afghanistan and Iraq not withstanding.

    Washington was a realist who, "...instinctively mistrusted all visionary schemes dependent on seductive ideals that floated dreamily in men's minds, unmoored to the more prosaic but palpable realities that invariably spelled the difference between victory and defeat." When patriotic propagandists were churning out tributes to the superior virtue of the American cause, Washington confided to a friend, "...though virtue was both a wonderful and necessary item, it was hardly sufficient to win the war." Washington wrote on 21 April 1778 to John Barrister, "Men may speculate as they will, they may draw examples from ancient story, of great achievements performed by its influence; but whoever builds upon it, as a sufficient basis for conducting a long and bloody War, will find themselves deceived in the end... For a time it may, of itself, be enough to push Men to Action; to bear much, to encounter difficulties; but it will not endure unassisted by Interest." Will the Magnificent Seven learn this?

  "The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few, booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God." Thomas Jefferson to Roger C. Weightman, 24 June, 1826.

  ... from the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Founding Brothers, by Joseph J. Ellis. Vintage Books. 2000. P.131-32 and P. 246.

17 September

The George Bush resume can be found here.

A synopsis of Bush's lies presented as counter to one person's beliefs.

26 August

Q: Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?

A: Because they had weapons of mass destruction.

Q: But the inspectors didn't find any weapons of mass destruction.

A: That's because the Iraqis were hiding them.

Q: And that's why we invaded Iraq?

A: Yep. Invasions always work better than inspections.

Q: But after we invaded them, we STILL didn't find any weapons of mass destruction, did we?

A : That's because the weapons are so well hidden. Don't worry, we'll find something, probably right before the 2004 election.

Q: Why did Iraq want all those weapons of mass destruction?

A: To use them in a war, silly.

Q: I'm confused. If they had all those weapons that they planned to use in a war, then why didn't they use any of those weapons when we went to war with them?

A: Well, obviously they didn't want anyone to know they had those weapons, so they chose to die by the thousands rather than defend themselves.

Q: That doesn't make sense. Why would they choose to die if they had all those big weapons with which they could have fought back?

A: It's a different culture. It's not supposed to make sense.

Q: I don't know about you, but I don't think they had any of those weapons our government said they did.

A: Well, you know, it doesn't matter whether or not they had those weapons. We had another good reason to invade them anyway

Q: And what was that?

A: Even if Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator, which is another good reason to invade another country.

Q: Why? What does a cruel dictator do that makes it OK to invade his country?

A: Well, for one thing, he tortured his own people.

Q: Kind of like what they do in China?

A: Don't go comparing China to Iraq. China is a good economic competitor, where millions of people work for slave wages in sweatshops to make U.S. corporations richer.

Q: So if a country lets its people be exploited for American corporate gain, it's a good country, even if that country tortures people?

A: Right.

Q: Why were people in Iraq being tortured?

A: For political crimes, mostly, like criticizing the government. People who criticized the government in Iraq were sent to prison and tortured.

Q: Isn't that exactly what happens in China?

A: I told you, China is different.

Q: Didn't you once tell me Communists were bad?

A: No, just Cuban Communists are bad.

Q: How are the Cuban Communists bad?

A: Well, for one thing, people who criticize the government in Cuba are sent to prison and tortured.

Q: Like in Iraq?

A: Exactly.

Q: And like in China, too?

A. I told you, China's a good economic competitor. Cuba, on the other hand, is not.

Q: How come Cuba isn't a good economic competitor?

A: Well, you see, back in the early 1960s, our government passed some laws that made it illegal for Americans to trade or do any business with Cuba until they stopped being Communists and started being capitalists like us.

Q: But if we got rid of those laws, opened up trade with Cuba, and started doing business with them, wouldn't that help the Cubans become capitalists?

A: Don't be a smart-ass.

Q: I didn't think I was being one.

A: Well, anyway, they also don't have freedom of religion in Cuba.

Q: Kind of like China and the Falun Gong movement?

A: I told you, stop saying bad things about China. Anyway, Saddam Hussein came to power through a military coup, so he's not really a legitimate leader anyway.

Q: What's a military coup?

A: That's when a military general takes over the government of a country by force, instead of holding free elections like we do in the United States.

Q: Didn't the ruler of Pakistan come to power by a military coup?

A: You mean General Pervez Musharraf? Uh, yeah, he did, but Pakistan is our friend.

Q: Why is Pakistan our friend if their leader is illegitimate?

A: I never said Pervez Musharraf was illegitimate.

Q: Didn't you just say a military general who comes to power by forcibly overthrowing the legitimate government of a nation is an illegitimate leader?

A: Only Saddam Hussein. Pervez Musharraf is our friend, because he helped us invade Afghanistan.

Q: Why did we invade Afghanistan?

A: Because of what they did to us on September 11th.

Q: What did Afghanistan do to us on September 11th?

A: Well, on September 11th, nineteen men - fifteen of them Saudi Arabians - hijacked four airplanes and flew three of them into buildings in New York and Washington, killing 3,000 innocent people.

Q: So how did Afghanistan figure into all that?

A: Afghanistan was where those bad men trained, under the oppressive rule of the Taliban.

Q: Aren't the Taliban those bad radical Islamics who chopped off people's heads and hands?

A: Yes, that's exactly who they were. Not only did they chop off people's heads and hands, but they oppressed women, too.

Q: Didn't the Bush administration give the Taliban 43 million dollars back in May of 2001?

A: Yes, but that money was a reward because they did such a good job fighting drugs.

Q: Fighting drugs?

A: Yes, the Taliban were very helpful in stopping people from growing opium poppies.

Q: How did they do such a good job?

A: Simple. If people were caught growing opium poppies, the Taliban would have their hands and heads cut off.

Q: So, when the Taliban cut off people's heads and hands for growing flowers, that was OK, but not if they cut people's heads and hands off for other reasons?

A: Yes. It's OK with us if radical Islamic fundamentalists cut off people's hands for growing flowers, but it's cruel if they cut off people's hands for stealing bread.

Q: Don't they also cut off people's hands and heads in Saudi Arabia?

A: That's different. Afghanistan was ruled by a tyrannical patriarchy that oppressed women and forced them to wear burqas whenever they were in public, with death by stoning as the penalty for women who did not comply.

Q: Don't Saudi women have to wear burqas in public, too?

A: No, Saudi women merely wear a traditional Islamic body covering.

Q: What's the difference?

A: The traditional Islamic covering worn by Saudi women is a modest yet fashionable garment that covers all of a woman's body except for her eyes and fingers. The burqa, on the other hand, is an evil tool of patriarchal oppression that covers all of a woman's body except for her eyes and fingers.

Q: It sounds like the same thing with a different name.

A: Now, don't go comparing Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are our friends.

Q: But I thought you said 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11th were from Saudi Arabia.

A: Yes, but they trained in Afghanistan.

Q: Who trained them?

A: A very bad man named Osama bin Laden.

Q: Was he from Afghanistan?

A: Uh, no, he was from Saudi Arabia too. But he was a bad man, a very bad man.

Q: I seem to recall he was our friend once.

A: Only when we helped him and the mujahadeen repel the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan back in the 1980s.

Q: Who are the Soviets? Was that the Evil Communist Empire Ronald Reagan talked about?

A: There are no more Soviets. The Soviet Union broke up in 1990 or thereabouts, and now they have elections and capitalism like us. We call them Russians now.

Q: So the Soviets - I mean, the Russians - are now our friends?

A: Well, not really. You see, they were our friends for many years after they stopped being Soviets, but then they decided not to support our invasion of Iraq, so we're mad at them now. We're also mad at the French and the Germans because they didn't help us invade Iraq either.

Q: So the French and Germans are evil, too?

A: Not exactly evil, but just bad enough that we had to rename French fries

and French toast to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.

Q: Do we always rename foods whenever another country doesn't do what we want them to do?

A: No, we just do that to our friends. Our enemies, we invade.

Q: But wasn't Iraq one of our friends back in the 1980s?

A: Well, yeah. For a while.

Q: Was Saddam Hussein ruler of Iraq back then?

A: Yes, but at the time he was fighting against Iran, which made him our friend, temporarily.

Q: Why did that make him our friend?

A: Because at that time, Iran was our enemy

Q: So anyone who fights against one of our enemies automatically becomes our friend?

A: Most of the time, yes.

Q: And anyone who fights against one of our friends is automatically an enemy?

A: Sometimes that's true, too. However, if American corporations can profit by selling weapons to both sides at the same time, all the better.

Q: Why?

A: Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for America. Also, since God is on America's side, anyone who opposes war is a godless un-American Communist. Do you understand now why we attacked Iraq?

Q: I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right? But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq?

A: Well, you see, God personally speaks to George W. Bush and tells him what to do.

Q: So basically, what you're saying is that we attacked Iraq because George W. Bush hears voices in his head?

A. Yes! You finally understand how the world works. Now close your eyes, make yourself comfortable, and go to sleep. Good night.

Q: Good night, Daddy.

3 July

Go to Google. Type in: "weapons of mass destruction". Click the "I'm feeling lucky" button. Have a few grins! If they've taken it down, this is what you get. Somebody over there has certainly got a sense of humor.

Interested in the cost of the war in Iraq? Click here. You'll also find out about where the money could otherwise be spent.

2 July

Look here if you dare. See what war is really like.

30 June

Attorney General Ashcroft is visiting an elementary school.  After the typical civics presentation, he announces, "Boys and girls, you can now ask me questions.

A young boy named Bobby raises his hand and says, "I have three questions:

"1.  How did Bush win the election with fewer votes than Gore?

"2.  Why are you using the USA Patriot Act to limit American's civil liberties?

"3.  Why hasn't the U.S. caught Osama Bin Laden yet?"

Just then the bell sounds and all the kids run out to the playground.

Fifteen minutes later, the kids come back in class.  Ashcroft says, "I'm sorry we were interrupted by the bell. Now, you can all ask me questions."

A young girl raises her hand and says, "I have five questions:

"1.  How did Bush win the election with fewer votes than Gore?

"2.  Why are you using the USA Patriot Act to limit Americans' civil liberties?

"3.  Why hasn't the U.S. caught Osama Bin Laden yet?

"4.  Why did the bell go off 20 minutes early?

"5.  Where's Bobby?"

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