Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:53 am
Backers of Bush’s obscene war have their tawdry rationales, and they’re quoted often. But we, on the side of decency and reason, have more powerful words:

“Do not partake in any barren works of darkness, instead expose them.” — Ephesians 5:11

“To sin by silence when the should protest makes cowards of men.” — Abraham Lincoln

“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” — Howard Zinn

For more than five years, we’ve let the disguised voice of abject lust for Black Gold lead us tragically astray.

Reality, however, gives a dramatically different account…which we can continue to ignore only at our infinite, collective, national peril.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 7:13 am
Yep, you're right, and unless we all stand up, it will continue.
Tnx for posting Carole

Thursday March 27, 2008, 7:15 am
Great article Carole..thanks for the e mail..noted

Thursday March 27, 2008, 7:27 am
Great Carole thank you!

Thursday March 27, 2008, 7:38 am
We all need to take whatever action
we can to stop this war, but there's
a smaller thing we can all do to protest;
a small thing that's also very large.
STOP using personal pronouns when talking
about the war! "us", "we", "ours", etc.
The people pursuing and prosecuting this
invasion/occupation are Americans, but do we
want to align ourselves with them, even in
speech?
Those of us so solidly opposed to the invasion/
occupation have NO part in this aggression,
so why do we say, "us", "we", "ours"? I broke
that habit very early on, and very shortly after
March 2003. This is not my war, and I believe I
know my fellow C2'ers well enough to know it's
not your war, either!
Don't align yourself, even unconsciously, with
the tyrants and murderers. THEY are not "us"!
and "we" are not them!
Thanks, *C*, for another great post.
noted.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 7:41 am
noted thanks carole.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 7:52 am
“Poor and working people in this country are sent to kill poor and working people in another country, to make the rich richer". The poor veterans send the Iraqis to the street while they face the same problem when they return to their homes due to the foreclosure crises. Oh what an irony this is - what do you say? My heart and prayers go out to all those who suffer from homelessness. Thanks Carole for this information. Noted!

Thursday March 27, 2008, 7:54 am
Wow, this is a another really informing, great article, thanks *C*..duly noted as well..my good sister & Jaylena my wonderful friend for forwarding to me...We all have our beliefs, and I truly wish that we could gather all the great souls of wisdom in one room and let the world just shut up and listen to them, what a better world we would have..There are some really great sayings, I wish people would certainly think about, so as to not want war on the planet. To wage war against one another in this society is just plain stupid. It only intensifies the actions on the other party's part..and so, like always, its back and forth with the fighting, instead of choosing peace..If people just stepped back and took a long look at how problems could be solved on the planet, because we are one, and we are all connected together, whether we like it or not! If we nuke, we all die!...remember that....I choose to think in the positive way in that there's a solution to every problem on Earth..
Many Blessings...
FreeSpiritRunning...

Thursday March 27, 2008, 8:50 am
This is a very telling post Carole. I would love to see it in the mainstream media but know that it would be shunned as too openly
critical of Bushco. We have become a nation where our first amendment
rights are voluntarily curtailed out of fear of the administration and
it's extensive connections with the world's wealthiest and most power-
ful. Sadly, until the general public is made fully aware of the truth behind this travesty, we will continue to make war on Iraq with no end.
Far too many Americans don't want to believe.

Thank you Carole.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 8:51 am

Tim, excellent point! Another thing I try to remember to phrase differently is, instead of saying "Americans do...," it's "This !@#$%^&* administration/government..."

Thursday March 27, 2008, 10:44 am
Greetings Carole,

Thank you so much for posting this one! No truer words can be spoken than those coming from the very troops sent to die, become sick, and perpetrate BUSH's war on innocents!!! I am grateful for each and every pair of boots on the ground and those that return with voices that are strong and willing to speak out against the war, the Commander in Chief, and do so at their own peril! Considering the woesome charges which could be brought against these troops, they are truly HEROES ALL!!! Those who continue to serve regardless of their knowledge, they are just as trapped as we all have been in the "smokescreen of TERROR that Bush and Cheny have waged!!! They are the true TERRORISTS!!! No gold, black or yellow is worth enough to consider that our troops don't deserve better, are telling the truths that they haven't been able to tell and are standing up for what is morally, legally and humanism at its best!!!

"He’s found that terrorism arises, in most instances, from foreign occupations of someone else’s sovereign territory. Once those occupations end, terrorism almost always vanishes.

Moreover, the bulk of Iraqis battling us aren’t terrorists or extremists, but precisely the same kind of patriots we ourselves would be if it were our neighborhoods being vandalized by an invading foreign army." (Ibid)

You know, that's not too far off from what I stated in an article that was printed in the Seattle Times which I wrote. Too bad that something happened over the next few days which pushed this piece out of the discussion realm! Thankis again Carole; this is true patriotism!!!

BB & orca spirit, Maureen

Thursday March 27, 2008, 11:16 am
Noted. Another excellent story that reaches into your heart and mind and just holds on. I have a nephews and a number of friends serving in Iraq; I fear for them...not only while they are there but when they eventually return.

I agree with your point, Tim, and I am going to try to edit my pronoun choice better because it does suggest a subtle alignment. In no way do I support this war though I will support families and vets. My heart does break for the majority of the Iraqui people who post no threat to anyone. Every country has in its populace extremists and those are the ones who garner the headlines because they help to fuel the war machine. When we come to the realization that we more alike than different then we have a chance at peaceful existence. It makes it even more essential to press harder for the removal from office of Bushco and the defeat of McCain.

Thank you, "C" for another story that should not be missed.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 11:32 am
NOTD THANK YOU

Thursday March 27, 2008, 12:23 pm
always the old same story, the poors at service of the riches...
Thank you Carolo, is great you can share this with other people.
chiara

Thursday March 27, 2008, 12:43 pm
Thank you, noted.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 12:56 pm
Amen!

Thursday March 27, 2008, 1:11 pm
noted, and this time will not preach to the choir. All my thoughts have been covered by others here. So what are we going to do about it? Start by outing the Medical condition of returning Vets, and the children born since Gulf Storm, and Cosovo and Serbia. Where the criminal weapons of mass destruction were first used, followed by the same medical problems as the returning Vets of Iraq and Afghanistan. These medical problems and ensuing deaths fall on the heads of the Admistration.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 1:14 pm
Sorry Yvonne, no amen from me as that is the religious saying for "so be it" and I for one will never say that.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 4:50 pm
noted...thanks for posting

Thursday March 27, 2008, 5:13 pm
To the U.S./U.K./Australian imperialist soldiers and those who support them: make love, not war.

To the Iraqi resistance fighters: I wish you victory and freedom from U.S. imperialism!

Thursday March 27, 2008, 5:16 pm
Hola Tim Redfern : )

I totally agree with what you wrote about words like "we" and "us", identifying with the warmongers and murderers, or not identifying with them.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:21 pm
Why do some of you care so much about the people who enlisted and agreed to go to Iraq to murder people to take control of their oil? I mean you talk about "veteran's rights".... What about the rights of the Iraqi people - people who did not choose to enlist and go to another country to murder for oil? Why don't you campaign for them to have health care and all that you want for imperialist war veterans?

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:26 pm

I see your point, Simon . . . But, I think it's possible to care for both -- as I feel they are ALL victims.

It breaks my heart to think of families trying to live a "normal" life, while in danger's way constantly -- a home destroyed, destruction and uncertainty all about. The fear must be almost paralyzing.

Equally, I am sad for the soldiers: average age 19, who are being subjected to horrors no one should ever know in their life, and their families, most of whom remember Vietnam, and who never wanted this for them.

There is NO winner in war.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:28 pm
And why do some of you support those imperialist troops who murder people for oil, and yet not support the Iraqi guerrillas who fight to defend their country from invasion and occupation, and fight to keep control of their own natural resources?

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:31 pm

As was well put in the article, there is little difference between the Iraqis defending their own homeland and the reaction we would have if it were to have happened here:

"Moreover, the bulk of Iraqis battling us aren’t terrorists or extremists, but precisely the same kind of patriots we ourselves would be if it were our neighborhoods being vandalized by an invading foreign army.

They’ll relentlessly continue fighting for generations, if we’re insane enough to try to stay that long."

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:34 pm
The Iraqi resistance fights to bring peace, Iraqi control of Iraq, and independence from U.S. imperialism.

The imperialist troops fight to control oil and install permanent military bases on Iraqi soil to dominate the region and threaten other countries, such as Iran.

Sure, we can care for all people, but most privileged people (first world people) care much more for the imperialist troops, and ignore the far worse plight of the Iraqi resistance - so if we are to even start making things more even, then we must focus on caring for the Iraqi resistance.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:41 pm

"We?" What "we" -- "must focus on caring for the Iraqi resistance?"

If YOU want to do that, feel free; however THIS country has plenty of problems of its OWN to see to, not the least of which is ridding itself of a corrupt government.

I think this country should withdraw its troops -- for either side.

There was no reason (other than the greed of the puppetmasters) for us to be there in the first place.

This article is about that. Realizing that the United States was purposely misled into believing they needed to fear terrorists who were amassing WMD's.

That has all been proven to be untrue.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:49 pm
Simon, you're making my point for me
and I appreciate it.
Some people say they "support the troops"
because "they have to be there, they had
no choice". Bullsh*t.
They had EVERY choice, and every single one
of them had the choice of refusing to be
deployed. A VERY few have done just that,
and of course, they were court-martialed,
but they recieved only one year in prison.
And every one of those TRULY brave few will
stand a much greater chance of emerging
unharmed from prison than they would have
from Iraq.
Those who went, those who deployed, those
in Iraq, they have sold their souls to the
devil. They have participated, aided and
abetted the crimes and the horrors, and are
deserving of NO support!
Just this evening, a C2 friend told me he
thought I was over-reacting, but he was glad
I was over-reacting in the right direction!
Whether soldier or civilian, each individual
is either part of the solution, or part of
the problem. There can be no 50/50, not even
a 90/10. You're either solidly against the
crime against humanity being savaged upon
the Iraqi people..............
or you're not.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:53 pm

Tim, I can't believe you took that position. But, I'll let you and Simon have this forum. (shaking head)

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:57 pm
"The Iraqi resistance fights to bring peace, Iraqi control of Iraq, and independence from U.S. imperialism."

Can anyone explain to me then how -- other than pulling out -- the U.S. can help them (since they are fight the U.S.) Are you suggesting U.S. troops start killing each other????