Claims of Success, although body count keeps multiplying

According to the Washington Post, even though the US has lost and inflicted so many deaths, the Iraq war can still be considered a success on the basis that Victory is too broadly defined. In Specific terms, the military says victory in Iraq would be setting up a competent representative government in a country that does not violate human rights and is at peace with it's neighbors. Which means the US is aiming to create an ideal country which doesn't dispute with other countries,(the irony that a country with a pretty F-ed up human rights past, and isn't at peace with most of the world). A supporter of the Iraq war, and also a government official by the name of Cordesman goes as far as to claim that the only way to win the Iraq war is Politically.

In my opinion, this war is already as good as lost, and i compare Iraq to Vietnam, it has many similarities. First off, in both wars, the president went to war without the people's support. In both wars, the media and much of the civilian population agreed that there isn't a possibility of victory. Another similarity is the increase in troops, the president keeps increasing the number of troops in Iraq, but to what effect?

Update on the Haditha Massacre Investigation

Today, while lolly gagging and such around the house, i decided to pick up today's edition of the San Francisco Chronicle and saw an article on the Haditha Massacre on the front page of the Nation and World Section. Five of the marines that were tied in with the Haditha Massacre have been equitted of all charges, although three others, Lt. Andrew Grayson, an intelligence officer, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani still remain under charges. Lt. Andrew Grayson was charged because he allegedly told a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead on his digital camera, he claims he did nothing wrong.
How is it that Marines apperently kill tens to hundreds of Iraqi civilians daily, yet still are allowed to see the light of day? There is obviously numerous problems with the investigation processes concerning slain 'insurgents', insurgents, or Iraqi Civilians? We have to ask ourselves, how many of these alleged 'insurgents' have been killed throughout the war, how many were REALLY insurgents?

Hello Corruption!

This Article (which can also be listened to), brings several proofs of the current Iraqi Government's Corruption, proof that America's attempt at 'democratization' may not work very well. Since the Government hasn't been in place for long, it is alarming that already they have corruption. According to the recording, various times the 'watchdog' agency's agents have been found dead, and their posts abandoned. Most officials are corrupt, for example, the official in charge of police force equipment went out and bought much cheaper body armor than originally agreed on, and pocketed the money.
In my opinion, American 'Democratization' might not work in Iraq, democracy doesn't work everywhere, some areas of the world are hone to different ideologies, such as Latin America for example, right now, the Majority of South American has leftist sympathies, which includes Brazil, Venezuela, and Ecuador, who are three large influences in South American politics.

Volunteer work

So a couple weeks back, me and my friend johnny mac volunteered for a group called the 911 Truth, who's main focus was to inform people of 9/11 conspiracies. For around 2 hours me and my friend helped out by handing out pamphlets and DVDs and some background information on 9/11 conspiracies. Being it was Berkeley, there wasn't a load of people that scorned us for questioning the government. Although a lot of people simply ignored us and walked by, and a few stopped by to take a pamphlet or a DVD, me and my friend took this opportunity (with 911 Truth's permission of course) to get our petition signed. We also took the opportunity to hand out pamphlets of our own, because the 911 Truth organization supports US withdrawal out of Iraq. Most people that we asked for signatures said yes, given we provided them with enough background info on what we were petitioning for and why we were petitioning. A majority of those that signed our petition were eager to sign, showing to us that the majority supported our petition.

The World is watching, and protesting US motives...

The entire world erupted in protest when the US announced it's declaration of war on Iraq. In the largest collective protest the world has ever seen, citizens around the world protested George W. Bush's move to declare war on Iraq.

Military Coverups in the Iraq War

According to various Iraq Veterans, many soldiers are told to carry several spare weapons by their officers, for what reason? So that if they come across a civilian who they simply don't like, that they can shoot them and plant a weapon on them to make it look as if they are insurgents. Iraq veterans also share with the public that their officers tell them that they can kill any civilian they don't like and that the officers will take care of them. Veterans say that often the rules limiting force were ignored on a regular basis. This right here is the reason why the Iraqi death count is so high compared to US death count or coalition death count, because on a daily basis, US soldiers gun down Iraqi civilians with no justifiable reason.

WMD's-Weapons of mass Distortion

watch the video, According to the video, Bush's administration has lied a grand total of 935 times as of March 19th,2003.
The list goes as follows-
7.Deputy Whitehouse Secretary Scott McClelan-14 lies
6.Vice President Dick Cheney-48 lies
5.National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice-56 lies
4.Defense Secretary Paul Shipowitz-85 lies
3.Donald Rumsfeld-95 lies
3.Press Secretary Harry Fleischer-95 lies
2.Secretary of State Colin Powell-254 lies
1.Mr. President himself, President George W. Bush-260 lies
Not only did our own leaders LIE to us in order to invade a country, but they also ignored the people, the majority of Americans were against a war in Iraq, now as the people of this 'democratic' country, isn't our opinion that we do not want to go to war valid?

The Haditha Massacre;Yesterday's My Lai Today

The Haditha Massacre (November 19, 2005), I decided to investigate this event, the Haditha Massacre because in my previous entry it was brought to my attention. November 19, 2005, several Marines from the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton went on a 3-5 hour shooting rampage, killing 24 innocent Iraqi Civilians. Said Marines did not care for age, from a 76 year old amputee to a 1 year old. Ask yourself, what were these marines doing going on a shooting rampage killing people at point blank; many of the bullets went straight through the bodies and into the walls and floors it was such close range. An attempt at cover up, the media classified these 24 deaths as 'collateral damage' because the marines claimed to be in a running fire fight with several insurgents.

Iraq Veterans Against the Iraq War

March 13-17th,2008, 37 years after the Winter Soldier Peace Campaign, Iraq and Afghan Veterans gathered in Washington organized by the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), for the first time since the Vietnam war, US troops are speaking out against the choices of the US Government. The Veterans presented evidence, in the form of pamphlets , pictures, and movies. Ex-Iraq/Afghan veterans are not seeking to put the military in a bad position, but to educate the public, to get more people to speak out against the Iraq war and it's injustice. Veterans seek to educate the public about modern-day events such as the Abu Ghraib prison regime and the Haditha massacre of innocent Iraqis, which are the modern day equivalent to Vietnam's My Lai massacre. Veterans are accusing higher ranking officers for the Haditha Massacre. Following the Main Article are smaller Stories of US offenses against the Civillian Population of Iraq through the eyes of US veterans. I think i can come to the conclusion that because the US seems to simply not care about civillian casualties is the reason why Civillian casualties are so high compared to actual US soldiers or 'insurgents', the actual combatants of the Iraq War.

The Iraq war, has it made us Safe?

This article argues against supporters of the Iraq war, who argue that since America hasn't been attacked since 9/11 we as Americans are now safer. Anti-Iraq war supporters argue that the actual Iraq war hasn't made America safer from attack, but our many new big-brother style policies that have been passed since the 9/11 attack that has prevented such attacks. Also the fact that American presence in Iraq is drawing new supporters of anti-US sentiment, thousands of dubbed 'terrorists' that would plot future attacks on America. The arguement brings up a Shiite Cleric by the name of Muqtada al-Sadr who is threatening the US and Iraqi militaries not to end their crackdown on a terrorist group called the Mahdi Army.

Benefits of the Iraq war

So I'm sure people would love to know what benefits we've made after 5 years of war and
billions of dollars spent on the war have gained us. According to NCPA.org, "When postwar oil markets stabilize, the price of oil could drop back to around $20 a barrel -- saving the U.S. economy $55 billion to $60 billion a year." Once gas prices are down to 20$ a barrel, the world's oil reserves will be depleted quicker, thus economists fail to take this into accord. The principle of supply and demand can only work if there is a certain supply, if everyone is buying oil at 20$ a barrel, then more will be sold and thus less will be in the ground. On the upside, economies all over the world as well as in the US will be strengthened by cheaper oil, why? because in many foreign countries the people pay an arm and a leg just to fill up a tank.

A Couple reasons why we are at war:according to Foreign Policy.org

Check out the Link, basically it underlines all of the Bush administration's leaders and their own reasons and justifications for going to war with Iraq.

Former President Gereld Ford disagrees with the War in Iraq

Even a Former President Gerald Ford cannot contain his opinion of the Iraq War, he believes that war is much too drastic a measure and tha sanctions should have been pressed harder rather than war. Ford recalls Donald Rumsfeld who served under him only years before and is critical towards his quick decisions in going to war. Ford does believe that Saddam was a bad man and needed to be removed, but invasion was the wrong choice. If a former president is questioning why we are in a country halfway across the world shouldn't Americans have cause for alarm?

Iraq Budget

$527,972,828,706 dollars have been spent so far during the Iraq war, as previously said in one of my earlier posts, all of this money going towards the 'war effort' has had no effect on America's current security status. In fact, according to General Patreus, the Iraq war has Not made the US safer, if the government is spending $527,972,828,706, shouldn't we not only FEEL safe, but BE safe as well, hypothetically if i were spending $527,972,828,706 dollars on security i want to know that no one is going to be able to even come close to touching me. We as Americans need to question, why, if the government is spending so much money, can we not feel safe, why are we investing so much money into a war when our educational system is laughable to other nations and not every citizen can afford health care.

Iraq War Waste of Human Life

Since the beginning of the Iraq War, no less than 4037 US soldiers have been killed, only 3296 of which died in actual combat. Since the War began 1,199,782 Iraqis have been killed, and this is civilians alone. Why exactly is America in this war one would ask, in my previous blogs I've explored the idea that perhaps America is in this war for Economic benefit. What economic benefit could possibly be worth 1,199,782 Iraqi's lives with 4037 American lives on top of that, coming down to a grand total of 1,203,819 dead on both sides, and this is just Iraqis and American alone, with the coalition's 309 troops and actual Iraqi soldiers killed in this war, which i cannot find numbers for. 1,203,819 dead for what reason, for 'democracy'? for influence? for what?

Oil in Iraq

According to this short article by global policy.org, Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world. Because Iraq nationalized oil in 1972, the US and UK were left out of any oil-based treaties, thus creating a motive for American aggression in Iraq.
"The US has threatened to withhold funding as well as financial and military support if the law does not soon pass." Clearly the US has long had an interest in Iraqi oil and refuses to be stopped by it's own puppet government in Iraq. Because the US now controls Iraq and it's government, oil prices still remain comparatively cheap here in the US, whearas in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and parts of Europe oil prices are high, and still rising. In some pacific nations, people have to pay as much as $8.00 per gallon, given deflation of their currency to US standards, that is A LOT of money to simply fill up a gas tank. Is this freedom and liberty for all? or merely a capitalist F*$# the rest of the world attitude? The world is eating out of the hands of
rich oil companies around the world, my solution:Convert to a different energy source, fight back against greedy money-grabbing politicians and oil companies, vegetable oil is not only cheaper to produce, but it is more efficient and better for the environment.

General Patraeus cannot answer a simple question

General Patraeus simply could not answer a senator's question; Is America safer because of the Iraq war?

3 days ago the Supreme general of American forces in Iraq could not answer a question, whether America is safer because of the Iraq war, instead he gives a long, complex, and confusing answer instead of a simple yes or no. Why then, I ask does the army, and the white house hire such incompetent staff. If this man is unable to answer such a simple question, then how did he rise so high in rank. Personally I as an American don't feel
safe having an incompetent General, perhaps its his tactics why we are unable to achieve victory. Makes you wonder how exactly this man is in the strategy room, hypothetically if one of his officers were to ask him for a course of action, he wouldn't get such a clear answer as he would like.

The Iraq War, US Imperialism at work

The Iraq war (2003-present) was triggered March 2003 when America, in an act of Humanitarian Imperialism coupled with Economic Imperialism invaded Iraq. Although Humanitarian Imperialism is justified, Economic Imperialism, while simultaneously lying to the people who put the government in power and being an act of greed that most likely do worse before good. Within the following months most Iraqi resistance collapsed and Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator and his sons who constantly violated human rights and brutally executed all opposition. Within the following years the US has been trying to set up a Democratic government and train Iraqi soldiers. Although taking Iraq was a quick process, pacification is impossible at this point because US attempts at setting up a puppet government that is sympathetic to US cause and US demand for crude oil have failed due to opposition by military groups, and anti-US sentiment throughout the middle east (and ultimately the world as well).

In my opinion, this entire war is a waste of not only American Soldier's lives, but also of billions of dollars of Tax Payer's money. Americans today aren't doing enough to protest a war we supposedly don't want any part of. Where are the Vietnam Peace protests? Where are the burning recruitment offices? Why are Americans funding a war on the other side of the world? I do sympathize with the Iraqi people under Saddam Hussein, but Invading a country with a false pretext just for a monopoly on Iraq's oil clearly isn't a good reason. I encourage Americans to stop paying their taxes, I encourage Americans to question the government's every move, We all MUST remember that the only reason this government is in power is because we the people allow them to be in power. Billions of dollars are being spent on a war that American Citizens disprove of. The government CANNOT keep spending billions of dollars a year in a war that isn't supported by it's own people. The United states are currently seeping into a state of recession, and schools across the country aren't receiving adequate funding, to the disadvantage of today's youth. You have to ask yourself, why is our defence budget spending 10X more than any of our potential enemies COMBINED. So far in the Iraq war alone, 4,032 American soldiers have lost their lives, fighting to prevent a CIA-trained Dictator from possessing "WMD's". C'mon America, together we can get our troops home, and get our government to stop meddling in the business of other countries, although as the global superpower America poses obligations towards weaker countries, war is not the way to go about "fixing" a third world country's situation.

Wong, Edward. "Overview: The Iraq War." The New York Times 15 Feb. 2008. nytimes.com. 15 Feb. 2008. 

     New York Times Company. 11 Apr. 2008 
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