From the OB Rag
Ten years of lying about the Iraq war has to stop now – immediately. The government – our government – lied to us, the America people, about the reasons they said it was necessary to go to war with Iraq – a country that was not threatening us. One decade ago to this day, their lies produced action: the “shock and awe” “bunker-busters” unleashed on the capital of Iraq, March 19th, 2003.
They lied to cover up their invasion of Iraq a decade ago to this day.
And now ten years later, after more than 4400 Americans killed, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed, 30,000 Americans injured, after we have spent over $3 Trillion dollars, we have come to the realization that, if America is to be honest with itself, we must now demand that someone be held accountable for these lies and the wastes of lives and resources.
Those to be held accountable, of course, must include the leaders of our government at that time: George W. Bush, President, and Dick Cheney, Vice-President and those who demanded the war which includes then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
These four – and others – lied to us, the people, lied to our allies, lied to the press – they lied that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction ready to use on us and others; they lied that he had nuclear weapons, they lied that he had chemical and biological weapons.
They lied that we would be welcomed by Iraqis with open arms, that we were liberating them, that we could destroy the Iraqi army and walk away.
Our government lied about going to war, about sending our fellow citizens to war – one of the most solemn tasks that governments have. These people who lied, then, are directly responsible for the thousands of American lives lost and all the Iraqis lost. They are responsible for the 30,000 Americans injured because of the war.
They are responsible for one of the most disastrous foreign policy decisions in modern American history. They are also responsible for wasting so much money and so much of the resources of our country, that their policies set the stage for the worst economic disaster in 70 years.
These lies have to stop now. And we must make them stop. We, the American people.
The lies are definitely continuing to this day. Dick Cheney says he would do it again. George W Bush is totally un-remorseful. The Republican candidate who just lost the November election, called the war a “war of liberation” just days ago.
In order to maintain any sense of democracy in this country, we must ensure that those responsible are indeed held accountable. What does that mean? We’re not certain. But an investigation would be a good start. Then a second excellent step would be indictments.
The decisions to misrepresent what weapons that Hussein had in order to convince the American people that we had to go to war – were not based on or were not mistakes, errors, or mis-judgements; they were conscious, intentional misrepresentations – in other words – lies. They lied about why we had to go to war. They had to lie because initially at least the American people were not convinced.
So the Bush administration had to link Iraq with 9-11. That was the only emotional issue left in their arsenal. There had to be a link and connection between Saddam and al-Queda, despite the irreconcilable differences those two had. Hussein had to be connected to the massacre of Americans, even though our leaders failed us in responding to intelligence about those fateful plans. Al-Queda had to be receiving arms and weapons from Iraq. These were the lies we were told.
The Failure – No, Duplicity – of the Mass Media
The media was also culpable during the run-up to the war and then during the invasion, and for years afterwards. The mass media, the corporate media, simply did not do its job, did not perform its duty – its duty of questioning the decisions of government. That’s why the press is called the “Fourth Estate” (the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary are the 3 other “estates” of government), as the press in a “free and democratic country” acts as part of the so-called checks and balances, as a last resort for the truth.
But the media, the press utterly failed during all the months while the government clamored for war. It more than failed, it jumped on the band wagon – remember “the embedded reporters”? – the corporate media lapsed onto the reasons to go to war without any serious questioning. The press absolutely failed to hold the needed discussion of whether the nation should go to war with Iraq; it failed to ask the right questions; it failed in doing the needed research; it did not hold those politicians – even a popular President – to the truth.
This failure of the corporate media is hugely the reason why a whole new generation and world of political blogs appeared, the blogosphere, – that rose up in response to this abysmal failure of the media. The OB Rag and then the San Diego Free Press were both part of the later waves of that same response to the failure of the mass media.
This development of new media forms when the old ones become woefully pitiful – in part due to a divisive war, was also reflected a generation earlier, when because of the failure of the mass media in telling the public the truth about another war – this one the Vietnam war, there was an explosion of “underground newspapers” across America. And the original OB Rag and the original San Diego Free Press / Street Journal were all part of that blossoming of alternative media.
A Divided Country
Ever since the invasion, the country has been divided by the war. At first, it was only the left and the anti-Iraq war movement who said anything, and which mounted huge demonstrations around the country during the Fall before the spring invasion of 2003.
However, those demonstrations – and those that followed over the years – were vilified, ignored, down-played, snubbed.
And the lies had to continue, for the American people still were not convinced. Even though many Democratic legislators voted for the war – like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry – many did not. And now – 10 years later – those Democrats who voted for the war are apologizing and those who didn’t vote for war, wear that vote like a badge of honor.
It’s no mistake that the first popular Democrat in the 2004 Presidential primaries was anti-war: Vermont Governor Howard Dean – and it’s no mistake that he was smashed politically by the mainstream press, both Time magazine and Newsweek slammed him for making noises at a victory rally. What the Dems then got – John Kerry – was only a luke-warm anti-war candidate – who lost.
And it was no mistake that we now have a President named Barak Obama – because he was the anti-war candidate in 2008 – this time a successful one. It’s a strong indicator that most of the American people have been against the Iraq war for many years.
So, what must happen?
In order to keep America America, in order to maintain a semblance of democracy, we must hold those who lied and who are responsible for the deaths and injuries of so many of our countrymen and women responsible.
For the sake of our children and for the sake of future generations of Americans, – hell, for our sake – we must bring to a halt immediately these lies, and bring those who lied to account for the lies. In a democratic country, there are consequences for words and actions that cause so much harm.
It is called justice.
We must call for justice then.
____________________
Note: “Hubris” – the story of how the government lied about the Iraq war, is on msnbc Friday night March 22, with a discussion following.
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I can remember being at Horton Plaza, taking a break from the protest parade that overtook all of downtown and took more than 20 minutes to pass me — 8 or 10 people abreast — and I’d dropped out halfway through. It was 50,000 people or more, though Big Media put it at fewer. There were Vietnam Vets Against the War, and old and gray and young of every color on the spectrum. For every resident of the county in the march there were probably four or five who wanted to but couldn’t couldn’t get there. No pro-war people were hurling insults on the margins; no one was calling us communists or wimps. It seemed we were going to turn the tide and prevent this second Vietnam. The war and gun culture in this country has entranced fewer and fewer people each year, but it will take more time before it no longer works this inordinate amount of influence on the culture and government. Death has no future.
Send those lying bastards to The Hague and let justice be done to them for their war crimes.
Don’t forget, the Dems gave Bushie the bi-partisan stamp to launch the invasion with the war resolution act of 2002. There were several Senators speaking out/vloting against, but the Dem :Leadership including Hillary voted in favor for political cover at the moment. Turned out, that one vote cost Hillary big time! Dem complicity is a tragic shame in the mess known as the Iraq War.
It is very true that many Democrats waved the flag during that time and supported the war. But there is a huge difference between those who lied about going to war, and those who believed those lies – even though they should not have.
Frank-Not quite sure where you draw the line there. There was a rush to war, clearly an unprovoked invasion, by definition –a ‘war of choice’ against an enemy that posed no threat to the US. In such a situation, an intelligent, rational person would want to have all the facts before deciding to invade and not just cast a political vote. But, that is what happened. Even though 23 Senators, “the immortal 23” as the late Senator Robert Byrd calls them, voted against the resolution. So there was significant doubt. And yet the rank and file chose to cowtow. I don’t see how those Senators in favor are any better than Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush, Rice, Wolfowitz, Powell. In fact, the Democrats who voted in favor are more guilty. They betrayed the American people being fakes of the “party of the people.” The war protests saw 100s of thousands out in the streets coast to coast. The people spoke and they were ignored. So, Fuck those turncoats…Off to the Hague with them all!
Frank- thanks for this post. Reading it was cathartic-enraging-cathartic.
So- Obama can and should appoint a special investigator. The clock is ticking. There is a statute of limitations on unauthorized wiretapping, etc.
Close Guantánamo.
If we are incapable of enacting justice, we will never be capable of attaining peace.
Some estimates put the number of dead Iraquis at a million with 4 million more internally or externally displaced. Don’t forget the neocons Paul Wolfowitz, Elliot Abrams and Richard Perle, the Prince of Darkness, who sold the war as well. These neocon intellectuals provided the intellectual basis for the war.
Don’t forget PNAC, the Project for the New American Century which amounted to fighting wars whenever possible. Oh, and pussycat Jeb Bush was a member.
The “Wolfowitz doctrine” underpinned the war:
“Hardliners in the US administration around Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, his deputy Paul Wolfowitz and their ideological godfather Richard Pearle, are using the fall-out from the New York and Washington attacks to rework the United States’ understanding of state sovereignty in the developing world. The concerns with democracy and human rights that dominated foreign policy in the Clinton era never sat comfortably with right-wing Republican promotion of US interests to the exclusion of all else.”
All of these guys, PNAC and the neocons need to be discredited, not just Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush
Agree with you John, but at least we can start at the top. Then work ourselves down the ladder of lies.
We mustn’t give any free passes to people like Hilary Clinton. She has said she didn’t know the lies were lies, but that isn’t believable. Those of us who marched over and over against going to war, knew the lies were lies. It was all over the internet. All you had to do was look. No free passes for Dianne Feinstein either, who said she wouldn’t vote until she heard from her constituency. Well, she heard from us but she didn’t like what she heard, and voted to go to war anyway.
I wholeheartedly agree. All Congressman should have seen through all the lies, innuendo, and war mongering that were coming from the Bush Admin. No pass for any of them— especially not for the Dems who could have joined the bi-partisan coalition against the Iraq war resolution.
If there ever will be reckoning, it would have to include the all the enablers in Congress who had Bush’s back and gave him the green light to launch war. I’m not saying that these turncoats like Feinstein, Hillary, Biden, and all the other scoundrels who opted for a moment of political cover, are on top of the list. The late Senator Robert Byrd called it his ” most important vote in his 50 years in the Senate.” Shame his colleagues saw the vote as a political exercise and betrayed their country.