By Debra Sweet
W. is circling the country, and Barack Obama circling the globe over the last two weeks, each selling some dangerous fiction. I see that W’s book is selling well, and that he’s being met by small but news-worthy protests each place he goes. That’s important both for history and because, here and now, people should see that we know Bush’s ghost-written book is designed to delude and deflect future war crimes prosecution.
Obama, so far, is holding a frayed NATO coalition together after the word has come down that the 2011 pull out from Afghanistan was always fiction. It will be at least 2014 before US troops begin to withdraw, if then. Ron Jacobs wrote this weekend in Counterpunch:
"There is no alternative to continuing the military operations." So said the chief of NATO in a meeting with the press before a NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal on November 15, 2010. This was a day after Washington’s warden in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, complained loudly about the increase in night raids and air attacks in the US-led battle against Afghans. Karzai’s complaints were met with an uproar from some quarters of the US establishment, especially the military and some of the most hawkish members of congress. One of the latter, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, stated that if the night raids were decreased or ended, "it would be a disaster for the Petraeus strategy.”
This is important for a couple reasons. First, because it proves that there is no new strategy in Afghanistan–just the same old strategy of killing inhabitants who are in the invader’s way. The second reason is more important because of who said it. Graham, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, will be part of a new Congress where the hawks will have a greater say. One should expect to see an even greater escalation of the wars and occupations in the next few years because of the hawks’ new prominence and the continuing retreat of any opposition to the escalation in Congress and the White House."
Fiction is fine for many things, including, sometimes sharply identifying truths. But the story that these U.S. occupations "must continue" should be rejected now, as being completely against the interests of humanity.
Defending Whistle-Blowers, Accused Leakers & War Resisters
Calling your attention to accused whistle-blower Private Bradley Manning, held at Quantico VA, and charged with leaking the Collateral Murder footage:
Update on Bradley Manning’s Case from his Lawyer
Glen Greenwald, Government harassing and intimidating Bradley Manning supporters
And, a message from Wikileaks Staff on their leader, Julian Assange: Defend Julian Assange and Wikileaks
Take a Stand for Peace
Thursday December 16
The White House / Lafayette Park
A call from Veterans for Peace members, and many others says:
…There are children being orphaned, maimed or killed every day, in our name, with our tax dollars; there are soldiers and civilians dying or being maimed for life, in order to generate profits for the most odious imperialistic corporate war machine ever, again in our name. How long are we going to let this go on? Until it is too late, until this destructive machine destroys all of us and the planet to boot?
Wikileaks has revealed the documented horror of U.S. war-making, beyond what any of us imagined. It’s time veterans and others express our resistance directly and powerfully by putting ourselves on the line, once again—honestly, courageously and without one drop of apology for doing so. It is not we who are the murderers, torturers or pillagers of the earth… SIGN UP HERE to participate.
New book from David Swanson: War is a Lie
Right now, George W. Bush has the topselling book on Amazon, while Glenn Beck is at the top in nonfiction. Replacing them with War Is A Lie will be quite a change, and we can do it right now if you buy the book at Amazon, in paperback or ebook, and forward this email to everyone you know.
And do more than buy the book for yourself. Buy it as a holiday present for loved ones and elected representatives. Buy it for friends who support wars or who aren’t sure what to think about them. Buy it for your local library. And forward this email everywhere.
At warisalie.org you’ll find the audio book plus animated graphics, videos, and articles to post on your website, including a new article by David Swanson just out on TomDispatch and a new video interview of Swanson just posted by TheRealNews.com. You can also catch Swanson on Monday on KPFK, Radio or Not, and RT.
I say don\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’t bank on the American people or the American leaders.
Both are either ignorant, or both are being fooled by those who give them the world update.
The American people are fed news by the Media, and the leadership is fed news by the CIA and the Think tank both heavily infiltrated by the Zionist followers.
The people of USA including the leadership should actually go and meet people of the world specially people of the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\”Foe World\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\”, so that they can get the first hand information from the people of those countries as to what and why they have negative opinion about USA and how can that be eradicated.
The travel advisory and things similar to such negative advice in fact are tools and ploys of the CIA to keep the American Public from visiting those countries and finding out what actually is happening in the world.