It's been a while since anything has been posted here . What used to be an issue isn't anymore , because were not flooded with it everyday . I was reminded of how much I can't stand Bush and the propaganda machine when a friend sent me a link to CNN on troop casualties in the invasion . As I write this 446 Americans have been killed , most with their pictures and a little writeup . I looked for Iraqi Casualties and found no listing . Nothing on troop deaths , so I looked for civillian casualties , surely they deserve the respect to at least be acknowleged . Nothing , their faces deserve to be right there , they were the truly innocent . But I guess in CNN's wisdom , it would be pretty hard to come up with an estimated minimum 7935 faces , ( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://iraqbodycount.net/bodycount.htm">http://iraqbodycount.net/bodycount.htm</a><!-- m --> ) and I suppose Iraqi women and children don't make good postersboys for CNN's glorification of the invasion .
Now I will give Bush credit for being consistent . He has managed to lie and be completely oblivious to reason . Just a week ago he spent thanksgiving with troops in Iraq , stating that ""You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq so we don't have to face them in our own country,"
Really George ? Wow, here I thought none of the Hijackers were from Iraq . None of the Hijackers had any connection to Iraq .
I like this one;
March 17, 2003 - George W. Bush - Address to the Nation
“Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.”
Yes we saw that awesome display of force , surely the world was in peril from this massive arsenal . 446 americans killed , I thought the apocolypse was upon us , estimated 7900 hundred civillians killed and 10,000 Iraqi troops . Good job Dubya , greedy :censored puppet .
What Ever happened to Osama ? Don't hear much about him , now that a new great cause has replaced the urgency to gain revenge on the perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks . The eradication of Saddam Hussein to ease a peoples plight and hardships , is now the focus ( distraction) .
Remember hearing about the great liberation ? Wanting to bring democracy to Iraq . For the people , who have suffered under the tyrant . 7900+ civillians were lifted from their burden of life . Small in comparison to the estimated deaths caused from the UN Imposed sanctions after the first Gulf war , mostly children who died from malnutrition over a decade of sanctions .
So back to CNN , I browse on over to the Impact section of the War in Iraq special . War Front title catches my eyes with a subtitle that reads "Iraqi civilians coped with war at home" Finally some acknowledgement of the impact cluster bombs and the like that eradicated thousands of civillians . My mistake , in my excited haste I forgot to read the 4 articles listed 1.Electricity Flickers Back In Baghdad 2.Animals Battle To Survive in Zoo 3. WHO : Little Risk From Stolen Polio 4. Iraqi farmer Leaves Life Of Fear Behind .Keep in mind this is their summary of the effect of the war on the Iraqi front up to april 18 , the last time the "War Front" was updated , the Allied casualties are updated regularly . Animals battle To Survive in Zoo ? Who gives a :censored :censored !!! People are starving to death , with rancid water supply , infrastructure demolished . Four , insignificant feel good stories on how Iraqi Citizens are dealing with the invasion . CNN felt it neccessary to have pages on weapons military units , strategy etc... It looks like a GI Joe Catalogue fo Christmas shopping , nice little cartoons . They should have got their artist to draw some persons head half blown off , or living in squalor , or dying of starvation , disease , etc ...
As I write this , I can look around me and see CD's , a couple hundred , the luxury I live in , is at the cost of another persons necessities . In the name of Truth Justice and Liberty we can throw our PS2 on, and waste away a few hours , oblivious to anyone who may be suffering, starving dying, in the name of "Freedom" our pleasure is the cost of someone else's misery . Why should we care that their government is corrupt ? Ruthless ? It's not our problem, our own country is our problem . Our comfort is what holds us down , what allows us to slowly but surely let Government do what it will , only when we are near death will we fight for our rights , which by that time will have been fully stripped .
cratch:
We live in a consumer society , our lives , wrapped in greed , fifty years ago merchandise was made to last , the philosophy was that quality would bring the customer back . Now commercialism will bring in a customer , a known face , celebrity, gimmick, will sell . We are bred to spend and assosiate it with success, comfort and happiness , following empty ideals . Goods are made to breakdown , everything is made to end . Why make $50.00 on an item that lasts for twenty years ? When you can make the same thing for less money , sell it for the same price and force the consumer to buy it every 3 years .
cratch: Greed , upper hierarchy thrives , flourishes on power and greed , and we align like sheep . Media has made activism sound like some kind of disease , a dirty word , those who disrupt our perfect illusions . An example could be the G-8 summit that was held here in Alberta in June 2002 . In Kananaskis Country to be exact , in the Rocky mountains , where protests were to be completely stifled due to it's location and limited access, so no negativity would come of the G-8 Summit . Living in Calgary I got the media spin everyday, focus turned from the G-8 conference to what will happen when the protesters come here . <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.calgarysun.com/cgi-bin/niveau2.cgi?s=generic17&p=59057.html&a=1">http://www.calgarysun.com/cgi-bin/nivea ... 7.html&a=1</a><!-- m --> What kind of mass havoc will ensue , fear tactics were being used well to stifle a basic human right to express ones opinion , the same rights that were walked all over and violated in Vancouver during the Nov 25,1997 APEC protests at the University British Columbia .( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cbc.ca/storyview/CBC/1998/01/20/apec980120a">http://www.cbc.ca/storyview/CBC/1998/01/20/apec980120a</a><!-- m --> ) I got to see the local news station asking a poll question , something to the effect of " Do you wan't the protesters coming to Calgary ?" and what kind of negative effect will this have ? This instills the ideal that protest is an affront to society when in fact it offers the opposite , the right to give ones opinion , something that is skewed in popular media by political and financially beneficial reasons .
Greed and power are what govern the Iraq Invasion . How much has this invasion cost the American public ? Check out this link for the latest number <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.costofwar.com/">http://www.costofwar.com/</a><!-- m -->
As for the contractors picking up the pieces of Iraq . A nice list.. (here's a link for the complete list <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&fil=IQ">http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio. ... pro&fil=IQ</a><!-- m --> )
Kellogg, Brown and Root (Halliburton) with a 2 Billion dollar contract in Iraq . Dick Cheney the Vice President is former CEO of Halliburton .
Bechtel won a $680 million dollar contract with former Secretary of State George Shultz, will do the initial work of rebuilding the "vital elements of Iraq's infrastructure," including power facilities, electrical grids, municipal water and sewage systems. Bechtel also took over the Municipal Water System in Cochabamba Bolivia , <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.democracyctr.org/bechtel/waterbills/">http://www.democracyctr.org/bechtel/waterbills/</a><!-- m --> where they proceeded to double the water prices in a desperately poor city , most people barely surving on what they make , a revolt followed .
Fluor and Perini will perform similar work in central and southern Iraq. Both recieving contract that will guarantee no less than $500,000 and a cap of $500,000,000.
Washington Group International - $100 Million Dollar Contract . Executive vice president and CFO George H. Juetten previously was senior vice president and CFO for Dresser Industries, a subsidiary of Halliburton Inc. Steve Johnson joined Washington Group in November of 2001 as senior executive vice president after nearly 27 years with Flour Corp. Washington Group International will repair electrical infrastructure in northern Iraq .
This stuff is just a part of the reason for this "war" . One thing that is obvious is that this invasion had nothing to do with Weapons of Mass Destruction , Liberation to bring Democracy, Regime Change or bringing Terrorists to Justice . All these reasons brought forward by Bush and his Administration as being the reasons for the invasion . This is something that has been bugging me and had to get it off my chest . Rant Over . :nooooo
Mark
