Very unlike Operation Shock and Awe that these two, Genghiz Blair and Alaric Bush
started in 2003.The new kid on the block - on August 31 -
got his boys home in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas.The boys will bring back such photographs for the family album, so they can tell their offspring "this was what Daddy did in the War".
(It shows an American G.I. taking a photograph of a dead Mahdi fighter)Never mind that they left behind such bloodshed, pillage, carnage, chaos, a raging civil war and almost complete destruction of the infrastructure of a nation that was historically and culturally more civilized than the upstart bullies of USA.
So 4,400 US invaders and over 100,000 Iraqi civilians died. In the eyes of Israel the lives of 10 Palestinians are at par with one Israeli Jew. In the case of Iraq, one dead G.I. is worth 22-23 dead civilians.
And yet they are frothing at the mouth about the construction of a Mosque and a community centre on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.
This is not the end. The terrorisation of the Muslim world still goes on in Afghanistan and new ones will probably happen in Iran, Yemen or Sudan? It is but one chapter in the long-running saga of American Imperialism.
5 comments:
Flying the Flag, Faking the News
by John Pilger
Published on Thursday, September 2, 2010 by The New Statesman
Loud noises from Washington about a US pull-out from Iraq are a poor disguise for America’s determination to keep waging war. And the same sort of spin is at work in Britain.
False reality The last US combat troops have left Iraq "as promised, on schedule", according to President Barack Obama. The TV news has been filled with cinematic images of the "last US soldiers", silhouetted against the dawn light, crossing the border into Kuwait.
Fact They have not left. At least 50,000 troops will continue to operate from 94 bases. American air assaults are unchanged, as are special forces' assassinations. The number of "military contractors" is 100,000 and rising. Most Iraqi oil is now under direct foreign control.
False reality BBC presenters have described the departing US troops as a "sort of victorious army" that has achieved "a remarkable change in [Iraq's] fortunes". Their commander, General David Petraeus, is a "celebrity", "charming", "savvy" and "remarkable".
Fact There is no victory of any sort. There is a catastrophic disaster, and attempts to present it as otherwise are a model of Bernays's campaign to "rebrand" the slaughter of the First World War as "necessary" and "noble". In 1980, Ronald Reagan, running for president, rebranded the invasion of Vietnam, in which up to three million people died, as a "noble cause", a theme taken up enthusiastically by Hollywood.
Today's Iraq war movies have a similar purging theme: the invader as both idealist and victim.
See http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/02-9 for full story.
© 2010 New Statesman
John Pilger was born and educated in Sydney, Australia. He has been a war correspondent, film-maker and playwright. Based in London, he has written from many countries and has twice won British journalism's highest award, that of "Journalist of the Year," for his work in Vietnam and Cambodia.
Flying the Flag, Faking the News
by John Pilger
Published on Thursday, September 2, 2010 by The New Statesman
Loud noises from Washington about a US pull-out from Iraq are a poor disguise for America’s determination to keep waging war. And the same sort of spin is at work in Britain.
False reality The last US combat troops have left Iraq "as promised, on schedule", according to President Barack Obama. The TV news has been filled with cinematic images of the "last US soldiers", silhouetted against the dawn light, crossing the border into Kuwait.
Fact They have not left. At least 50,000 troops will continue to operate from 94 bases. American air assaults are unchanged, as are special forces' assassinations. The number of "military contractors" is 100,000 and rising. Most Iraqi oil is now under direct foreign control.
False reality BBC presenters have described the departing US troops as a "sort of victorious army" that has achieved "a remarkable change in [Iraq's] fortunes". Their commander, General David Petraeus, is a "celebrity", "charming", "savvy" and "remarkable".
Fact There is no victory of any sort. There is a catastrophic disaster, and attempts to present it as otherwise are a model of Bernays's campaign to "rebrand" the slaughter of the First World War as "necessary" and "noble". In 1980, Ronald Reagan, running for president, rebranded the invasion of Vietnam, in which up to three million people died, as a "noble cause", a theme taken up enthusiastically by Hollywood.
Today's Iraq war movies have a similar purging theme: the invader as both idealist and victim.
See http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/02-9 for full story.
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for your response. I'm glad to read of someone who is in tune with the hypocrisy and violence that the West exerts on the rest of the world.
People like Pilger, Cockburn and Fisk are the only real journalists worth reading. Even the so-called 'liberal' Press like the Guardian in UK have been embedded into the propaganda machine. Mark Steele is one I really enjoy. His comments are short and sharp. satirical and funny as well.
I wonder if there's any younger journalist who can take over the mantle of the brilliant veteran Pilger.
Just a little wish for you Dear Sis, in this troubled world: Selamat Hari Raya. Let us fill our hearts with forgiveness on this blessed day.
Eid Mubarak!
Dear adik London AG,
Thank you and the same heartfelt wishes for you and family AND cats.
First and foremost, may peace and justice come to the deserving all.
May Allah forgive us for our sins of commission and omission.
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