Today is September 11th, 2007, and we have finally heard from “The General” on the situation in Iraq. Let me be the first to thank him, before yesterday I thought we were just treading water, now thankfully, I know that the forces of “good” and the soldiers of “Christ” are actually winning this confrontation with the forces of evil. I am so glad that I took time from my busy day to hear his report. I can now hold my head high, for now I understand, thanks to General Petraeus, where we are headed in our “Global War on Terrorism”; we are “turning the corner” and with that statement, I would just like to comment on this fact. The truth is, we have turned the corner so many times, we are precisely at the point at which we took up this journey, the corner is familiar and I realize that beyond this corner is another, and beyond that another…
The British have pulled out of Basra. I had thought that the military situation in Basra was stable. Since the beginning of this GWOT, Basra was defined as a Shia-dominated area that had very little sectarian violence and, along with the northern part of Iraq, was a relatively secure area. I guess that I wasn’t paying attention. Now I find that Basra has been a hotbed of violence and insurrection.
It appears that “We the People” know very little about the real situation in Iraq. When you stop to think about it, the long awaited “progress report” was very important to the majority of Americans. Many of us seem to have accepted the report in its entirety, even though it answered nothing and it proposed nothing. The “draw-down” that the General referenced, is not a draw-down at all, it is merely the period in which the “surge” troops will be eligible for rotation, nothing more, nothing less.
The fact that Crocker and Petraeus were not under oath wasn’t lost on the MSM. The way that Code-Pink protesters were hauled away under orders from Ike Skelton was also a travesty. There was absolutely no reason to continue to watch the report, as it said nothing and proposed nothing. Why I watched it to the conclusion is anyone’s guess. I suppose that like the rest of the people in the U.S., it was our “duty” to listen.
Today is six years after 9/11. We didn’t just lose some buildings and the lives of human beings that had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, we seemed to have lost our perspective of what it means to be human. Six years later, we still have more questions than answers. Six years later we are still no closer to understanding where we are in relation to the rest of the world, or what it is that we are trying to accomplish. We have no goals, no ideals and most importantly, no honor. We are not a shining beacon of hope and freedom for the world, we are much more akin to a pack of snarling dogs that have been kicked and beaten, waiting for the opportunity to attack their tormentors as soon as they turn their backs.
Unfortunately, no one group has the same tormentor. The right has the “Islamic Jihadists” and the left. The left has the Bush administration and the corporate fascists. The Muslims have America and the west, while the Sunni’s have the Shia and vice-versa. Israel has Iran, America has Iran, Iran has us, and we all have al Qaeda. Every faction, in every part of the world has somebody to hate.
This may be, in real terms, the way it has always been, except for the fact that The United States is closer than at any time in history, to becoming a dictatorship of the right. Contrary to what many would say, this has not happened…yet. We may be nano-seconds away, but you are still reading this and I’m not in jail, or dead.
Like I said, all of us, from the Left to the Right, from the religious to the non-believer, to the capitalists to the Marxists, have enemies. We can all point our fingers at someone, or some group or organization and proclaim that everything is “their” fault. The truth is that it is nobody’s fault and everyone’s fault. Until we understand that nobody is telling the truth to us, we will continue to believe the lies. Until we stand up as citizens, with all of the rights of citizens, regardless of the consequences, we will continue to be fractured with no goals and aspirations. Unless we demand the truth about this war, 9/11, our economic policies, conspiracies and cover-ups and all of the clandestine operations around the world that our government is involved in, we are blind and deaf.
Americans can accept that we have no voice as to what is being done in our name, or we can stop blindly accepting authority and stand for what we believe. We can link arms and stand our ground, or be swept away like so many in history before us. We can argue about the correct way to demonstrate and oppose what our government is doing until our voices are permanently silenced, or we can put away the semantics of dissent and do whatever it takes to get the truth to the American people.
There are many among us that proclaim we have lost the fight for America. There are many that say nothing can be done, that the extreme right has taken away our ability to protest, to demonstrate and to retaliate against their lies and propaganda operations. If that is true, how did they do it without my knowledge? I know all about the Patriot Act, the MCA 2006, the FISA Court, the revamped Insurrection Act, rendition flights, Gitmo, Presidential Directive 51, and all the signing statements and the “Unitary Power” of this Presidency. Still, you are reading this and it hasn’t been “redacted”.
Go find the “truth” as best you can. I have been at it for a long time, but I haven’t been alone. There are many people that are walking with me. To some, we sound like radicals and revolutionaries. To others we sound like children that are afraid of the dark. Everyone finds the truth in his or her own way. The most important thing in the world today is that somebody, somewhere is still seeking it. I don’t know exactly what the truth is. What I do know however is that 90% of what you hear from our government regarding Iraq, Iran and so much more are lies and distortions. One thing that keeps me awake at night is wondering how Americans could possibly be so gullible? Sometimes I believe that most Americans know the truth, but they are either afraid of facing it, or that they just don’t care. Do you care anymore, or are you just tired of all of this? The Bush Administration hopes for both. Don’t give them what they are seeking.
This is the way I see it.
