The War in Iraq is a Sham

[realFedUp]

http://www.newstarget.com/000967.html

Tuesday, October 05, 2004 commentary:

The War on Iraq is a sham; killing Iraqi citizens is not heroic, U.S. soldiers are not on a heroic mission

A new round of newspaper editorials slams the Pentagon's ban on photographs showing flag-draped coffins of Americans killed in Iraq. The newspapers are right, too: banning the photographs is an affront to the very Free Speech rights these U.S. soldiers presumably died to protect. This photo ban is just the latest wound to the body of American freedom that's being bled to death by the Bush Administraiton. Under Bush, we're now subjected to random searches of our homes, our phones lines and Internet communications are being tapped without court orders, and American citizens can now be held in U.S.-run concentration camps (Guantanamo Bay) where prisoners are denied access to legal counsel, never charged with a crime, and yet detained indefinitely. All of this has been done, of course, under the guise of "peace," and the vast majority of the American people bought the whole thing hook, line and sinker.
I say you cannot simultaneously promote peace while waging war. And you cannot have freedom by controlling the press. To the Bush Administration, peace is war. Freedom is control. If all that sounds familiar, you may remember your college history lessons about Nazi Germany, where patriotic pride -- coupled with nationalistic aggression -- created a horrifying military machine that swept through Europe, killing tens of millions of soldiers and civilians. To the Iraqis, President Bush sure looks a lot like Hitler.

But back to the photos: with this photo ban, the Pentagon is merely engaged in yet more doublespeak about the true costs of war. For example, when American bombs land on innocent Iraqi civilians, you never hear that children were killed. Rather, the bombing mistake -- if reported at all -- is described as "collateral damage." But when Iraqi bombs strike American civilians (even armed, paramilitary contractors), the U.S. press broadcasts the maimed, dead bodies of the Americans for everyone to see. It's a pure emotional ploy.

When American soldiers fire a missile from ten miles away and kill a house full of Iraqis, that's called "courageous" by the U.S. press. But when an Iraqi straps a bomb to his chest and marches into a company of American soldiers to avenge the death of his family, that's called "cowardly" by the U.S. press. Interesting, isn't it? American soldiers are "heroes" for killing Iraqis. Iraqis are "cowards" for killing invading American soldiers.

continued

(this commentary was based on this story:)
Source: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_cont ent_id=1000496221

[indigobusiness]

1. It's a travesty, a sham and a mockery.

The Iraqis we are training have been caught setting up ambushes of AMERICAN TROOPS.

Sheesh. What a bogus fiasco.