By Dave Lindorff

    I found myself listing to a talk radio show on NPR’s Philadelphia affiliate WHYY today, which focused in part on the agonies suffered by families of American troops killed or seriously maimed in Iraq.

    Left unsaid—and this I think is the case in nearly all the reporting that gets done on the costs of the Iraq War that are being borne here in the US by relatives of troops—is the terrible reality that we’re talking about the relatives of just 4500 American servicemen and women killed, and perhaps 30,000 seriously wounded (not counting the hundreds of thousands suffering mental damage).  Not to diminish that suffering, it needs to be pointed out that by some accounts, well over 1 million Iraqis have died in this illegal, uncalled-for and criminal war.

The lack of oversight characterizing both the Bush administration and crony capitalism have bankrupted the U.S. and created the need for perpetual war. With Cheney stirring up trouble over Iran, we can't wait until November 2008 to fight back.

Toxic economy

Take the Fed's recent $30 billion bailout of Bear Sterns. Why throw taxpayer dollars at a company with massive amounts of "toxic waste" on its books, created largely through reckless behavior chasing short-term profits?

“It makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.”
---Pentagon official

 

Missing Nukes--Treason of the Highest Order

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7158

By David Swanson

A former member of U.S. military intelligence has decided to reveal what she knows about warrantless spying on Americans and about the fixing of intelligence in the leadup to the invasion of Iraq.

By David Swanson

An interview of Allison Hantschel.

AUDIO 30 Minutes:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/allison.mp3

David: This is David Swanson with Allison Hantschel, the blogger of the blog site, First Draft http://www.first-draft.com , and the author of the book "Special Plans, the blogs on Douglas Feith and the faulty intelligence that led us to war." Allison, it is good to talk to you. How are you doing?

Allison: I’m doing good, thank you so much for having me.

David: And how did you get involved in the topic of Douglas Feith and the intelligence that took us into this war?

US / Iranian rhetoric is at fever pitch. Both sides are claiming to have “evidence” of military foul play. Both sides are holding military exercises in each others faces and the Gulf is so full of warships it must be highly dangerous to navigate. Both sides are threatening a massive military response to any use of force. Both presidents have backed themselves into political corners and neither shows the slightest sign of backing down.

A second US carrier strike group has just arrived in the Gulf bringing the total number of US (and allied) warships there to about 50 and a third group, headed by USS Reagan has just been ordered to rendezvous in the Western Pacific with destroyers from Pearl Harbour before sailing to the Gulf.

First I invite you to watch this excellent 10 minute speech by George Galloway to the British Parliament on January 27, 2007 in which he delivers a stark warning that Britain is sleepwalking into a catastrophic war with Iran along with the US and Israel. George Galloway was the man who you may remember lambasting the US Senate over false accusations of oil bribes with Saddam.

George Galloway's speech to the British Parliament, January 2007

Where Was The Outcry After Bush's Iraq Joke?
Kerry savaged for hinting joining army not such a smart move when a Bush is in office, no one battered an eyelid when decider-in-chief guffawed and giggled over 655,000 dead Iraqis and nearly 3,000 dead troops

By Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Wednesday, November 1, 2006

A quip by John Kerry in which he told a young audience that securing a good education would avoid them getting "stuck in Iraq" has been seized upon by Republican attack dogs as election fodder. The Senator's comment killed nobody but when Bush joked about not finding WMD in Iraq, he was making light of 655,00 dead victims and nearly 3,000 dead troops - but the media barely battered an eyelid and Bush never apologized.

Run with this, Democrats. Get some backbone. Rail against the failures and the wrongs of this administration. Yes, the right-wing media will call you crazed. And you can say yes, we’re crazed. We’re crazy angry that we’ve been terrorized by our own government. We’re crazy angry that we’ve been lied to. We’re crazy angry that we’ve been treated as dupes and cannon fodder. We’re crazy angry that we’ve been squeezed dry for the benefit of the already wealthy. YES, WE’RE CRAZY ANGRY, AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE!

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