Ignoring Iraq for Moratorium Day

If I thought people would get my point, I would, in protest, not write anything on Iraq today. I would ignore it.

That seems to be the approach of our politicians and media, and since I love irony, it would be an appropriate response. Since the “Surge is working” (Bald Faced Lie) the Republicans can now completely ignore the complete horror that we have wrought on these innocent people comfortably. Problem solved.

And since the only issue on Iraq that the Democratic nominees will address  is their variation of plans to get our troops out, they can talk about that and ignore everything else….on the RARE occasion that they are asked about it.

And of course we know that the Democratically controlled Congress HAS to ignore Iraq, lest their complicity in continuing an illegal and immoral war is brought up and discussed.

So today on Iraq Moratorium Day Five, let’s all emulate our leaders….and just ignore the shit out of it, let’s all put on our denial and rationalization caps and pretend, just like the rest of America, that Iraq is just “an issue” that we have to deal with and do our best to forget all of the inconvenient and messy facts….and ramifications, of George and Dick’s Excellent Adventure.

Here is a quick rundown of things to ignore, so that you can play along.

Thanks to the pragmatic pre-planning that the Pentagon and George and Dick did on the propaganda front, we can ignore how many people have died. They may not have planned anything else, but they did a bang-up job on this part, the propaganda and lies have been top quality. The greatest achievement? (Other than successfully lying us into war in the first place of course…) Learning the lesson of the media coverage of Vietnam and stopping…..just plain refusing to….report just how many Iraqis the illegal invasion has killed.

Growing up during Vietnam one of my most poignant memories was the Daily Body Count. Walter Cronkite giving a running tabulation of just how many lives….how many actual human beings…perished, never to return to their homes and families again. On both sides. The daily reminder of the human cost of the war was a type of societal wake up call to the horror of our useless and manufactured Imperial incursion of the 60’s and seventies. Today, in it’s place, we have reports on what Britney did today.

So, today on Moratorium day….make sure to ignore the 3926 American soldiers (easier to ignore than saying NEARLY FOUR THOUSAND young men and women) who have died for George and Dick’s Excellent Adventure. Oh and don’t forget to ignore the 28870 wounded too!

Ignore the estimates (since that is all we have, thanks to the brilliant pre-planning) of Iraqi deaths due to our previously incomprehensible pre-emptive invasion of a sovereign nation.

One Million, One Hundred and Sixty Eight Thousand and Fifty Eight….is the current estimate

But Hey! Look on the bright side, that is just an estimate, since no one is taking responsibility actually counting. It COULD be significantly lower! Maybe …..only a Million….who Knows???

And while we are on the subject…let’s ignore PTSD, future damage to the Iraqi population from depleted uranium, the fact that we are creating a metric fuckton of potential future “terrorists” that despise America….  and all the other long term ramifications as well.

Oh AND the 4 million refugees and who knows how many Iraqi wounded.

The Next Thing to Ignore: The Cost of the War and Occupation.

The direct cost:, not counting interest, not counting future expenditures that we are basically committed to until we leave….not costing the cost of actually leaving (if we ever do)

$275 million per day $4,100 per household, 487 BILLION dollars….so far.

Estimates of the eventual cost range from 1 to 2 TRILLION dollars. Here is a good recent article from the NYT business section. A pertinent section…

For starters, $1.2 trillion would pay for an unprecedented public health campaign – a doubling of cancer research funding, treatment for every American whose diabetes or heart disease is now going unmanaged and a global immunization campaign to save millions of children’s lives.

Combined, the cost of running those programs for a decade wouldn’t use up even half our money pot. So we could then turn to poverty and education, starting with universal preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old child across the country. The city of New Orleans could also receive a huge increase in reconstruction funds.

The final big chunk of the money could go to national security. The recommendations of the 9/11 Commission that have not been put in place – better baggage and cargo screening, stronger measures against nuclear proliferation – could be enacted. Financing for the war in Afghanistan could be increased to beat back the Taliban’s recent gains, and a peacekeeping force could put a stop to the genocide in Darfur.

And finally (though there ARE many other things you can ignore as well of course, the list is nearly endless! But this next bit is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to ignore. If we didn’t ignore this next bit…well we might have to actually….DO something about it, like, oh, I don’t know….hold George and Dick responsible for it through some sort of Constitutional process.)

The Next Thing to Ignore: This is an illegal, and thus completely immoral war. A war with no valid reason for being. A war that was trumped up out of thin air …and lies….and greed by those who started it and are profiting immensely by it… and forged evidence….and bankrupt ideological bullshit …and the just plain definitional evil of those who would kill a million other human beings to pursue their own horrific ambitions and delusions of grandeur and competence.

Let us make SURE to ignore that after World War 2 the world came together at Nuremberg, in the aftermath of unprecedented planet-wide horror…including the use of two nuclear weapons and over 50 million dead….to outlaw, condemn and make perfectly clear that their is NO clearer and no more just plain WRONG action that a nation can take than waging aggressive war.

Which is what George and Dick…and through them America….has done. Violated the basic standard of civilized and responsible behavior by pre-emptively invading another sovereign nation, for No. Reason. At. All.

The very definition of a War Crime.

Let’s ALL (especially the candidates on both sides) remember to ignore the fact that we are in the middle of an ongoing War Crime, on this the fifth day of observation of the Iraq Moratorium.

Thanks for playing.

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  2. I would have to ignore your words of profound wisdom. So with deep regret i am afraid i can neither ignoIe you nor the people of iraq and everywhere in the world suffering from injustice and oppression. Your obedient servant.

    • Alma on January 18, 2008 at 18:35

    we have to talk about Brittany, and OJ all day?  Yuck!!!

  3. if you play it loud enough.

  4. all of them are awful on this instead we get them hammering each other about what? Weird world, where all seem complicit and none even touches on reality. Except the looney unelectable ones, who are now officially not allowed on stage.

    Even when they do speak of Iraq, the Iraqis are never in the equation other then admissions about ‘standing up ‘ and getting their act together. I notice that the energy issues the heart of why were there is not addressed realistically either. Do they  think no one notices or cares about anything except hanging on to being ‘middle class,that vague state of capitalist Nirvana. Strange days, on the TV world of denial.      

  5. should forget.  In fact, we can’t repeat them enough, IMO.

    The Iraqi people are being left out of the picture in terms of whatever their wishes for the country may be — kinda’ like us, huh?

    Maliki does not stand a chance and whoever would be in his position would not stand a chance.  Bush/Cheney are constantly breathing down Maliki’s back and the Iraqi Parliament has its own ideas that they want Maliki to observe.  

    I wonder, too, at the recent bombing, i.e., what the real purpose of that was (where nine of our own soldiers were lost, as well).  Pressure to sign the oil-revenue sharing law?

    ~~~~~~~~~

    O.T.  John Nirenberg, the academic, who has walked from Boston to D.C., is having apparent difficulty meeting with Ms. Pelosi.  PDA has a petition to her asking that she meet with him.  For those who are interested in signing on, here is the link:  Meet With the Walking Man

    • Edger on January 18, 2008 at 19:59

    I’m just going to ignore you. Again, and again and again…

    Nothing personal, you understand…

  6. Unfortunately, the politicians, the news media, the blogosphere and the voters mostly ignore this issue every day, Iraq Moratorium or no Iraq Moratorium.

    Your blog is a notable exception.

    Ironically, the war is being drowned out by the campaign for president, which should be all the more reason to talk about it.

    We’ve got to keep agitating and insist that it be part of the debate.  As the Moratorium website says, the war’s got to stop, and we’ve got to stop it.

  7. You’re so right on.

    Do you think we could get Congress to make a “citizen’s arrest” the next time he goes up the hill?  Naw.  Not in a year of blue moons!

    Well, I’m off to our IM #5 vigil here in Berserkeley!

    As Henry Miller said, “Is there any salvation in adjusting to a society which is insane?” BIG SUR AND THE ORANGES OF HIERONYMOUS BOSCH. (sp? – I’d look it up but I’m off to

    IM 5.)

    • Ender on January 18, 2008 at 20:54

    How many people know or care about it? I’d venture to say about the same amount as those who still care about impeachment.

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