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T he reason we are in Iraq is to control
the oil there and profit from it.
Controlling the oil will allow us to intimidate other
countries and postpone expected future energy shortages at
home. Those who
made it their vision to control these resources are
unconcerned about the cost in money, lives, or human
consciousness, for the cost will not be borne by those who
will benefit most from the theft.
Tragically, those costs were unnecessary anyway, given
that technologies already exist which could eliminate our
dependence on foreign oil if we only had the will to pursue
them.
In any event, our government intends for
our troops to be in Iraq as long as it considers it useful to
control those resources.
In carrying out this project, our
government and our troops committed and continue to commit
unconscionable crimes. The
primary planners, instigators, and perpetrators of these
crimes have yet to be repudiated or punished.
Those who are directly responsible for and have been
commissioned to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law
are derelict in their duties, so much so that one can
rightfully call their negligence and dereliction, criminal,
even treasonous. Those
who have betrayed their oaths of office are now responsible,
along with the original perpetrators, for much of the carnage
that has resulted. Almost
every member of the legislative and executive branch of
government is now complicit in these crimes and in the
undermining of the rule of law.
In a very real sense, the Constitution of
the United States has been suspended—is suspended—and
whether or not it will or can be restored any time soon is
very much in doubt.
National elections are not far away and
none of the popular candidates for high office are willing to make
observations similar to what I am offering here.
So far, the mainstream media is mostly silent on these
issues as well. Some
people will remind me that I still have the right to make
these observations, and will conclude that surely
our democracy must therefore be healthy.
No. Our
democracy is not healthy even though I am free to say these
things. For a
long time, the public mind has been conditioned not to think
or be responsible about anything important.
As long as that's true, the administration is not
worried about anything I might say.
Much of the world's population now sees
the United States government as the primary enemy of peace,
prosperity, and justice in the world.
More of our citizens are in prison than in any other
country. Our
policies are now responsible, after just a few short years,
for the death, injury, and displacement of more innocent
people than any terrorist organization we claim to be
fighting. The way
we made war in Iraq fits very well the definition of terrorism
that our own government would have us believe is engaged in by
others. The
methods we use are somewhat different but the resulting
indiscriminate terror experienced by innocent people at our
hand is very much the same.
I suspect that terror is on it's way to a
neighbor or neighborhood near you.
Today, innocent people could be disappeared off the
street and sent to some far away place indefinitely to be
tortured or killed. If
it happens, what would you do about it? Probably nothing. Citizens
can no longer be assured of a fair trial if accused of a
crime. In fact,
citizens can no longer be assured that they will remain free
even if they are not accused of a crime.
If accused of wrong doing, no one is guaranteed a
public trial by a jury of their peers, nor are they guaranteed
the right to be fairly represented by an attorney. It is not even guaranteed that they would be told what
offense they are accused of committing or what evidence there
is against them. Who
do you think is available now to defend those rights we once
took for granted? You?
Your congressman?
Your constitutional right to privacy has been
suspended. More
than 20 million documents previously available to citizens
have now been classified as secret, removing your right to review, oversee, and be informed about how your
government works and is being administered.
The President of the United States no
longer considers himself subject to laws passed by Congress.
Members of Congress, almost to a person, have
transferred to their political party, the President, or some
other interest group, loyalty that they once pledged to the
Constitution and to you.
Most Americans still appear to be unaware
of the implications of all of this.
This is true because most Americans have not yet been
personally exposed to these injustices.
Only a few have. Reports
of same are not front page news.
So most Americans continue to go to work and engage in
their normal daily routines not realizing that they no longer
live in the constitutional democracy they once called America.
They don't realize the government they studied in
school no longer works as they were told it did.
They don’t realize that their children and/or
grandchildren are at risk of one day being forcibly inducted
into a military regime that will require them to commit
unconscionable crimes while risking their lives, limbs, and
sanity as they do so.
Government spokespersons claimed and
'predicted' that terrorists were and are conspiring to attack
Americans on our own soil because they hate our freedoms and
our democracy. They
then stepped up the very same policies and activities that resulted in
911 in the first place, thereby guaranteeing that we will be
attacked again one day even though those 'predictions' were assuredly
nonsensical and ridiculous when they were made.
It's only a matter of time now.
Is it too late? I
don't know.
But I do know this:
if what I'm talking about isn't near the top of your
list of what's important… and if that's also true for your
friends and your family and the people you work with, buy
from, and sell to, then it probably is too late.
In 1988, when people were campaigning for
president, I once wrote a commentary in which I said something
to the effect, that if you elect one more president who
doesn't love you, very soon you will no longer be living in a
free country. I
was right. No one
seems to realize that it was HW who gave you W.
Now what are you going to do?
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