POLICE STATE / MILITARY - LOOKING GLASS NEWS | |
The Reality Beneath the Flag-Waving |
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by Paul Craig Roberts AntiWar.com Entered into the database on Tuesday, July 04th, 2006 @ 12:52:34 MST |
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Americans who get their propaganda from Fox "News" or are
told what to think by right-wing talk radio hosts are outraged at news reports
that U.S. troops planned and carried out the
rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman. They are not outraged that the troops
committed the deed; they are outraged that the media reported it. These "conservatives,"
who proudly wear their patriotism on their sleeves, dismiss the reports of the
incident as a Big Lie floated by "the anti-American liberal media"
in order to demoralize Americans and reduce public support for the war. Playing to this audience, Col. Jeffrey Snow, a U.S. brigade commander in Baghdad,
told AFP News that news coverage could cause the U.S. to lose the war. In other
words, what we are doing in Iraq cannot stand the light of day, so reporters
must not report or the word will get out. Many Bush supporters believe that truth is not on our side and must be suppressed.
Yet, they support a war that is too shameful to report. I have made it clear in my columns that Bush supporters are not true conservatives.
They are brownshirts with the same low intelligence and morals as Hitler's enthusiastic
supporters. And they are just as resistant to facts. It was not the "liberal media" but the investigating U.S. military
officials who told the Associated Press that the rape and murder of the young
woman and her family appeared "totally premeditated," that the soldiers
noticed the woman on their patrols and studied her and her family for a week
before separating the woman from her family and raping her. After having their
way with her, the soldiers murdered her and tried to burn her body with a flammable
liquid in order to cover up their foul deed. The soldiers' cover-up attempt
also involved the murder of other members of the murdered rape victim's family,
including a child. The criminals were turned in by other U.S. soldiers who knew of the monstrous
crime. According to the Associated Press (USA Today, June 30, 2006), one of
the soldiers has admitted his role in the rape and murder. The soldiers cannot be said to be guilty until they are tried and found guilty.
However, the U.S. military usually attempts a cover-up of such incidents and
only admits to the facts after the press gets hold of them. This time, however,
the investigating officials themselves gave the story to the Associated Press. Many Americans are so unsophisticated that they refuse to believe anything
bad about their country. They regard acceptance of unpalatable truths as disloyalty.
This failure of American character is why Bush has been able to get away with
transgressions that scream out for his impeachment and trial as a war criminal.
The premeditated rape and murders are just the latest in the long line of horrific
war crimes from Abu Ghraib to Haditha. Bush supporters are still in denial about
each incident. It is amazing that Bush supporters think we have a John Wayne
military when, according to news reports, recruitment problems have resulted
in the military accepting felons, drug users, thugs, low-IQ high school dropouts,
and illegal Mexicans promised green cards for signing up. Apparently, the same
people who make America's streets unsafe for Americans make Iraqi streets unsafe
for Iraqis. In response to the declining caliber of new recruits, some of our
best troops are refusing to reenlist. Several have written to me that "the
Army has left them." Whoever put out that propagandistic slogan, "support the troops,"
and the ribbon decals was a master propagandist. "Support the troops"
means to deny the reality of the war and the behavior of the troops. To this day, the Bush regime and the neocon Nazis have not told us the reason
for their invasion of Iraq, the destruction of its towns and infrastructure,
and the slaughter of its citizens. Every reason Bush has given has proved to
be a lie. There is no more reason for U.S. troops to be shooting up Iraq than
to be shooting up Canada, Scotland, Holland, Spain, Taiwan, Florida, Virginia,
or California. We are killing Iraqis for no other reason than that they resist
our invasion and occupation of their country. It is proof of the collapse of American morals and the fallen character of
the American people that the American public and its elected representatives
in Congress refuse to rein in the Bush regime and hold it responsible for its
monstrous crimes. America has become a land of evil. The rest of the world hates and despises
us. And we are going to pay a terrible price for it. Bush's belief that our
superpower status makes us immune to the opinion of others goes beyond hubris
into insanity. _______________________ Read from Looking Glass News Show
your Independence on the 4th; Burn a Flag Tenn.
Teen Jailed for Burning U.S. Flag |