suicides in iraq and criminal gov.
suicides in iraq and criminal gov.
Complicity & Contempt
Jim Kirwan
11-18-7
The United States has become a criminal enterprise led by a 'government' in league with criminality at the highest levels of this land. Since the 'election' of the current congress, almost a year ago-investigations have been reinitiated, supposedly to get to the bottom of the larger aspects of what appears to be apparent criminality throughout the government. To date those investigations have not yielded the necessary documentation required to bring charges against any of the key players-except that by these failures in both the congress and the courts, what has become clear is that they too are 'complicit' and are co-equal partners in the crimes of the administration.
What has become of all the inquiries regarding the illegalities of Dick Cheney, from his office inside the Matrix of this War upon the US and the world? Cheney has created an entirely secret shadow government: he is directing a completely asymmetric war policy that has broken with all sanity, and in which he continues to move ahead with his War-on-Iran, regardless of the global consequences-yet the congress refuses to charge him with contempt of congress. And Cheney is not alone * Rumsfeld, Rice, and Bush have all acted well beyond the law, blatantly defying the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions and the will of the majority of the people, as they and congress, have each failed to prosecute those behind this failed series of wars throughout the Middle-East.
The theft and disappearance of Trillions of dollars remains unexplained, while the policies of the nation at home remain unfunded. There is nothing secure about 'living' in this USA that is no longer secure or even viable in the wider world-while we continue our freefall into bankruptcy and disrepute around the world. That election in November of 06 was supposed to mark a turning point-and all we got was more war not less, more troops sent in, instead of the withdrawal that was being sought by the majority of those who voted: and if anything far more new money was committed to continuing the wars, rather than the cut-off of funds that voters thought that were demanding; now more than a year ago.
To be labeled "criminal," simply means to operate outside the established laws. This congress and the courts have now conjoined with the executive * in blatantly defying the Constitution of the nation-in their pursuit of something that was never envisioned by the founding documents of the nation. The Constitution founded a co- equal three branch government not a government with only one ruler: Not a "Decider" free from any checks or balances that could limit his actions or restrain his absolute rule.
Words no longer seem to have any meaning, because "real or legal consequences" have become part of what the administration refers to as 'quaint relics of our distant past.' Yet this is only a small part of how we have become a criminal enterprise.
During the Vietnam War the body-bags containing many American soldiers were shipped home with heroin packed inside the remains of those killed in that war. It was the perfect 'hiding place' to escape US customs or official notice, and it was a callous act that might be behind why the dead from this war have been 'protected' by an official act of secrecy declared by the Decider. After all, the Heroin in this war comes not from the Golden Triangle near Vietnam, but from the Poppy fields of Afghanistan that are now almost back to 100% production. This instance was the source for this aspect of that story. (1)
Given that we now know that the government has been lying about the actual number of dead from the Middle East, thanks to Mike Whitney:
"The Pentagon was covering up the real magnitude of the "suicide epidemic". Following an exhaustive investigation of veterans' suicide data collected from 45 states; CBS discovered that in 2005 alone "THERE WERE AT LEAST 6,256 AMONG THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES. THAT'S 120 EACH AND EVERY WEEK IN JUST ONE YEAR."
That is not a typo. Active and retired military personnel, mostly young veterans between the ages of 20 to 24, are returning from combat and killing themselves in record numbers. We can assume that "multiple-tours of duty" in a war-zone have precipitated a mental health crisis of which the public is entirely unaware and (for) which the Pentagon is in total denial.
If we add the 6,256 suicide victims from 2005 to the "official" 3,865 reported combat casualties; we get a sum of 10,121. Even a low-ball estimate of similar 2004 and 2006 suicide figures, would mean that the total number of US casualties from the Iraq war now exceed 15,000.
That's right; 15,000 dead US servicemen and women in a war that--as yet--has no legal or moral justification.
CBS interviewed Dr. Ira Katz, the head of mental health at the Department of Veteran Affairs. Katz attempted to minimize the surge in veteran suicides saying, "There is no epidemic of suicide in the VA, but suicide is a major problem."
Maybe Katz (was) right. Maybe there is no epidemic. Maybe it's perfectly normal for young men and women to return from combat, sink into inconsolable depression, and kill themselves at greater rates than they were dying on the battlefield. Maybe it's normal for the Pentagon to abandon them as soon as soon they return from their mission so they can blow their brains out or hang themselves with a garden hose in their basement. Maybe it's normal for politicians to keep funding wholesale slaughter while they brush aside the casualties they have produced by their callousness and lack of courage. Maybe it is normal for the president to persist with the same, bland lies that perpetuate the occupation and continue to kill scores of young soldiers who put themselves in harm's-way for their country.
It's not normal; it's is a pandemic---an outbreak of despair which is the natural corollary of living in constant fear; of seeing one's friends being dismembered by roadside bombs or children being blasted to bits at military checkpoints or finding battered bodies dumped on the side of a riverbed like a bag of garbage.
The rash of suicides is the logical upshot of Bush's war. Returning soldiers are traumatized by their experience and now they are killing themselves in droves. Maybe we should have thought about that before we invaded." (2)
Whatever the number of dead really is, the War on Iraq is a direct outgrowth of the Vietnam War that gave the War Department a template for exactly how our wars of conquest could be waged. * right down to how those wars could also be used for illicit profits as well as for privatized corporate windfalls that have no equal in history or in human memory. So ask yourself again - Why did the US classify the deaths of servicemen and women coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place!
Bush was asked before the war what the fall of Saddam would cost. He had no answer then, but we're beginning to understand some of the true costs now. . .
For too many Americans the Vietnam War is way beyond ancient history-it is barely even an event for far too many. But for those that might want more context "Apocalypse Now" (the film) can quickly bring you up to date. It's a film and an epic piece of entertainment. A re-creation not meant to be taken literally as part of the actual military history. However the theme of the film clearly outlines why the Decider chose to use mercenaries for the most disgusting aspects of his War on Iraq: Because it is clear that the War-on-Terror is a direct outgrowth of the misbegotten hell that was called "the Vietnam War."
http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Apocalypse_Now
Not unlike the fabled mystic-character, updated from Joseph Conrad's" Heart of Darkness" (a 19th century exploration of the limits of human capacities); the screenplay for "Apocalypse Now" probes the mindset behind that same madness in the 20th century. Is it possible that the Cheney-Bush wars will eventually divulge the latest version of these dark and twisted thoughtforms in the 21st century? One thing is certain: when major-powers are misused the results are usually catastrophic, and in this instance, this Complicity in criminal behavior has resulted in Contempt, not only for law & order, but for the roots of freedom and humanity as well.
There is more than enough evidence to charge Cheney and others with Impeachable offenses * immediately. If this Congress will not issue Contempt of Congress citations for the Vice-President and his secret government officials * then why are we paying these criminals who are obviously complicit in their crimes against us!
Either we have laws clearly stated that are obeyed, or we do not. What we have now are laws that only apply to the little-people in this country. For the owners of this society there are no longer any laws by which they might actually be controlled or even inconvenienced. Americans need to demand that their government forego it's "vacation" and lift the veils of secrecy: Arrest those that have put those cloaks in place, because as was said of Vietnam: "It's the judgments that defeat us" * because the stench of lies is what these wars create!
Free people are only free when they are willing to challenge those that would take away their freedoms with the stroke of an illegal order or an Executive Decree. . .
