2007: Top Ten Tales of War and Empire

2007 was an incredibly frustrating year for opponents of the seemingly endless "War on Terror," and all that it is used to justify.

Democratic control of Congress had little impact on U.S. foreign policy and progressive lawmakers made little progress towards ending the disastrous occupation of Iraq. The legal black hole in Guantanamo Bay remains the most visible symbol of America's global clandestine detention system, and, incredibly, the same hawks who sold the invasion and occupation of Iraq are still given credible hearings in the media -- this time around they're trying to pitch an attack on Iran that would potentially make the debacle in Iraq look like the cakewalk that the neocons originally promised.

At AlterNet, we did our best to bring some critical discourse to the debaate surrounding the so-called "Long War." Here are your most popular stories on the subject from 2007…

10. Accustomed to Their Own Atrocities in Iraq, U.S. Soldiers Have Become Murderers

By Chris Hedges, Adbusters

After four years of war, American Marines and soldiers have become socialized to atrocity. The war in Iraq is now primarily about murder. There is very little killing.

9. Top Military Recruitment Lies

By Aimee Allison, David Solnit, Seven Stories Press

The new book Army of None reveals the scummy truth about the military recruitment complex.

8. Majority of Iraqi Lawmakers Now Reject Occupation

By Raed Jarrar, Joshua Holland, AlterNet

More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected for the first time on Tuesday the continuing occupation of their country. The U.S. media ignored the story.

7. Bush-Cheney Really Are Planning to Attack Iran!

By Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown

Bush & Buckshot are riding their little stick horses, demonizing another Muslim nation -- and the Dems are supporting it. We've got to shut them down.

6. As Bush's War Strategy Shifts to Iran, Christian Zionists Gear Up for the Apocalypse

By Sarah Posner, AlterNet

Is Bush pushing for a second war or a Second Coming?

5. Neocons in Cheney's Office Fund al Qaeda-Tied Groups … and No One Cares?

By Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com

Seymour Hersh's recent report that Iran-Contra veterans working out of Dick Cheney's office are using stolen funds from Iraq to arm al Qaeda-tied groups and foment a larger Sunni-Shia war is a very big deal.

4. White House Leak: Cheney's Plan for Iran Attack Starts With Israeli Missile Strike

By Gregor Peter Schmitz, Cordula Meyer, Der Spiegel

High-ranking military experts say an attack would lead to world economic chaos, or even what Bush calls 'World War III.'

3. Can We End the American Empire Before It Ends Us?

By Chalmers Johnson, Tomdispatch.com

Brilliant historian and essayist Chalmers Johnson argues that unless we face up to the tremendous strain our empire is having on America, we will lose our democracy, and then it will not matter much what else we lose.

2. 737 U.S. Military Bases = Global Empire

By Chalmers Johnson, Metropolitan Books

With more than 2,500,000 U.S. personnel serving across the planet and military bases spread across each continent, it's time to face up to the fact that our American democracy has spawned a global empire.

And, drumroll please, the top story of war and empire for 2007 was …

1. The Mega-Lie Called the "War on Terror": A Masterpiece of Propaganda

By Richard W. Behan, AlterNet

The fraudulence of the "War on Terror" is clearly revealed by looking at the pattern of actions that preceded and followed its launch.