Im surden the "mighty" US military will soon find something else to do

The great...

exit strategy

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"I just remember thinking, 'I just brought terror to someone under the American flag'."
Sergeant Timothy John Westphal, 31, of Denver, 18th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

"I guess while I was there, the general attitude was, 'A dead Iraqi is just another dead Iraqi... You know, so what?'[Only later,] ... meeting other veterans, it seems like the guilt really takes place, takes root, then."
Specialist Jeff Englehart, 26, of Grand Junction, Colorado, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry.

"A lot of guys really supported that whole concept that if they don't speak English and they have darker skin, they're not as human as us, so we can do what we want."
Specialist Josh Middleton, 23, of New York City, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division.

"I felt like there was this enormous reduction in my compassion for people. The only thing that wound up mattering is myself and the guys that I was with, and everybody else be damned."
Sergeant Ben Flanders, 28, National Guardsman from Concord, New Hampshire, 172nd Mountain Infantry.

Sgt Dougherty described her squad leader shooting an Iraqi civilian in the back in 2003. "The mentality of my squad leader was like, 'Oh, we have to kill them over here so I don't have to kill them back in Colorado'," she said. "He just seemed to view every Iraqi as a potential terrorist."

"It's not individual atrocity," Specialist Garett Reppenhagen, a sniper from the 263rd Armour Battalion, said. "It's the fact that the entire war is an atrocity."

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The rules of engagement are too lax. If we could just do our jobs, it would not be an issue. Now, I am not saying that we should go around and shoot random peoples dogs, but that we should keep these searches up and do it in a much more professional manner, that at least gives these people some dignity, along with the knowledge that we will treat them fairly, but if they hide something such as bombmaking equipement, terrorists, or the means to wage war against us, all bets are off and the perpetrator will pay heavily, and not through our action, but by us turning them over to their government to hang them as traitors to the Iraqi state or shoot them in the head without remorse.

We are letting politicians run the war on both sides of the isle. If we are to be truly successuful, just let us do our job. We need to kill those who are going to kill us. I mean, it does not good to take an army and use them as heavily armed police.

Also, we need to ensure that the army has educated upper-level enlisted men who command young, impressionable soldiers. We need it terribly, otherwise incidents will continue, and we will build resentment beyond its current levels. We also need to use the Geneva convention on recognized fighters, not terrorists. They don't give a fuck about convention, or they would not be blowing up thier own people.

We need the Dems to stop fucking around, along with the republicans. I am tired of having my elected officials who voted for this war to play fuck-fuck games with my life, and lives of my fellow soldiers.

Oh yeah, one more thing- when the nation did this interview, they were EXTREMELY skewed, as they interviewed servicemembers who came from liberal bastions. Next itme they should be interviewing the rest of us from rural America, the America of the conservative. That would lend credibility to their argument.

Sorry for the miss-spelling, I have been up for almost 24 hours and I just got in from work. Good night.

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When allegations of abuse/atrocities arise:
1) Deny, deny, deny if there's no smoking gun video or pictures
2) If smoking gun evidence exists...blame everything on the lowest-level perpetrators that can be found....starting with the reservists, then enlisted grunts...after that...the Reserve Officer Corp
3) Deny that anyone in the Pentagon or White House knew that anything bad was happening
4) Have media propaganda blitz and state that we're in [insert occupied country here] to promote freedom and to hand out candy to children
5) Attack dissenters and the "liberal" media for focusing on the acts of a "handful" of rogue, abusive troops and for implying that higher-ups knew about abusive policies. Imply that focusing on said "rogue" activity does not "Support the Troops."

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I remember several times an open letter being sent out by the anti war movement and its leaders that the war is a criminal, and an illegal war of aggression. The letter was an appeal to the grunts, that the officers, political class (both democrats, republicans, and its judicial nazis) are war criminals, and that following these illegal orders would make them complicit in this fascism and aggression. As it has been so far, many soldiers already have been charged with murder, and rape during the war, but the people who made this policiy have not yet been charged with war crimes, or war criminals, and according to the Nuremberg principles, cannot use the excuse that "I was just following orders" of Bush, Republicans, Democrats, including all these Nazis who use the excuse, you see here, that "War is hell".

This stupid argument, avoids the real issue, that class societies and class Empire, with its class elites routinely carry out imperial aggressions, along with the yahoos who routinely choose to join the axis of evil, without question, as an alliance of stupidity, and massive arrogance, in war after war, after war. The fact that a majority use racist terminology like "gooks" and "ragheads" to substitute racist terms, for real political labels, that fits these criminals, like fascists, racists, imperialists, is proof that most of Amerikans are clueless about politics and worse are thugs, criminal asses, cowboys willing to rape, plunder and murder people in any country, that they cannot even find on the map.

They are not heroes, they are willing victims of their own stupidity, as well as of and by the fascist imperial democrats and republicans. Vote green, vote third party, or if you have to, Kucinich and Gravels, (not Hillary and Obama- both apologists for war and supporters of nuclear aggression against Iran and for Israel fascism). Support the soldiers of the antiwar movement who have finally figured it out, that this war was wrong, and criminal from day 1.

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These stories had the exact same effect on me that reading 'Nam by Mark Baker did when I was a teenager. I just feel awash in sadness. What if this was your mother, your child, gunned down in the street for no reason? Can you imagine watching a soldier laugh as someone you love dies?

We have to stop this war NOW. Our children will ask us someday. They'll ask us what we did to stop it. What will we say? That we posted the snarkiest comments?

I realize that believing in heaven and hell is not really smiled upon here in the liberal blogosphere. But we're going to hell for this. We will be judged for our actions. All of us.

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We should all bear in mind the famous native American adage...never criticize a man until you have walked a mile in his mocassins and murdered scores of children for entertainment.

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Where did they find these 50 former soldiers? I've talked to at least 25 former and current soldiers myself.....some close family members who have opened upto me about the reality over there. The feeling of actually wanting to help these people is overwhelming. Did The Nation ever do any stories about the soldiers who have built schools and stocked it with supplies sent by family members? Of course not. That doesn't fit their agenda. But things like that happen way more than any atrocities.

I will acknowledge that there could be some bad apples in any war situation. Haditha was a setup. Don't but the negative propaganda all you hand-wringers.

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"The war the vets described is a dark and even depraved enterprise, one that bears a powerful resemblance to other misguided and brutal colonial wars and occupations, from the French occupation of Algeria to the American war in Vietnam and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

Why are we surprised? Young USians whose economic options are so limited that the military is one of the best. They don't realize they've been sold a bill of goods till they're in way over their heads, and by that point walking out is a capital offense. They're in this alien and extremely dangerous situation where they can't read the subtleties (or even the blatancies), where they've got orders to follow and powerful weapons in their hands, and relaxing for an instant could get them killed or mutilated.

I wouldn't do very well in that situation. If I wasn't killed right off in a split second of indecision, I'd probably do whatever I had to do to increase my chances of living till the next day. Shooting someone who might be a threat increases my odds. Considering for an instant that they might not be a threat, or that the "Syrian terrorist" behind the door is really a two-year-old kid -- this could get me killed. Maybe I'm totally ripshit with the recruiters for selling me this bill of goods (and with myself for buying it), or with the TV news or the U.S. government or the vets in my family or my town who maintain a conspiracy of silence about what they saw and did in whatever war they were in. But they aren't in range and these ungrateful, unreadable "hajis" are.

Would things be all that different if the Bush administration weren't morally bankrupt and the mass media weren't corporate controlled, if the soldiers had higher IQs or the leaders were better trained? Hell no. Throw ordinary people into appalling situations, and most of us will do things we weren't capable of even imagining in other times and places. If the goal is stopping a Hitler, the cost may be worth it. If it's anything else -- well, maybe, but let's try to be honest about what the cost is and who's going to get stuck paying most of it.

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Assume that 10 percent of this is true. Why would you want Americans anywhere near your country? Why would you want a bar of anything that the US represents?
And when finally some of those where the US has trashed their country explode a real bomb in an American city --- and I don't mean a mere smack in the mouth like 9/11 --- the Americans are going to wail: "why us?".
Americans, if you want to know who the terrorists are, who it is that threatens world peace, just take a long hard look in the mirror!

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whom a friend of mine had taught in grade school stopped to talk to us. He was excited about going into the military and serving in Iraq. I asked him, "so you like the idea of kiling people?"

He paused, though about it for a minute or two, and surprisingly told the truth. "Yeah, I guess so."

If we had more REAL christians in a country that is supposedly 80 percent christian, there wouldn't be anyone willing to kill -- they'd have to call off the war. As the poster in the 60s asked, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?"

Me? I'm an atheist -- no life after death, no eternal judgement, no god who is called upon in saying "kill them all and let god sort them out -- I'm completely anti war. Isn't that a strange thing?

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If this doesn't give you chills and make you literally sick to your stomach, nothing will. America has reached the nadir. Despite warnings about the "military-industrial complex," we have veered from any kind of moral and ethical behavior, and made a pact with the devil. How can this sick predation be done our name, and how can we let it continue? I believe that if we had a draft and the military was representative of the American people as a whole, this horror may have screeched to a halt long ago.

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if american atrocities in iraq are only as bad as this story says, it's actually sorta positive. usually things are a lot worse than this in war zones. vietnam was much worse, read the history. and conflicts like sierra leone, rwanda, yugoslavia, sri lanka, east timor, kashmir, etc. where US troops were not fighting at all were 100 times more brutal than this. i'm an opponent of the war, have been from the start but this piece doesn't make the case that the troops are "brutal occupiers" at all. they sound like they are trying their best in a really shitty situation. it's not exactly Roman Empire tactics here. sure, it's not pleasant to be dragged out of your house at gunpoint, but how else are the troops gonna fight an insurgency? you have to do house to house searches. i guess if i was an iraqi i'd be pissed but on the other hand if the troops found a guy next door who was making a car bomb that would have blown up my family tomorrow, i'd be thankful for the midnight wake up call.

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What the frig was inappropriate about my comments, Alternet??????

I guess you can trash American's and Christians all you want....but say something negative about the Muslim community......and watch out! Your done!!

I didn't use any inappropriate language or write anything horrible!!!

Censorship is alive and well.......right on Alternet!

Poe

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....you deleted my response.

You supposedly support fairness....freedom of speech.

I want to know why.

At least give me an answer.


Poe
reaction@usadatanet.net

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When I read accounts like this, and I try not to, I weep and the rest of you out there should. God forgive us.

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When I learned we were to invade Iraq I was stunned. This country a threat to us? Compared to the size of the US, it was a postage stamp. I wrote Senator Clinton. This was wrong I wrote. How could this country be a threat to us? I stated, "If we go in it will open a can of worms we cannot even fathom now." I begged to consider innocent lives destroyed and our own being killed. I added that King,the two Kennedys, Ghandi were all killed with one or a few bullets with protection and around hundreds of people! Surely, with our elite secret service, etc. we could do same? A few go in and take out SH? Not destroy a country or its people! No answer. Another woman sent me a form letter saying nothing. And...as the invasion occurred and the events have unfolded, I have been ashamed, appalled, saddened, sickened by this administration and the fact that all the evil and bloodshed continues. Suicides are high in Iraq! When are we going to form a world court and abolish war entirely? As the person asked above, "How would you or I like to see our sons, grandmothers, neighbors gunned down in front of us?"Yamamoto, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, stated, " I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant." I fear Bush/Cheney have awakened a wrath and a conflict that will have disastrous, continued repercussions for the world and for us. Perhaps we can recall at this moment what we, 'good ole Christian Americans' did to the Native Americans? A people who took care of Mother Earth and were against hoarding, who accepted and loved their gay children when born that way, who never hit their children, who had a beautiful relationship to their Great Spirit? Yes, GWB and his Regime have opened a can of worms, slugs and vermin, and in so doing revealed their own slime to us. Impeachment for their crimes should occur immediately. They have adequately shown us we are terrorists too, and no different than what we like to put down.
If the Internet can do ANYTHING good and positive, it is to unite us all to defend that which is in our hearts. We must realize that to kill one person kills something deep in our own souls. Agree that Kucinich and Gravel (Edwards to a degree)are the only true, honest, courageous, peace loving candidates and most of all are FOR THE PEOPLE and not politics as usual. Our political system is dying, our country very ill, acknowledging the fact is a first step towards wholeness. Reach out every day. Smile. Help. Share. We've lost that. We are all going to need each other more and more as the months and years unfold. Our humaness is our strength. Bravo those fellows to tell the truth.

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Members of the elite 82nd Airborne were trying to tell anyone who would listen about the culture of torture and abuse... finally after nobody seemed to care they went to Human Rights Watch... their testimony is pretty chilling.

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Des Moines Register columnist John Carlson published an e-mail helicopter pilot Cheif Warrant Officer Jim Funk, of the Iowa National Guard, on May 23 of this year. What follows are excerpts from that e-mail.

"Hello media, do you know you indirectly kill American soldiers every day? You inspire and report the enemy's objective every day. You are the enemy's greatest weapon. The enemy cannot beat us on the battlefield so all he does is try to wreak enough havoc and have you report it every day. With you and the enemy using each other, you continually break the will of the American public and American government.

"We go out daily and bust and kill the enemy, uncover and destroy huge weapons caches and continue to establish infrastructure. So daily we put a whoopin on the enemy, but all the enemy has to do is turn on the TV and get re-inspired. He gets to see his daily roadside bomb, truck bomb, suicide bomber or mortar attack. He doesn't see any accomplishments of the U.S. military (FOX, you're not exempt, you suck also).

"Let's give you an example. A couple of days ago we conducted an air assault. We lifted troops into an area for an operation. The operation went well and our ground troops killed (insurgents) and took several prisoners, freed a few hostages and uncovered a weapons cache containing munitions and chemicals that were going to be used in improvised bombs.

"We, the soldiers, keep breaking the back of the enemy. You, the media, keep rejuvenating the enemy."

No mention of building schools or hospitals. Nothing about handing out candy and toys to Iraqi children.

No, what peeves CWO Funk is that the MSM, especially television, doesnot show enough of our heroes "...bust[ing] and killing..."and "daily...put[tin'] a whoopin on the enemy[.]"

I'd like to think that perhaps if the MSM did follow CWO Funk's advice, and show battle in Iraq as brutal, murderous mayhem, it would be uncouth enough to disgust even the staunchest chickhawks, LA-Z-Boy warriors and war weenies. But I doubt it. Our American chickenhawks, LA-Z-Boy warriors and war weenies would just view it as just another violent video game; raise their Pepsies (or Cokes, as "our boys" are fighting for our freedom to choose) and thank god that some other mother's son or daughter is poor enough, or deluded enough, or psychotic enough to be the poor, dumb bastard who dies for our country.

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Good bit of work on her part. I bet Daddy's proud of her.

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The whitepeople are out of ballance and this is the result of years of pertending that white america is special and god himself or herself (really who give a shit) gave only the lost white people of eroupe manifested destiny so with that kind of sick thinking what kind of behavior do you expect?
You are ALL theifs and you know it ! you have committed all the crimes you allways accuse others of doing and even when its right in front of your faces. Do you people and I use that term with jest for you have lost your humanity the day you bought into the lies. I pray for the end of america everyday for the evil you have brought forth is truly your "nature"

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By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | July 13, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Nearly 12 percent of Army recruits who entered basic training this year needed a special waiver for those with criminal records, a dramatic increase over last year and 2 1/2 times the percentage four years ago, according to new Army statistics obtained by the Globe.

With less than three months left in the fiscal year, 11.6 percent of new active-duty and Army Reserve troops in 2007 have received a so-called "moral waiver," up from 7.9 percent in fiscal year 2006, according to figures from the US Army Recruiting Command. In fiscal 2003 and 2004, soldiers granted waivers accounted for 4.6 percent of new recruits; in 2005, it was 6.2 percent.

Since Oct. 1, 2006, when the fiscal year began, more than 8,000 of the roughly 69,000 recruits have been granted waivers for offenses ranging in seriousness from misdemeanors such as vandalism to felonies such as burglary and aggravated assault.

But former military officials and defense specialists said they fear that enlisting more soldiers with criminal backgrounds will increase the risk of disciplinary problems and criminal activity among soldiers in uniform.
Boston Globe

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This is the sad reality of war - it’s the nature of the beast. When we send our people off to kill or be killed, it brings about the worst in human nature.

It’s rare that the politicians talk about all the carnage - they just like to point out the things that they’re rebuilding (after destroying them in the first place).

They don’t talk about refugees and innocents killed, unless “the bad guys” do it. And, when they’re forced to talk about civilian deaths as a result of our aggression, they reduce those poor people to a statistic.

I can think of little that is more repugnant to me than referring to people as something as less than human - collateral damage.

All the killing in this aggressive war holds serious moral and legal implications for all those involved.

That’s my rant. If you’d like to read more:

"Collateral Damage is Murder" - click here

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when she runs out of money! Everything else is BULL**** Luckily that day will soon be at hand!

Dont worry guys:) You might be a little tired now, but China will take it from here=P

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The soldiers came to realize that the mission was hopeless and unclear, yet the chain of command did nothing to end the war until the 70's rolled around.

Iraq is no different, the soldiers came to realize that the mission is also hopeless and also unclear. This is the point where they get to run amok killing without prejudice. If their leaders won't remove them form this foreign soil, the Iraqies will be the ones paying the price.

If I was there, I would have done the exact same thing: take it out on the people day by day, hoping that there reduced numbers don't pose a threat to me. The less of them around me, the safer at least I'll feel.

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Sounds like Vietnam all over again. Why do the Rich corporations keep starting the wars? This is a WAR to SECURE THE OIL for American OIL COMPANIES! I read the blogs and no one gets it. We invade other countries because there is a resource we want. In this case it is OIL. The whole world needs it and the whole world wants it.

The Quagmire of War was bound to catch up to the soldiers as they are trained to kill. What else is their purpose? I am not shocked by their arrogance about themselves and hatred towards the Muslims. The Christian Right in this country talks against Muslims, Hollywood movies, and even our government. Our Government trains the soldiers to hate and treat all Muslims as terrorists. When will we wake up and stop joining the Military and helping out the Rich to get richer. WAKE Up Stupid America and learn from History. Wars lead no WHERE.

If we want to be a country of Diversity than it is time to respect other people in the world. We are not that great of a country anymore. We are behind in healthcare and we are the REAL TERRORISTS in the War Supporting ISRAEL's constant war machine along with our own.

Someday, American will pay dearly for our arrogance and disrespect of other cultures.

It is time to STOP the American War machine fueled by the RICH...Corporate America!

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Consider the following example of Bush-inspired brutality:

On April 7, 2003, under standing orders from George W., a B1 bomber carried out a decapitation strike on a Baghdad restaurant where Saddam Hussein was eating a late lunch. Reportedly.

Shortly after the mission began, the Ace of Spades, suspecting he had been betrayed by someone on his staff, slipped out of the al-Sa’ah restaurant’s backdoor and fled the scene. Ten minutes later, four 2000-lb bunker busters dropped by the diverted bomber blew the suburban eatery to bits along with cooks, waiters, bus boys, customers, cashier, pedestrians passing by and the occupants of three nearby homes.

Fourteen civilians died in that Baghdad neighborhood on April 7, people who lost their lives simply for being there, including two young children. Yet back in the United States, few Americans protested the barbaric aspect of the B1 mission, not on TV or in the press anyway. Quite the contrary, there was glorification of Bush’s decision to “take out Saddam,” as so many in his administration enjoyed saying. Well, that’s not how I felt.

Because I knew something about the misery of warfare, the B1 mission horrified me. I was also outraged at Bush for allowing such an atrocity to happen. When a president of the United States decides to preemptively strike another country for the first time in American history with massive air power, then, by God, he had better get it right. And that doesn’t mean killing innocent human beings just because he has a grudge against their leader.

Republicans will retort, “We killed millions of civilians in World War Two, thousands at a time.” True, but there’s a difference. A gigantic one. We didn’t start the hostilities. Germany and Japan did.

Bush claims to be a born-again Christian who got a second chance at life when he turned 40. If that’s the case and not just hypocritical bullshit for public consumption, then he’d better get down on his knees and beg forgiveness from Jesus for killing those poor people on April 7. Because if George W. doesn’t show contrition, which I haven’t seen or heard expressed so far, he may end up in the eternal down-under sharing a table with Saddam in a barbecue joint called “Hell.”

As an addendum to this tawdry tale, in 2004, President Bush was asked during a press conference about a retaliatory air assault by Israeli jets against Syria. The reason for the revenge mission was a Hamas suicide bombing of a crowded Jewish eating establishment that killed 20 people.

When questioned by a White House reporter if the Israeli raid was justified, Bush glowered and replied sternly, “When Hamas blows up a restaurant with civilians inside, that’s terrorism.”

I kid you not. I heard him say that with my own ears. Those were the exact words spoken by George Bin Laden.

In sum, with an enthnocentristic commander-in-chief like Bush, brutality by GIs in Iraq should come as no surprise.

Hugh E. Scott, Vietnam vet and editor of the nonprofit investigative website, King-George.biz, which features 50 cartoons, photos and other Bushwhacking illustrations plus the only hardcopy proof of White House corruption ever found on the Internet.

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to fly your "support our troops" stickers on your car-asses huh? Why not alter the statement a bit to say something like; We know we were lied into invading you folks, realize it's costing you billions and hundreds of thousands of lives but we support our invading, murdering "heroes" just the same. The average world citizen will understand the idiocy of it since it's a statement from the U.S. Sheeple.

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Call in your vote TODAY for impeaching Bush and Cheney at this number: 202-225-0100

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office is taking calls voting for Impeachment of Bush/Cheney at 202-225-0100. PLEASE CALL TODAY. At the toll free capitol switchboard #s below, you can also call your particular district’s congressional representative to insist that they support impeachment for Cheney. E.g., for Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s H Res 333 for Cheney; please say:

“In addition to supporting Kucinich’s bill H Res 333, I would also support a similar Impeachment Resolution against Bush, especially after the disgraceful Scooter Libby sentence “commuting” and the following issues: wiretapping, torture, numerous 9/11 intelligence misrepresentations, the continued occupation of Iraq, gross negligence during Hurrican Katrina, the Valerie Plame CIA leak, […list your other grounds…] ..”[see resolutions on tab #2 for other grounds for impeachment]).

LANIC requests that Americans call today…Not tomorrow or next week. Every call adds to the extraordinary grasswoots and nationwide movement’s pressures on House Speaker Pelosi to act now .before further innocent lives are lost in Iraq and elsewhere. Last week 28 Americans lost their lives. Over the July 4, 2007 weekend over 400 Iraqis lost their lives…

SEND MAIL TO HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: Attn: Nancy Pelosi, House Representative/Speaker of the House, 235 Cannon H.O.B., Washington, DC 20515 ; Pelosi’s Fax # 202 225-8259

Pelosi’s e-mail address :

Americanvoices@mail.house.gov

CC her at: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov

Please send her a pro-impeachment email and a specific call to endorse H Res 333. Note: On Saturdays/Sundays, Pelosi’s office has a comment line at which you can leave a voicemail. Your message will be transcribed and relayed to her. Please do encourage your family/friends to contact the same number. Refer them to www.bcimpeach.com for the actual telephone #s & contact info.

Find out who your Congressional representative is and call that person. For toll free numbers to your Congress rep: (800) 828 – 0498; (800) 459 – 1887; or (866) 340 – 9281. You will be connected once you name your congress person. The staff aid should take detailed notes and provided to the Congressional representative.

Final Note: Please say “I support Impeachment based on ____. I’d like to know where “[representative name]” stands on this issue.” Let’s strike while the Libby fury keeps the iron hot! Please call and Act Now!

PLEASE ALSO CONTACT THESE KEY CONGRESSIONAL REPS RE IMPEACHMENT:
Representative Capitol Phone Capitol Fax
Howard Berman 202-225-4695 202-225-3196
& 818-944-7200 818-994-1050

MAILING ADDRESS FOR BERMAN
Congressman Howard L. Berman
14546 Hamlin Street, Suite 202
Van Nuys, CA 91411

Henry Waxman 202-225-3976 202-225-4099
Loreta Sanchez 202 225-2965 202-225-5859
D. Watson 202 225-7084 202-225-2422
LindaSanchez 202 225-6676 202-226-1012
L. Solis 202 225-5464 202-225-5467
A. G. Eshoo 202 225-8104 202-225-8890
L. Roybal/Allard 202 225-1766 202-225-0350

http://www.bcimpeach.com/

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... because US military rules have no respect for the law. That is, their own laws. Of course, any military general who doesn't "tow the party line" has found themselves "retired".

Note how all the generals who served in Iraq were replacements of much higher ranking and experienced people.

The British military has had it's horrid crimes too, but they are not a pattern of atrocity as we see with US soldiers. The difference is very, very, telling.

Comparing the two reveals the out and out murderousness of the US soldier. After all, it's their orders. Making US marines and army perform as nothing less than murderous punks or even torturers. Note: no one above the rank of captain will ever be accused of a crime... take my advice soldiers of America... come up to Canada! We promise peace, beer, and nice girls (note, many are Muslim so get over that mmk?). :)

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For the American people to rise up and say enough is enough!
TIME FOR REVOLUTION!

Where is our Thomas Jefferson? Maybe we need a civil war.
Blue States and Red States-just divide the country in two.

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We can easily see in this in-depth article the brutal effect occupation has on soldiers and civilians alike.

This Iraq occupation has been underway only a few years, and the savagery is despicable.

The Israeli occupation of Palestine has been going on for decades.

Do the math.

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Ridge....
What they fantasize as THEIR reaction to 'homeland ' invasion and occupation:[a special treat for vets who served in SS 'Das Hypocrite' Division]...
RD
=========
[followed by a fictionalized account of what was probably not that far off the mark of actual history in terms of how the forefathers of white Americans reacted to foreign occupying oppressors]
PATR

......BTW..note to those who seem to think that a ruthless execution of overwhelming military might, in terms of technology and hardware, can guarantee....'victory'. Well in 1957 it was called Saigon, today ,class, we call it Ho Chi Minh City. By the end of WW2 , partisan army under Tito controlled ALL of Eastern Yugoslavia in contest with SS/Wehrmacht and other Axis powers Divisions for four years.
YUGOSLAV
..Ummmm......Less 'Idol'...more History Channel :O)

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Whether it's "Shock and Awe", Abu Ghraib, or shooting at innocent civilians, it's still terrorism.

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bodies

bodies

and then again, more bodies!

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I'm sick and tired of Bush lies which keep putting us all in danger. I am tired of all the right winger name calling because they can't address to issues. There is no such thing as a Terrorist (except Bush). I call on all my progressive brothers and sisters to march with us in Baghdad on August 15, 2007. This will be the first ever Progressive Peace Rally in Baghdad. We will be meeting at the Mohamed is Peace intersection just outside the green zone at 6 a.m. (just after the 5 a.m. call to prayer). Festivities will include:
At 7 a.m. a performance by the Oakland Gay Tamboree. The performers will dance and freely express themselves, following a short speech (with Iraqi interpretor) explaining just what it means to be gay and proud.
At 9 a.m. Doctors from Planned Parenthood are requested to perform an actual Partial Birth Abortion, so as to relieve any pre-concieved, unfounded anxieties concerning this very humane procedure.
At 11 a.m. we will march from Allah is Peace ave. into Shiites Love Peace province. There were a few minor incidents where some Shiites drilled into the brains of some Sunni, but that was only because Bush and his cronies lied about weapons of mass destruction. Don't worry as security will be top notch, provided by the Lesbian Movement Foundation. Don't underestimate these girls.
We are going to talk with our Iraqi brothers and sisters immediately after noon prayer is finished and explain exactly what it is that real Americans stand for. Once they see that we are not religious lunatic fanatical warmongers like Bush, they will like us and we can finally have peace and the killing can stop. It is our duty, if we are true believers in talking this all out with our Iraqi brothers and sisters, to stop talking about talking and go there ourselves to show what a LIAR Bush is. Don't Let Bush scare you. Buy your airline ticket today and join us.
Attention: Military Personnel are NOT WELCOME. But you can watch the festivities from inside the green zone.

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One must wonder if anyone has totaled the number of civilian deaths, maimings, displacements and impoverishment of Iraqis since their "liberation" and compared these numbers to those of the unabashedly brutal regime of Saddam? It's an infernal math operation and one fears the results might be down-right disgusting. And that's just mathematics... .

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and very similar things happened in Vietnam, in Korea, and I've even worked with cops woh host people in the projects in East Oakland. Then ther are the "drug warriors" killing 94 year old great grandmothers because they're in the wrong house and expecting some wigged out speed freak. It's WAR. Rules are nice and all, but the priority quickly becomes survival. The human system is not meant to be under 24/7 stress like this - it's a guaranteed way to make people crazy, quite literally. Keeping the troops in a useless situation until the Iraqis give us all their oil is destroying the military. They're doing no good whatsoever except providing an ongoing excuse for Bush cronies to keep raiding the treasury.

The worst of all this is going to happen when they come home, especially those who are there on a moral turpitude waiver. They've been shown that they can kill with impunity. The others, the decent kids, are going to need psych support for the remainder of their lives. As they get older and they realize the preciousness of life, as we who manage to get older usually do, they're going to really realize what they've done, and it'll probably hurt them more at 50 than it did at 18. And the way the government is going, the only help they'll have is the nearest church - someone to pray over 'em. May God help us all. If there's any justice, America is screwed.

Ian

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The way this country has conducted the war in Iraq has earned us the well-deserved contempt of the world. These days I am ashamed to be an American. Would I leave if I could? In a minute!

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Is there a continent that is not touched or in the axis of evil. Yes we will be looked down at. While our leader, hum, elect, has taken us to this many are following on his coat tails, as we see in the UN peace keepers troops in Lebanon. Spain seemed to be having a working democracy , as when they voted their war leader out . Their new president elect pulled their troops out. We cannot say that about our NOV 06 elections. On a lighter note is something wrong in Denmark. Would it be presumptuous to say the system appears to be broken and not working. I thought I heard Nancy Pelocy say the voters have spoken. Insisting on oil contracts for markers for success will only, bring them on as it is said. I herd it said once if you let it go freely and it comes back to you it will be your s forever. Fairy tale maybe but what if it were to turn out to be true! So much damage has been done.

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The author mentions the case of a former soldier and his team raping a 14 year old Iraqi girl. I remember the trial from earlier this year. They were sentenced for killing her and her entire family to cover up the rape. Even burning the bodies afterward to eliminate the DNA evidence. The troops involved all agreed to stick to a certain story, which was that the Iraqi family members were insurgents and had to be taken out.

During the Army investigation one officer ratted out the others, who then struck their own deals with prosecutors. The harshest sentence was given to the ring leader who came up with the idea of raping this young girl. His sentence was either 21 or 27 years. That number I soon forgot because of the next thing spoken from the prosecutor after the trial was that he will be eligible for parole in 7 years with good behavior, and that he won't have to register as a sex offender since the crime was done in another country.

In America these guys would fry, well at least get life in prison with no chance of parole. First degree murder in the commission of a felony- with special circumstances (being that the girl was a minor). That usually gets people a trip to the lethal injection room.

Why is the life of an Iraqi citizen of less value than that of an American?

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...that is, if your an American. I'm so ashamed of our government and the administration. I think it's time for a new government of woman and colored people (Native America) where decisions are made by humans rather than a rich, mean, old white machines in human clothing (Hannibal Lector).

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Our rights in part from Declaration of Independence:

“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these [the rights of the population], it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness... [W]hen a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

IT IS OUR DUTY !!! He has prepared to put down public resistance with instateing laws to use our military for public emergency or even to call off the next election if he deams so. He has done this thru establishment of Northcom and the National Defense Authoration Act last year. We must begin this converasation, it is our right. Another voice must begin to be herd, don't think they are not watching. They have distracted us with their early election retoric, and they are not talking in our language. NO OIL REWARDS AND NO REDEPLOYMENT OR RESIDUALS IN LARGE NUMBERS IN IRAQ. STOP THE FUNDING NOW. THIS IS NOT A POLE IT IS THE VOICE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND IT IS OUR COUNTRY!

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Scaife, it is reported, has condemned Bush II, and, together with Murtha, demands US troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Question: How often did fora contributors, via The New York Times, and other newspapers, question and plead with Scaife, including Americans who voted Bush I, Dole/opposed Clinton's impeachment, to detach himself from Bush II overreach, questioned, and pleaded?

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David Enders, author of Baghdad Bulletin, is a New York-based freelance journalist who has spent more than 18 months in Iraq over the past four years.. On his latest trip, Enders reports about the growing refugee problem in Iraq and its effects on teh rest of the region. To read Enders's blog, go to http://pulitzercenter.typepad.com/death_of_a_nation/
and to learn more, go to www.pulitzercenter.org

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The USA. UK and Israel .. Birds of a Feather flock together.

These pathological entities are the rich mans artifacts .. liars, land thieves and rapists .. wrapped in a Patriotic flag that is glued onto brains with the rich mans shit.

The Constitution, the Magna Charta and the Talmud .. as the Commander in Chief said .. the constitution is just a Goddam piece of paper and proved it.

America is not fighting a war .. this so called war is a Zionist inspired 'Duck Shoot' .. the permits are free .. the prize .. oil and more oil .. The Global Bankers and the Wall Street Piggery and the raddled old whore of Threadneedle Street rub their hands in glee as we all pay the price in our common degraded humanity.

What is happening is designed to put the frightners on .. but unlike the past .. this time its not working .. the peasants are fighting back and the Axis of Evil cant handle that .. Its all so very Israeli .. keep behaving like Nazi's and pay the price.

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Is there any other nation in the world being occupied by foreign forces announcing they were coming to liberate them from a cruel and ruthless leader , impose some illusion of democracy, then for years 100’s of thousands of citizens are terrorized while the US military is “looking” for the enemy???? Who’s the enemy that my tax dollars are promoting the violation of basic human rights of citizens living in the country the US invaded to liberate.??? THE FAMILY DOG?????

This could be the year I refuse to finance genocide of the spirit, lack of respect for any human life or other life for that matter, and the total corruption of the young, very young men who are engaging in the lowest form of human behavior, for the humiliation and destruction of life and property is as un-American and un-patriotic as you can get. This could be the year that I refuse to pay taxes. The government and the military of the US is not representing me as a US citizen nor adhering to the Constitution or the Bill of Rights; my rights.

Will any one join me?????

I am asking that any of my fellow citizens that are aware and awake enough to experience the “shock and Awe” of it all, are ready yet to take the same drastic, dramatic, and distracting actions that have been heaved on all of us? When will we be ready to face what we are up against, and take the necessary action in mass, in numbers, in unity, There are infinite ways that are peaceful and we have the power to stand up and say no more to the killing in the name of God and Freedom.


If 70% of he American people just “refused to participate in the those actions that directly or indirectly support this insane war, destruction and death of the spirit, we might turn things around. Refuse to watch the news or buy a news paper for 7 days or longer. Refuse to eat GM foods. Only Organic food for a week. Only buy the bare necessities for 7 days. Put off any large purchases for a week. Drive less or not at all if possible. Take a bike or walk short distances or use public transportation. I won’t hurt. Refuse to buy anything made in China for 7 days (if possible). Drink only water, refuse sodas or beef raised in a chopped down part of he rainforest. Refuse to talk politics for one week.
Refuse to buy anything that you truly know is not good for you, food or otherwise. Do not pay any bills or make any bank deposits for one week. Withdraw all you like. Refuse to use credit card or pay any interest for one month (dare ya’)
There are many more things that we can refuse to participate in that are killing us off, and they can be done in a way that promotes and protects life. Nothing suggested is against the law or would get you in jail.


There is just no doubt about it now. We should not give anyone the right to do what these soldiers are doing in our name. I will find as many ways as I possibly can to participate in stopping this war. Talk won’t do it and the government won’t do it but we can. Hit em where is hurts. It is greed and money and the dependence on our consumption of goods that keeps it all going. What if everyone went on a strike to purchase gas or oil products for (?) days. Oh Yeah, maybe you could refuse to buy any weapons or ammunition for one week. I am not sure, but it might help.

Last but not least, refuse to pay income tax. However, it could get you into jail, even though there is no written law on the books that we must pay it. BUT if at least 70% of the American citizens do not support this war, that is a lot of people and a lot of strength, if we were still living in a democratic society. So those of you who finally get that we have been totally fooled into believing the world is one way, when it is really NOT that way, why not be braver than some of these soldiers we have just read about.

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