November 27, 2005

Why does a US military ethicist commit suicide in Iraq? "A note found in his trailer seemed to offer clues. Written in what the Army determined was his handwriting, the colonel appeared to be struggling with a final question.

How is honor possible in a war like the one in Iraq?"

Ponder that as you read on.

In the buildup to the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, US media regurgitated the White House promise that once US forces went into Iraq, they would discover stockpiles of WMDs.

When no such stockpiles were found, much to the mudding of America's reputation in the world, reports surfaced that the US military would plant WMDs in Iraq to justify their illegal invasion and occupation.

Indeed, they did do that. The US military is the WMD in Iraq. More than 160,000 US WMDs walk, breathe, murder, pillage, loot and rape among the Iraqi people.

In the buildup to the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, US media hinted that the Iraq war would liberate an oppressed people who were tortured by a despot. They promised to uncover torture chambers, mass graves, evidence of the systematic destruction of the Iraqi people.

Indeed, the US military set up torture chambers in the camps and jails they run. They gave free rein to Iranian forces to maim and burn Iraqis, drill holes in their skulls, rape their women and butcher them in cold blood.

The US military today is the greatest torturer in Iraq. The US military today is the greatest oppressor in Iraq. The US military today is the greatest terrorist in Iraq.

This is the truth as it is emerging day after day, unbearable fact after unbearable fact. No Dr Phil will rid the American people of the crimes for which they stand accused.

You supported the war. And many of you still support the war. You want the world not to hate you? Charter flights to Baghdad and if you survive the Airport road, proceed to the house of every Iraqi family who has lost a son or a daughter or has husbands and brothers missing in abusive US concentration camps.

Beg forgiveness for the crimes committed in your name, paid for by your tax dollars, supported by your flag-waving brouhaha, and justified by your self-delusional holier-than-thou mediocrity.

Reminder: Why did a US military ethicist commit suicide in Iraq?

"A USIS contractor accompanied Iraqi police trainees during the assault on Fallouja last November and later boasted about the number of insurgents he had killed, the letter says. Private security contractors are not allowed to conduct offensive operations.

In a second incident, the letter says, a USIS employee saw Iraqi police trainees kill two innocent Iraqi civilians, then covered it up. A USIS manager "did not want it reported because he thought it would put his contract at risk.""


In his column in The Guardian on November 22, George Monbiot asks: So the question has now widened: is there any crime the coalition forces have not committed in Iraq?

Dear George, thank you for your courage in asking this question, even though we are approaching the third anniversary of the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Is your question targeted to those who label Iraq the Model? A model in brutality, yes.

Is your question targeted to those who thank US forces day and night for the tragedy that has befallen their brethren?

Or to those who have never lived in Iraq yet believe their experience teaching English as a Second language to immigrants validates their poor knowledge and right-wing bravado?

Who is this question for? Americans? Iraqis? The world community?

Who will answer this question?

The people rotting in their graves will. The Iraqis with holes in their skulls, the ones who raised a hand to defend their sisters and were mowed down by US soldiers bored with the mundane lifestyle in Iraq.

The corpses who were starved into submission as fighter jets rained terror on their houses.

The decapitated baby killed in its sleep.

The girl who saw her family mowed down at a US checkpoint.

The "suspected insurgents" who were shot in their backs more than 60 times.

And so, after destroying a functioning society, the US says it is running. What happened? Can't win unless you zap an entire city of vibrant civilians with White Phosphorous?

This weekend, Democratic leader Joe Biden said US forces would withdraw 50,000 soldiers from Iraq before the end of 2006.

(Anyone know how close to the end of 2006 November 2006 is?)

White House spokesperson Scott McClellan confirmed that a withdrawal timetable has been drawn up. Read more here from Aljazeera.

But history will chase the cowards down.

And, unfortunately, so will Russian and Chinese military analysts.

History will not only show that the US military in Iraq followed a regimen which would have made anointed saints of the Gestapo and Nazi Stormtroopers, but it will also show that the US lost militarily in Iraq.

And for the watching eyes of other countries, this is significant. It is now known the US has neither the military nor the spirit to engage in a coventional war.

Once again, China is calling.

Update: To answer why a US military ethicist commits suicide in Iraq:

So it was only natural that Westhusing acted when he learned of possible corruption by U.S. contractors in Iraq. A few weeks before he died, Westhusing received an anonymous complaint that a private security company he oversaw had cheated the U.S. government and committed human rights violations. Westhusing confronted the contractor and reported the concerns to superiors, who launched an investigation.

In e-mails to his family, Westhusing seemed especially upset by one conclusion he had reached: that traditional military values such as duty, honor and country had been replaced by profit motives in Iraq, where the U.S. had come to rely heavily on contractors for jobs once done by the military.