Iraq, al Qaeda, U.S. And The Ghost of Terrorism

“We can go on like this – recreating and reflecting the existing images of each other, and reflecting these reflections – endlessly and hatefully – as in a hall of mirrors. The result will be that all of us – Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs – will be locked in endless and bloody agony in a hall of mirrors of our own creation and from which there is no exit.

Or we can begin by adopting a certain integrity – a certain geneoristy – in the use of language.

That’s not too hard. It’s the easiest of the hard things that must be done if we are ever to come to peace with one another, and so with ourselves.”

Israeli journalist Michael Elkins, in the Jersualem Post, 13 November 1983

I am reading Robert Fisk’s Pity the Nation. It is a book on Lebanon. It starts with the civil war in 1975-1976, follows the Syrian occupation/liberation to the Israeli occupation/liberation and ends with the Quana Massacre. I have not finished it yet but, I know it will go into Hezbollah (Party of God) and their terrorist/freedom fighter attacks to get Israel out (which they ultimately succeeded at). Anyway the book and Robert Fisk’s recent article, Iraq 1917, have some deep parallels with the current U.S. occupation of Iraq. These claims from the much bigger and better armed armies on their acts of “liberations” and occupations seem to follow the same formula.

First, you prepare the stage with claims of terrorism (governments and militaries have been fighting “terrorists” for decades. This “War on Terror” is nothing new except for the scale the U.S. is going. Bush recently said that terrorists want us “to retreat from the World”, a truly revealing comment that what the U.S. is is a imperialist system). You create facts and you exaggerate them. You demonize the enemy and make promises of liberating the people from that enemy.

Second, the invasion/liberation happens. You announce that you have no ambitions of staying: “not one minute more than necessary!” And, of course you say this while bringing in more equipment, arms and building more fortifications.

Third, you pit certain groups against each other and when alliances fail you simply change course. But, you always promise to return “sovereignty” even when it is clear that you will not.

Lastly, it always fails and the invader always retreats. This may be good news for us who want the occupation to end but, here is the reality: People die by the thousands unnecessarily. It is not good enough to say that eventually we will leave. This serves as procrastination to kill the root of the problem: WAR. Sooner or later we will have to deal with the reality of what we are doing as nations because WAR is becoming more obsolete in that annihilation is increasingly possible.

US Says Falluja Airstrike Targeted Al Qaeda Network

[The headline tells people al Qaeda is in Iraq but, there has been no evidence of such. No sightings, no arrests, nothing. The headline is in reference to a US attack on Fallujah civilians in which the US blamed the air strike on “significant intelligence” (like the WMD, al Qaeda ties, Iraqi’s accepting us as “liberators”, etc.,) that al Qaeda was there. Of course only civilians were killed like most of any militaries air raids. They say Zarqawi was there, he is the alleged al Qaeda link. However, even our own intelligence agencies are admitting that he operates free from al Qaeda so it is very misleading to suggest this was al Qaeda (do not forget that there was no evidence that Zarqawi was there either. So, not only does Zarqawi operate independently but, our recent air strike turned up no evidence that he was there, as we suggested). Especially, at a time when the Bush administration is still pressing that there was a “relationship” knowing full well that there was not. It would still be hard to call their “relationship” an acquaintenance because there is no solid proof of anything but the intent to meet years ago (the alleged intent was on Iraq’s behalf and apparently al Qaeda did not respond. Which this makes sense because bin Laden has consistently and verbally attacked the Muslim governments. He has called Saddam a despot in the not too distant past…). As I keep bringing up; there is a larger “relationship” with Washington and al Qaeda than Baghdad and al Qaeda. Anyway, this strike is correlating with the Bushes deceptions. Why the deception you might ask? Look at the results. Americans are more likely to boost their support at this vital political time because, if you keep saying “al Qaeda” loud enough more people will think:”Hey al Qaeda is in Iraq and was responsible for 9/11 and is a legitimate target in the ‘War on Terror.'” This is a propaganda scheme and the consequences are lives of innocent civilians. Yes, terrorists are in Iraq and there is over 140,000 of them. They wear a uniform and call themselves “liberators” and “freedom fighters”…]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20040619/ts_nm/iraq_dc_5

Saddam/Al Qaeda Link: Bush Team Tries to Brazen It Out

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0619-04.htm

Bush Told He is Playing into Bin Laden’s Hands

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0619-01.htm

Latest Horror Could Destroy President of Divided Nation

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0619-03.htm

Liberation Will Only Come When the Americans Leave

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0618-08.htm

Operation Plumbbob

My grandfather, Dale Lee Shoup served in the United States Navy and was present for a full operation of inter-continental nuclear and radioactive testing in 1957 and more. He died in 1970 from cancer. In the mid-late 1990’s we learned that the cancer was from the exposure to the detonations of nuclear weapons he was intentionally exposed to. He was not alone…

The 19th full-scale atomic detonation of Operation Plumbbob,was fired at 9:45 a.m. on September 14, 1957, PDT, from a 500-foot tower. Fizeau, code name for the shot, was observed from News Nob at a distance of about seven miles.

More information on Operation PLUMBBOB and other operations:
http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/index.shtml

http://www.aracnet.com/~histgaz/atomi/plumbob.htm