[+] Fwd: t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt: Your Children are Burning

Tuesday 24 August 2004

Ladybug! Ladybug!
Fly away home.
Your house is on fire,
And your children all gone.

- Children's nursery rhyme, author unknown

The presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and
John Kerry are at each other's throats like dogs in a
fighting pit over a war that ended 29 years ago. The
mainstream news media, along with the alternative news
media, have enjoyed watching the show, dutifully
reporting every detail and nuance of the fiery
exchanges between the camps.

Somewhere in these last 24 days of August, however,
while arguing over a three-decades-old war, we managed
to forget that another war is happening. Here are some
details that have been missed:

Army Spc. Armando Hernandez, age 22; Army Spc.
Anthony J. Dixon, age 20;Marine Cpl. Dean P. Pratt,
age 22; Army Spc. Justin B. Onwordi, age 28; Marine
Sgt. Juan Calderon Jr., age 26; Army Pfc. Harry N.
Shondee, Jr., age 19; Marine Capt. Gregory A Ratzlaff,
age 36; Army Sgt. Tommy L. Gray, age 34; Marine Lance
Cpl. Joseph L. Nice, age 19; Marine Gunnery Sgt. Elia
P. Fontecchio, age 30; Army Spc. Donald R. McCune, age
20; Marine Sgt. Moses D. Rocha, age 33; Army Pfc.
Raymond J. Faulstich Jr., age 24; Marine Sgt. Yadir G.
Reynoso, age 27; Marine Lance Cpl. Larry L. Wells, age
22; Army Spc. Joshua I. Bunch, age 23; Marine Cpl.
Roberto Abad, age 22; Army Pfc. David L. Potter, age
22; Marine Lance Cpl. Jonathan W. Collins, age 19;
Army Capt. Andrew R. Houghton, age 25; Marine Lance
Cpl. Tavon L. Hubbard, age 24; Marine Staff Sgt. John
R. Howard, age 26; Army Capt. Michael Yury Tarlavsky,
age 30; Marine Lance Cpl. Kane M. Funke, age 20;
Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas B. Morrison, age 23; Army
1st Lt. Neil Anthony Santoriello, age 24; Marine Corps
Pfc. Geoffrey Perez, age 24; Marine Corps Pfc.
Fernando B. Hannon, age 19; Army Spc. Mark Anthony
Zapata, age 27; Army 2nd Lt. James Michael Goins, age
23; Army Sgt. Daniel Michael Shepherd, age 23; Army
Pfc. Brandon R. Sapp, age 21; Army Sgt. David M.
Heath, age 30; Army Spc. Brandon T. Titus, age 20;
Marine Lance Cpl. Caleb J. Powers, age 21; Army Spc.
Jacob D. Martir, age 21; Marine Sgt. Harvey E.
Parkerson III, age 27; Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin R.
Fitzgerald, age 22; Army Pfc. Henry C. Risner, age 26;
Pfc. Kevin A. Cuming, age 22; 1st Lt. Charles L.
Wilkins III, age 38; Pfc. Ryan A. Martin, age 22.

That is the list of dead American soldiers in Iraq
from the last 24 days. That is August, so far. Two
other American soldiers - Army Sgt. Bobby E. Beasley,
age 36, and Army Staff Sgt. Craig W. Cherry, age 39 -
were killed in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive
device on August 7th. We don't talk about that war
anymore, either. 964 dead American soldiers, 52 since
August 1st.

522 days ago, the administration of George W. Bush
began the 'Shock and Awe' bombing campaign in Iraq, an
opening salvo that has broadened into a conflict which
has left well over ten thousand innocent Iraqi
civilians dead. According to the rhetoric that loosed
those bombs 74 weeks ago, we went into Iraq because:

* Iraq was in possession of 26,000 liters of
anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons of
sarin, mustard and VX gas, 30,000 munitions to deliver
these agents, unmanned aerial drones to deliver these
agents, mobile biological weapons labs, and uranium
'yellowcake' from Niger for use in the development of
nuclear bombs.

* The Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein enjoyed
operational relationships with Osama bin Laden and his
al Qaeda terrorists, and were involved in the attacks
of September 11. Because of this relationship, Hussein
would happily hand over the aforementioned weapons of
mass destruction for bin Laden to use against the
United States.

* The Iraqi people desperately want a democratic
government, and will welcome the United States as
liberators.

* Saddam Hussein was a bad man.

Let's take these one at a time.

* No weapons of mass destruction have been found.
The few 'unmanned aerial drones' were pathetic
model-airplane specimens apparently made from tongue
depressors and Q-tips, none of which had a prayer off
getting off the ground. The 'mobile biological weapons
labs' were in fact helium weather balloon launching
platforms sold to Iraq by the British in the 1980s.
The 'yellowcake' story was based upon fabricated
evidence, and has led to a political scandal involving
the exposure of a deep-cover CIA agent whose husband
had the gall to call Bush a liar in the public prints.

* No relationship whatsoever has been established
between Hussein and bin Laden. In fact, bin Laden
despised Hussein because Hussein was a self-styled
Socialist, Godless to the core, who killed every
Islamic fundamentalist he could get his hands on. The
U.S. has, in fact, done bin Laden a great service by
disposing of his Iraqi enemy. Now, the stage is set
for an Islamic fundamentalist takeover of Iraq,
something bin Laden would very much like to see. As
for Hussein giving bin Laden weapons of mass
destruction, well...you can't give what you don't
have.

* It is entirely possible the Iraqi people would
have embraced democracy, if that is what Bush's plan
actually had in mind. Unfortunately for them, the
whole push for democracy was a farce to begin with;
Bush wanted to establish a
government-by-remote-control in Iraq, so as to
maintain control of the oil fields and the development
of military bases. In a nation where the Shia enjoy a
60% majority, a democratic vote would have elected a
Shia government, which would have then had the
temerity to act as it pleased, regardless of American
desires. It was never going to happen, and it never
will happen, so long as Bush's people man the stick.

* Saddam Hussein was indeed a bad man, whose
fortunes were created and augmented by the U.S.
government over a period of 20 years. We knew he was
developing and using chemical weapons. We helped him
do it. We didn't care, so long as he was gassing
Iranians. Beyond that, the math is pretty
straightforward. If the U.S. is going to adopt an
Invade Every Country Run By A Bad Man foreign policy
doctrine, everyone reading these words who approves of
the notion better haul ass down to their local
military recruiting office. We're going to need every
warm body we can get. How about you, and right now.
Go.

These guys went:

Army Spc. Armando Hernandez, age 22; Army Spc.
Anthony J. Dixon, age 20;Marine Cpl. Dean P. Pratt,
age 22; Army Spc. Justin B. Onwordi, age 28; Marine
Sgt. Juan Calderon Jr., age 26; Army Pfc. Harry N.
Shondee, Jr., age 19; Marine Capt. Gregory A Ratzlaff,
age 36; Army Sgt. Tommy L. Gray, age 34; Marine Lance
Cpl. Joseph L. Nice, age 19; Marine Gunnery Sgt. Elia
P. Fontecchio, age 30; Army Spc. Donald R. McCune, age
20; Marine Sgt. Moses D. Rocha, age 33; Army Pfc.
Raymond J. Faulstich Jr., age 24; Marine Sgt. Yadir G.
Reynoso, age 27; Marine Lance Cpl. Larry L. Wells, age
22; Army Spc. Joshua I. Bunch, age 23; Marine Cpl.
Roberto Abad, age 22; Army Pfc. David L. Potter, age
22; Marine Lance Cpl. Jonathan W. Collins, age 19;
Army Capt. Andrew R. Houghton, age 25; Marine Lance
Cpl. Tavon L. Hubbard, age 24; Marine Staff Sgt. John
R. Howard, age 26; Army Capt. Michael Yury Tarlavsky,
age 30; Marine Lance Cpl. Kane M. Funke, age 20;
Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas B. Morrison, age 23; Army
1st Lt. Neil Anthony Santoriello, age 24; Marine Corps
Pfc. Geoffrey Perez, age 24; Marine Corps Pfc.
Fernando B. Hannon, age 19; Army Spc. Mark Anthony
Zapata, age 27; Army 2nd Lt. James Michael Goins, age
23; Army Sgt. Daniel Michael Shepherd, age 23; Army
Pfc. Brandon R. Sapp, age 21; Army Sgt. David M.
Heath, age 30; Army Spc. Brandon T. Titus, age 20;
Marine Lance Cpl. Caleb J. Powers, age 21; Army Spc.
Jacob D. Martir, age 21; Marine Sgt. Harvey E.
Parkerson III, age 27; Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin R.
Fitzgerald, age 22; Army Pfc. Henry C. Risner, age 26;
Pfc. Kevin A. Cuming, age 22; 1st Lt. Charles L.
Wilkins III, age 38; Pfc. Ryan A. Martin, age 22.

Now they are dead. They never found weapons of mass
destruction, they never found a connection between
Saddam and 9/11, they never got the chance to create a
democracy, and they were never fully informed that
part of their mission was the removal from power of a
former employee of the United States government.

In Iraq today, 780,000 cubic yards of human and
industrial waste is dumped into the Diyala River every
day by one sewage plant. The Diyala joins the Tigris
seven miles downstream. There isn't anything the plant
can do about it; it is shattered from the war. Power,
water, road, health care and educational
infrastructures are completely wrecked. The World Bank
estimates that it will cost $55 billion to repair all
of this damage, and it will take over four years to do
it.

$24 billion in U.S. tax money has been allocated to
'rebuild' Iraq. According to Christian Parenti, who
has reported from Iraq on the reconstruction process
for The Nation magazine, "Only $5.3 billion had been
allocated to specific reconstruction contracts as of
late June 2004. According to a report from the White
House Office of Management and Budget, of the $18.4
billion reconstruction honey-pot approved last fall
only $366 million had been spent by late June - that
is, invested in Iraq. Instead of creating 250,000 jobs
for Iraqis, as was the original goal, at most 24,000
local workers have been hired."

"Most amazing of all," writes Parenti, "the OMB
report showed that not a single cent of US tax money
had been spent on Iraqi healthcare, water treatment or
sanitation projects - though $9 million was dithered
away on administrative costs of the now defunct
Coalition Provisional Authority. Most of the little
that has been invested in healthcare, water treatment
and sanitation has come from Iraqi oil revenues,
managed for most of last year by the Development Fund
for Iraq, a US controlled successor to the UN-run Oil
for Food program. In all, the CPA spent roughly $19
billion of Iraqi oil money - on what exactly is not
quite clear."

And we wonder why there is an 'insurgency.' We
wonder why a nobody named Moqtada al-Sadr has emerged
as an Iraqi version of Thomas Jefferson, fighting the
good fight against imperial usurpers. We wonder why so
many Iraqis flock to his banner, pick up a weapon, and
shoot Americans.

Sit in the dark for a year, be unemployed because
all the jobs have gone to non-Iraqis, have no place to
see your children schooled, have no place to bring
your children if they get sick, drink water that
tastes like something you squeezed into your toilet,
and stand a good chance whenever you step outside of
being shot by a sniper, blown up by a laser-guided
bomb, or run down by a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and
you might think about picking up a weapon, too.

This is how terrorists and suicide bombers are
created. Desperation is the seed, time is the
fertilizer, and rage is the crop reaped by American
soldiers sent far from home to die because they were
lied to, as were we all.

This is, perhaps, the most galling aspect of the
whole Swift Boat Veterans nonsense. It has distracted
us from realizing that our children still burn in
Iraq, while simultaneously insulting every veteran who
was given a medal for service in action. It implies
that medals awarded for service in Vietnam somehow do
not count, which when taken to the end of the
argument, implies that medals awarded for service
anywhere do not count.

In a recent and eloquent truthout essay, Vietnam
veteran John Cory wrote the following words: "There
are veterans of all conflicts, who fall in love with
the terrible sweet beauty of war. Men who polish their
armor long after the parades have faded. Their glory
is not in duty, honor, and country; but in the
carnival mirrors of their own warped reflections.
These are veterans who march with swagger and blaring
brass, like small boys struggling to be seen and
heard. There are veterans who have paid passage
through the heart of darkness; who dedicate their
lives to eliminating the horrors that hide behind
their eyes at night, when they dream. These veterans
testify to the unreal and repulsive acts of war that
forever wound the soul. And there are veterans who let
it go and never look back again. Not that they forget,
they simply choose not to dwell in those memories.
They seek peace of mind and hope."

The men who have foisted this rending open of old
wounds upon us are the ones who polish their armor,
who revel in their own warped reflections. They insult
fellow veterans everywhere. My father earned a Bronze
Star in Vietnam. Should he give it back? The men and
women serving and dying in Iraq have earned thousands
of medals, many of them Purple Hearts to replace
missing legs or faces. Should they give theirs back?

How many medals did George W. Bush earn to allow him
to make this frontal assault upon those who served in
his stead a generation ago, and those who serve now in
the free-fire zone he placed them in with his
deceptions?

When a person puts on the uniform of the United
States military and swears an oath, that person is
promising to sacrifice their life for their country.
The only promise they expect in return is that their
life not be spent for no good reason. That promise was
broken.

Do not forget your dying children. They wear the
uniform of your country, they live and die for all of
us. Some lie still, wrapped in your flag. Some walk
the land trying to remember, or trying to forget, how
they got their scars so long ago. Some yet fight, in a
war of choice that was not their doing. Do not forget
them. Do not insult them. They are your children.

William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and
international bestselling author of two books - 'War
on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You To Know' and
'The Greatest Sedition is Silence.'

[Thanks to Jim Sorrells for forwarding.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/082404A.shtml]