Reality of Iraq, Photos and Story

Lately there have been a lot of reports that contradict the President’s assessment of the war, I published this article before, but it seems even more relevant today than it did three months ago.

Americans in dire need of perspective and a reality check

Does anyone remember in the wake of 9/11, what Osama Bin Laden said in a released video? Remember the propaganda that was spread? The strategy behind Bin Laden’s attack on the world trade center was to financially cripple America. He wanted to bankrupt our country because he believes that as a capitalist society that is where he can hurt us the most.

Sadly, it isn’t money that is hurting our country, it’s the politics that led us to war in Iraq and political manipulation and abuse of our constitution that has kept us there. There is nothing more unpatriotic than manipulating people and politics, silencing opposing opinions, and perpetuating fear among Americans to remain in control the American Presidency. This behavior is despicable and many honorable soldiers have died as a result of the morally reprehensible political strategy.

Candidates for the GOP are living in a cloud of war and associating ‘freedom’ and national security with Iraq. American identity is at stake and it is our responsibility to be honest with ourselves about where we’ll be a few years and a decade from now.

The truth about Saddam Hussein, 9/11 and the Iraq War

We’ve become accustomed to making elements of war and politics into a partisan battle. The result of our disconnect, has incited hatred and bitterness within our own country and among our citizens. We were ’sold’ on a concept, we got caught up in rhetoric, and we bit hard on ‘War on Terror’.

We riled up our troops and rallied America to kick some serious ass in Iraq…

“Lets go kill them towel headed bastards asses, yeah!” I heard this often, I understand the rage but it goes to show how little we know about history and the people who’s lives we’ve decided to take into our own hands.

Americans were angry and hostile towards anyone resembling a “a terrorist”. It doesn’t make the reasoning behind the hostility correct, but it was enough to fuel our desire to invade Iraq. .

We love our nation, we love ourselves, we love our God (or Gods or golden calves– for you heathens!). Do we ever stop to think about people who are on the other side of the war?

What are they fighting for, what do they stand for, are they just evil? Do they intend to follow the devil to hell?

Iraq is an entirely different world and most of us don’t have a clue what is really going on over there, yet we are quick to chime in with the sound-bytes that political leaders feed us.

“Saddam Hussein was a tyrant”

If that was the reason we decided to police the world, I urge you to consider the fact that President George W. Bush too is a tyrant. I’m ashamed to say my country is led by this man.

My words are harsh, but I am angry that we are at war and our freedom, privacy, political discourse and speech have been trampled upon. It is my right as an American to be angry at terrorists, but it is also my right to be angry at Bush for playing partisan games when he should be working hard to champion the will of the American people.

“We will defend freedom against “the cowardly man with no face”
President Bush after September 11th terrorist attacks

The first mistake the President made was urging America into a war with ‘a tactic’. Essentially we’ve gone to war with a form of warfare. Yet, going to war with people who use tactics like car-bombing and suicide bombing to achieve their ends seems a bit strange.

Where in the world can you find people that accept this kind of ‘fighting’?

only one place: the middle east.

Is it fair that the world has lost respect for the U.S.?

I don’t know if the animosity is entirely warranted, if you look at the facts rationally, Americans were looking for redemption for the 9/11 attack. Similarly, the hijackers sought redemption for what they perceived as oppression, power and influence thrust upon them by the United States so they attacked us (Goliath) with the biggest rock they could find. With the help of lax Airline security, they did their worst.

I would never defend the actions of the foul people who attacked us on September 11. However, Americans need to understand there is more to the story than meets the eye. It wasn’t a plot to kill Americans because we enjoy freedom. The attack happened due to hate, hostility, and anger over our country’s foreign policy. (What the CIA refers to as blow back - Ron Paul.)

The moment the U.S. decided to intervene in middle eastern affairs, we became hostile with various political factions and sectarian interests over there. As far as they were concerned we’ve been at war for decades, not years.

Just so I’m not misunderstood, let me present a photo taken in 1983. The picture below happened during the Reagan administration when the U.S. was instrumental in putting Saddam Hussein into power. (young Rumsfeld shakes his hand).

What many Americans don’t know is Osama Bin Laden was also brought to power by Ronald Reagan, so there is some merit to the arguments that Ron Paul made that got Rudy Giuliani all worked up during the second national republican primary.

Islam, is generally a peaceful religion, they say….  but so is Christianity

Christians are responsible for more atrocities in the name of God, than any other religion and yet, Islamic people are painted as the devil-worshiping terrorist pigs. Look, I’m a Christian myself, but I have a perspective that I believe many lack.

When you attack religious zealots over what you believe is “not a Christian way” then you run the risk of having to deal with people like Bin Laden. If we play their game, if we force ourselves on a resisting collective, then either the resistance will crush under pressure or it will blow back up in our faces.

These people live in a different world, one we’ll never understand.. and one I’d rather not concern myself with so lets stay out of their part of the world and let them fight their own damn wars instead of fighting us and using us as an outlet to release their inner rage.

“The resolve of our country is being tested, make no mistake, and we will show the world that we will pass this test.” –George W. Bush after 9/11

For Bush, the test was finding the enemy responsible and obliterating them from existence. It’s an irrational view fueled by pain, grief and hate stemming from the 9/11 attacks, but the feelings are real.

Osama Bin Laden is no hero, he is a religious psychopath who thinks it’s OK to kill civilians. But how is Bush different?

American Identity is in peril

Our leadership needs to answer a few questions:

1. Can and will this war end without a strategy…
2. Should we stay the course or seek alternatives?
3. Were we deliberately misled in order to go to war? 
4. Who will be accountable for the “mistakes”?

President Bush lost sight of Osama Bin Laden because fear blinded him

How many times did he use the words fear?  He wanted us to feel the panic he did.  Americans weren’t thinking “Oh my God, what can we do.. what if another terrorist attack happens in my city?”

Never mind the fact that terrorist attacks happen daily in Iraq and now that our military is there, we’re the target instead of sectarian rivals.

Crooks and Liars on Iraq War

The image above is more or less what you’d expect from a nation in the midst of a civil war.  It’s not pretty, but there is a difference between terrorists who attacked the United States and people struggling at war with one another.

Remember when… George Tenet received a Medal of Freedom for his “heroic” act in leading the war on terror? Well George Tenet slept in the comfort of his own home, on his bed, he got to see his children, loved ones and friends whenever he wanted.

Do You Feel Sorry For George Tenet? He’s at home in the U.S. with a book deal while many Americans are stuck fighting in Iraq for a cause that only ’some’ people understand. 

President Bush awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former CIA director George Tenet during a ceremony at the White House, December 14, 2004. In 2007, Tenet faces accusations of hypocrisy from former espionage officials for not speaking out earlier against the White House push to invade Iraq which he describes critically in his new memoir…

Tenet wrote that he warned Condi Rice three times, saying “they are coming…” but nothing was done to prevent 9/11. Its the “It’ll never happen to me” attitude that caught our country napping at the wheel. Today, George Tenet is an enemy of Freedom as defined by President Bush, I guess now that Bush is losing support from his own people he has to ruin whoever comes between him and his policy beliefs. George Tenet calls Bush an idiot and has told the bitter truth about the reality of Iraq:

Military Strategy? None

Think about the troops that are in Iraq, fighting a war with the objective of “kill terrorists”. That’s it, that was our strategy.

The 7 kids that died in our most recent ‘mistake’, were they part of this kill ‘terrorist’ strategy?

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…

What I’ve learned over the last 7 years from the Bush administration is that living in fear and relinquishing precious liberties are the only way to live free from fear.

Does anyone find the irony of that logic?

Have that logic with a bit of American pop culture

Unless you count the “Unamerican vs. “Murderers” debate going on in the political sphere, the conflict we have is one of self identity….. How will the story end?  Will a divided America abruptly end the story?  The 2008 Elections are just around the corner.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist… I think our country is worth fighting for and I don’t mean Iraq.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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