Category: Iraq

I know, I know. It’s Christmas Eve, can’t I for once give it rest? Can’t I just get with the season, quaff some eggnog, squeeze and shake a few gifts, put on Alvin and the Chipmunks and completely forget about Iraq for a week or so?

No. I can’t. Especially today. Just as the families and friends of the 3897 Americans in uniform who have died in Iraq can’t forget. Just as the families and friends of the other 307 “coalition” soldiers can’t forget.  Just as the families and friends of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have died because of the invasion can’t forget. Just as the families of all those Iraqis, British, Americans and others who have been maimed for life can never forget.

I could forgive. And that would be cause to shut up this Christmas Eve. Could forgive if there had been no choice except to invade Iraq and occupy it. Could forgive even if invading Iraq had resulted from a bad choice, say, a misjudgment made under stress. But neither of these was the case.  

From Wikipedia’s entry on the American Revolutionary War

Early in 1775, the British Army consisted of about 36,000 men worldwide… Additionally, over the course of the war the British hired about 30,000 soldiers from German princes, these soldiers were called “Hessians” because many of them came from Hesse-Kassel. The troops were mercenaries in the sense of professionals who were hired out by their prince. Germans made up about one-third of the British troop strength in North America.

On December 26th 1776 after being chased by the British army under Lords Howe and Cornwallis augmented by these “Hessians” led by Wilhelm von Knyphausen from Brooklyn Heights to the other side of the Delaware the fate of the Continental Army and thus the United States looked bleak.  The Continental Congress abandoned Philidephia, fleeing to Baltimore.  It was at this time Thomas Paine was inspired to write The Crisis.

The story of Washington’s re-crossing of the Delaware to successfully attack the “Hessian” garrison at Trenton is taught to every school child.

On March 31, 2004 Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed a convoy containing four American private military contractors from Blackwater USA.

The four armed contractors, Scott Helvenston, Jerko Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague, were dragged from their cars, beaten, and set ablaze. Their burned corpses were then dragged through the streets before being hung over a bridge crossing the Euphrates.

Of this incident the next day prominent blogger Markos Moulitsas notoriously said-

Every death should be on the front page (2.70 / 40)

Let the people see what war is like. This isn’t an Xbox game. There are real repercussions to Bush’s folly.

That said, I feel nothing over the death of merceneries. They aren’t in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them.

(From Corpses on the Cover by gregonthe28th.  This link directly to the comment doesn’t work for some reason.)

Now I think that this is a reasonable sentiment that any patriotic American with a knowledge of history might share.

Why bring up this old news again, two days from the 231st anniversary of the Battle of Trenton?

Warnings Unheeded On Guards In Iraq

^{Despite Shootings, Security Companies Expanded Presence}

By Steve Fainaru, Washington Post Foreign Service

Monday, December 24, 2007; A01

The U.S. government disregarded numerous warnings over the past two years about the risks of using Blackwater Worldwide and other private security firms in Iraq, expanding their presence even after a series of shooting incidents showed that the firms were operating with little regulation or oversight, according to government officials, private security firms and documents.

…

Last year, the Pentagon estimated that 20,000 hired guns worked in Iraq; the Government Accountability Office estimated 48,000.

…

The Defense Department has paid $2.7 billion for private security since 2003, according to USA Spending, a government-funded project that tracks contracting expenditures; the military said it currently employs 17 companies in Iraq under contracts worth $689.7 million. The State Department has paid $2.4 billion for private security in Iraq — including $1 billion to Blackwater — since 2003, USA Spending figures show.

…

The State Department’s reliance on Blackwater expanded dramatically in 2006, when together with the U.S. firms DynCorp and Triple Canopy it won a new, multiyear contract worth $3.6 billion. Blackwater’s share was $1.2 billion, up from $488 million, and the company more than doubled its staff, from 482 to 1,082. From January 2006 to April 2007, the State Department paid Blackwater at least $601 million in 38 transactions, according to government data.

The company developed a reputation for aggressive street tactics. Even inside the fortified Green Zone, Blackwater guards were known for running vehicles off the road and pointing their weapons at bystanders, according to several security company representatives and U.S. officials.

Based on insurance claims there are only 25 confirmed deaths of Blackwater employees in Iraq, including the four killed in Fallujah.  You might care to contrast that with the 17 Iraqis killed on September 16th alone.  Then there are the 3 Kurdish civilians in Kirkuk on February 7th of 2006.  And the three employees of the state-run media company and the driver for the Interior Ministry.

And then exactly one year ago today, on Christmas Eve 2006, a Blackwater mercenary killed the body guard of Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi while drunk at a Christmas party (the mercenary, not the guard or Vice President Abdul-Mahdi who were both presumably observant Muslims and no more likely to drink alcohol than Mitt Romney to drink tea).

Sort of makes all those embarrassing passes you made at co-workers and the butt Xeroxes at the office party seem kind of trivial, now doesn’t it?

So that makes it even at 25 apiece except I’ve hardly begun to catalog the number of Iraqis killed by trigger happy Blackwater mercenaries.

They say irony is dead and I (and Santayana) say that the problem with history is that people who don’t learn from it are doomed to repeat it.

(Cross-posted on DailyKos, where it has really stirred up the Kossacks.)

Enough is enough.

I spent 20 years of my life working to elect Democratic candidates.  Because that’s how I made my living, and because I believed it would make a difference, I’ve also given regularly to Democratic candidates over the years.

But the list of Dems who might get a check from me just got a lot shorter, after their latest cave-in on Iraq.

If they won’t defund the war, maybe it’s time to defund the Democrats.

There are 70 billion reasons to quit giving — one for every dollar they just appropriated for the Iraq war and occupation.  

Writing it that way makes it seem like too little.  This is better:  $70,000.000,000.00.  That’s how I’d use it in a campaign commercial against one of them in a Democratic primary.

No matter how you write it, it is a lot of money.

Did I mention that it’s with no strings attached?  No requirements to even begin to plan for troop withdrawal.  Nada.  Nothing.  Zip.  Zilch.

Seventy billion.

Happy Iraq Moratorium #4.

You say you’re not planning to do anything today for the Moratorium; too much shopping left to do, holiday stress, overbooked, busy, sick, exhausted and who knows what all? And, anyhow, it’s too cold to stand on the corner for a vigil, right?

And if that weren’t bad enough, you’re feeling just a teensy bit guilty about not doing anything to stop the war today?

Well, here’s the easy way out:  Buy yourself an indulgence.

Simply go to the Iraq Moratorium website and make a contribution.  A one-time donation of any amount counts as doing something today.  And the Moratorium desperately needs the dough.

If you don’t intend on doing anything on the Third Friday of coming months, either, you might want to consider a monthly pledge — sort of a plenary indulgence that will keep you in the state of grace right on through.

If you’re still motivated to do more and take some action today, it’s not too late.

Organizers ask people to do something — anything — to call for an end to the war in Iraq.  A few ideas from the website, which also lists some 90 actions planned today:

Wear an antiwar button or sticker to work or school.

Wear a black armband to let people know you mourn the overwhelming loss of life in this war.

Hang an antiwar sign in your window, or put one on your lawn.

Call a local radio talk show and explain why you want this war to end.

Write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper and let people know about the Iraq Moratorium and how they can get involved.

Call the Washington, DC, offices of your senators and your representative.

Attend one of the many vigils, pickets, rallies, and other events going on across the country.

There are no limits on what anyone can do.  Creative ideas that stir discussion or attract media attention are what’s needed.  

Too many choices?  Can’t decide?

You can always buy that indulgence.

Happy Moratorium Day to you and yours.

I am only one,

But still I am one.

I cannot do everything,

But still I can do something;

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

— Ten Times One is Ten (1870), Edward Everett Hale

This Friday is a day designated to remember the homeless, as well as a day to take some action to stop the war in Iraq.

And, yes, they are related. As the environmentalists remind us, everything is connected.

We are creating future homeless veterans every day in Iraq.

It’s got to stop.  And we’ve got to stop it.

From our friend Dennis O’Neil at the Iraq Moratorium:

This Friday, December 21, is Iraq Moratorium Day #4.

The end of December is a time of celebration. On the 22nd, the days

start getting longer once again. Friends and family gather to observe

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa. Whatever the stresses of the holiday

season, it is a time to rest, to renew ties, to be grateful for having

made it through another year.

But let us keep in our hearts those with less reason to celebrate:

Many of December’s nationwide Iraq Moratorium #4 actions, calling for an end to the war, will take on a holiday flavor as activists adapt their protests to the season.

The Iraq Moratorium, observed on the third Friday of every month, falls on Dec. 21, just four days before Christmas.  It is the fifth Christmas with U.S. troops in Iraq.

Songs of peace and Christmas caroling, with both traditional songs and new antiwar lyrics, will be part of many of the vigils and rallies.   Santa hats and the Moratorium’s trademark black armbands are recommended attire for some.  In Boston, carolers will hand out information about how to support veterans.  

A number of vigils will take their message to busy intersections, shopping districts and malls to reach out to throngs of holiday shoppers, including a silent vigil at Macy’s flagship store in Manhattan.  Mall walks, with participants wearing antiwar T-shirts, are also planned, and protestors will leaflet subway stops in New York, train stations in California, and commuters elsewhere.

In Snellville, Georgia, a display of more than 100 pairs of empty combat boots will symbolize service members from Georgia killed in Iraq,

Lawrence, Kansas will have a wishing well to collect holiday peace wishes from passersby.  In Royal Oak, Michigan activists will walk a mile through downtown with signs, banners and flags.

The Brandywine Peace Community in Valley Forge, Pa. will hold a candlelight vigil at the Lockheed Martin weapons complex.

In Texas, a car caravan from Dallas to San Antonio is planned with black ribbons, Iraq Moratorium banners and US flags on the vehicles.  

The Iraq Moratorium encourage local organizers to “do their own thing” on the third Friday of the month – but to do something, whatever it is, to end the war.  It is all a loosely-knit national grassroots effort operating under the Iraq Moratorium umbrella.

Planned events and actions are listed on the group’s website, IraqMoratorium.org, along with reports, photos and videos from the past three months.  The Moratorium began in September and is steadily growing.

“Two-thirds of the American people want this war to end,” California organizer Eric See said.  “Our challenge is to mobilize them, and the Iraq Moratorium lets them get involved at whatever level they are comfortable with, from wearing a button to taking part in an action.”

(An op ed column from Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal, in Madison.)

The fifth Christmas with U.S. troops in Iraq is upon us, with no end in sight.

It’s a time to remember those families who are missing a loved one this season, especially those who are facing the first holiday of the rest of their lives without their loved ones. It’s a time to remember and honor the troops who are away from home.

It ‘s also a time to ask: How can we stop the war? And it’s a time to do something — even if it ‘s something small — to say we want it to end.

President Bush will not be moved, despite the fact that every poll says a solid majority, perhaps two-thirds, of the American people want to end the war and bring our troops home.

The Democratic Congress, elected a year ago with a mandate to end the war, is too chicken-hearted to confront the bull-headed president. Next year’s presidential election offers precious little hope, as the leading candidates refuse to commit to having our troops out by 2013.

Opponents of the Iraq war have become the new Silent Majority. They tell the pollsters they ‘re against the war, but do nothing — perhaps because it seems fruitless.

It is understandable if they are disheartened. They spoke out in huge numbers before the war began, and were ignored. Four years of beating their heads against the wall may have worn them out.

But it’s not a time to give up. Doing nothing is not a viable option.

That’s why I have joined many who have signed on with the Iraq Moratorium, a decentralized but growing national grassroots effort that asks individuals to take personal responsibility to do something — anything — to show their opposition to the war.

The moratorium asks people to take some action, individually or collectively, on the third Friday of every month, from wearing a black armband or button to participating in a large-scale protest, or many things in between.

The group’s website, IraqMoratorium.org ,has ideas, information and reports on past and upcoming actions.

The fourth monthly Moratorium Day is Dec. 21, four days before Christmas. It is guaranteed to be ignored by the media, George Bush and the Congress.

The cynics say nothing we do matters, so why do anything?

The answer is obvious: Doing something is infinitely more likely to have an impact than doing nothing. That’s what the Iraq Moratorium is all about.

Buttons and armbands won’t stop the war by themselves. Neither will rallies and marches, or letters to the editor, or phone calls to Congress, or speeches or civil disobedience. There ‘s no single magic solution.

Those who want to end this war need to do everything to keep the flame alive until the silent majority catches fire and demands an end to this senseless war.

That’s why I will do something for Iraq Moratorium No. 4 on Dec. 21. And you?