Saturday, March 05, 2005

We Shot Giuliana Sgrena

IL MANIFESTO: Life and Death

You can read this article for a perspective from a member of the "coalition of the willing." What a war we have in Iraq.

If you've consumed any of the non-mainstream press coverage of the war (NPR, Frontline, Air America), you have seen how we conduct roadblocks in Iraq. We start firing warning shots while cars are barely visible to the naked eye, and free-fire "into the engine block" when the car is minutes from arrival.

I understand that our soldiers, stationed as occupiers in a war based on lies, are loathe to die in some random car bombing. And war creates senseless death, so civilians will die unnecessarily. Our troops, most of them reservists who signed up for one weeked a month, are quick to pull the trigger.

If Bush had suggested war with Iraq to "spread freedom" as he does now, his own conservative wackos would have shouted him down. If our real agenda is "spreading freedom," we have many allies who should be next on the agenda... not least of which is an old, treasured, Bush-family friend: Saudi Arabia.

Instead, Bush shamelessly tied Iraq and 9-11 together, and enough lazy, apathetic Americans and politicians either bought it or didn't care enough to stop it. The corporate media was asleep at the switch, unquestioning and more interested in promised ratings a war would bring. And the neocons anxiously hid in the wings, nervously shifting from foot to foot, with raging hard-ons and saliva, thinking about all those fat contracts that Bush and Cheney would be awarding.

This is old news; you either already know it, or you watch Fox News. But this is context that results in American soldiers occupying Iraq with no exit strategy. This is how we brought terrorism to Iraq, encouraged and nurtured it, and now have a full-blown crisis, a mini-Afghanistan, in Iraq. And it's how we end up shooting civilians.

But never fear, right-wingers. Although she is the dumbest Nazi even born, Ann Coulter has some words of encouragement for you. I guarantee you, though she may finally be savvy enough to avoid saying it, she celebrates the shooting of Sgrena. Sgrena was critical of the war, and Ann believes anyone not agreeing with Ann should be put to death. Hell, Ann suggested we conduct another Crusade in the Middle East. So leave that guilt at home, dittoheads. The only mistake we've made here is, Ann will tell you: Sgrena is still alive.

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