Antiwar.com Blog

Quotation #1:

The unnatural and increasingly rapid growth of the feeble-minded and insane classes, coupled as it is with a steady restriction among the thrifty, energetic and superior stocks, constitutes a national and race danger which it is impossible to exaggerate … I feel that the source from which the stream of madness is fed should be cut off and sealed up before another year has passed.

Adolf Hitler? No, sorry, try quotation #2:

This [revolutionary] movement among the Jews is not new. From the days of Spartacus-Weishaupt to those of Karl Marx, and down to Trotsky [Russia], Bela Kun [Hungary], Rosa Luxemburg [Germany], and Emma Goldman [the United States] … this worldwide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilisation and for the reconstitution of society on the basis of arrested development, of envious malevolence, and impossible equality, has been steadily growing.

David Duke? No, far too highfalutin for him; last chance:

I do not understand the squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poison gas against uncivilised tribes.

Saddam Hussein? Oh, so sorry–those are all from neoconservative god Winston Churchill.

Raed Jarrar has a plan and it starts with a confession:

The current pattern of failures and policy changing will not lead to any real solutions, the American administration must admit that the last year was a total mess, that nothing positive will come out if the currant policy is going to continue, and that standing in a brave way and confessing this failure can give everyone a good restarting point. This apology must admit the exaggeration in the whole issue of the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and other reasons that justified the war, the Bush administration must apologize to the American and Iraqi people and compensate the thousands who were killed and injured in this unjustified war. The admission of guilt must also remember people from other countries that sent their children to be a part of the fake coalition, they must be sent back home and the U.S. government must be responsible, accountable and fix the mess it caused.

I know it is hard to confess that the last year was a disaster, and the war wasn’t justified, but this will be easier for the next administration if Bush wasn’t elected again.

Read the rest.

Today, Bremer “admitted mistakes” but he didn’t go nearly far enough and Bush and the Neocon Gang need to make a public apology for how, as David Kay said, they got nearly everything wrong about WMD in Iraq. No weaseling and equivocating. Can they, would they do it?

Probably not.

A valuable insight from a Paul Robinson piece on Iraq:

Actually, withdrawing might be the best thing we could do for them. Far from provoking civil war, the sight of us running from a combined Shia-Sunni offensive could provide Iraqis with a unifying myth of self-liberation to bind the country together and enable them to face the future with confidence.

Drop the macho pose for a minute and think about this. Conservatives and libertarians (not to mention America’s black Muslims) have long derided government hand-out programs in part because of their debilitating psychological effect on recipients. I would say the same logic applies here. Will Iraq be the first nation whose founding myth is one of subservience and humiliation? How do you expect that to turn out?

The 361 photos obtained through the Freedom of Information Act are now viewable on the Antiwar.com server. Thanks to the folks at WarBlogging.com for getting us this mirror.

And great thanks to Russ Kick of TheMemoryHole.org for getting the photos released by the Air Force under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Pentagon has slammed the Air Force for releasing the photos “in error.” They are vowing a crackdown to prevent the release of any more photos of the increasing number of war dead coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nir Rosen, who is slowly becoming the Baghdad correspondent, offers a raw glimpse into the New Iraq:

Hundreds of Iraqis were emerging from the smoke, running away in every direction from the smoking ruin. Hundreds more were just standing in shock, crying, screaming. A woman walked past me, carrying the inert body of a child. American Humvees began arriving in twos and threes, as did Iraqi police cars, and a few dozen Iraqi police and American soldiers tried to take control of the chaos. Jumpy and confused U.S. soldiers tried to turn back the crowd of Iraqis rushing to help, or just to see. “There are many dead people,” one Iraqi man shouted, running from the hotel’s wreckage and asking for aid. The soldiers swung their guns from side to side, looking for an enemy, as Iraqi police with weapons drawn tried to push back the throng. …

Continue reading “Being There”

Here’s the latest on how the “heavy weapon” turn-in is going in Fallujah.

Marine Lt. Gen. Jim Conway, in Fallujah, said only about “a pick-up full” of weapons have been turned in.

He agreed with a characterization that the weapons collected so far have been “junk,” saying the weapons are “things I wouldn’t ask my Marines to fire.”

A Marine news release listed weaponry handed over so far: Six machine guns and two SA-7 missile launchers — all broken beyond repair; one sniper rifle and a flamethrower — neither in usable condition; seven rocket-propelled grenade launchers — some inoperable; 21 RPG projectiles that were not explosive and 113 corroded and rusted mortar rounds.

I think part of the problem is that the good General is confusing the Fallujah rebels with statements like this:

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, an Army spokesman, said the handover so far “is not a serious expression of intent” and said the minimum required is “a large field full of the heavy weapons that have been used against the people in Fallujah and been used against the coalition forces.”

So, they don’t actually have weapons that were used “against the people of Fallujah,” because they are the people of Fallujah so what should they turn in? Very confusing.

Finally, we get a reporter asking the CPA spokesman Senor what on earth they’re babbling about when they say stuff like this:

Senor said Fallujans must oust “foreign fighters, drug users, former Mukhabarat, Special Republican Guard, former Fedayeen Saddam, and other serious, dangerous, violent criminals operating out of Fallujah.”

Drug users?

Asked by reporters about the drug remark, Senor said city leaders said “that many of the individuals involved with the violence are on various drugs. It is part of what they’re using to keep them up to engage in this violence at all hours.”

Oh, so that’s why the Fallujah rebels have fought the Marines to a standstill! Those cheaters are using drugs!

This stuff would be funny if it weren’t so deadly.