Wakeup Call

Wakeup Call

Does this generation need its own Daniel Ellsberg to stop the war? The truth is already out there. We know that nearly every statement the Bush administration has made to muster support for this illegal and unjust war is a lie. They've repeatedly told us that: it will be a cakewalk, we can't predict the cost, the Iraqi army will capitulate, the Iraqis will welcome us with open arms, we have a bigger “coalition” than last time, Iraq is a threat, they harbor terrorists and were involved in 9/11.

All of these claims are patently false. We know this from the mountain of evidence provided before the White House gave up on diplomacy. We know this from the flood of evidence pouring in from the front lines. Even the White House is now admitting they were wrong about the duration, ease and costs of this war. The simple truth is that Iraq is not a threat, this war won't be a cakewalk, the Iraqi's don't want us there, and when we eventually do win it will be at the cost of thousands of US lives, thousands more Iraqi lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. The occupation will last for years and will incur significant casualties from a conquered but unsubdued population.

In the meantime we've severely damaged relations with every nation on Earth for years to come and undermined support for the war on terrorism— the important war to which we are still quite vulnerable and unprepared. We've ignored North Korea's nuclear weapons program and intercontinental missiles in favor of Hussein's puny short-range missiles and empty warheads. We're not adequately funding our nation's security and infrastructure necessary for responding to terrorism. We still have no idea where Bin Laden is nor how or why the 9/11 attacks occurred (thanks to Bush's continual undermining of the 9/11 commission.)

We're not even trying to pay for this new war. Congress is giving another round of massive tax cuts to the rich that we're paying for by cutting veteran's benefits (how's that for supporting our troops? I guess to the GOP we don't need to support troops after we're done using them.) The families and common folk of this nation are paying for this war with their blood and paychecks while the wealthiest Americans sip martinis on their yachts and line up for lucrative post-war government contracts. In all fairness, not all of our nation's elite are lining up— some are paying Richard Perle or hobnobbing with Dick Cheney to get their foot in the door.

When did our supposedly free press cede authority over the truth to their corporate owners and the Pentagon? Don't any prominent journalists have the cajones to tell the real story? I'm sure that if the American public had all the facts we'd do the right thing. This war is a wakeup call for our democracy. Don't let the media hit the snooze button again.