Famous Last Words about Iraq! I Wonder how "Impressed" Uncle Joe is Today...

...as Iraq sinks into chaos.



But we can all take comfort from the fact that the U.S., under the policies of neo-cons with bogus "weapons of mass destruction" claims, deposed Saddam Hussein to liberate Iraq. Lucky Iraqis, eh?

 Isn't it high time the U.S. recognized that the Middle East is a cauldron and has been for centuries? Here's what Pat Buchanan wrote about our intervention in Iraq last year on the 10th anniversary. Was Iraq worth it?

Of course not, but once we got in we had an obligation to those people.

And now what have they got? Civil war between battling factions, mass murders, and complete chaos. Frankly, it reminds me of Vietnam. We went in and the politicians tied the hands of the military and didn't fight to win. Then we abandoned the south and let the Communists take over.

We're pretty good at abandoning our friends. (Check out this New York Times article from 18 months ago. It's truer today than it was then.) Heck! Obama and Clinton abandoned our own American family in Benghazi; why would they hesitate to abandon anyone else? And, as Hillary says, "What difference at this point does it make anyway?" Let the Iraqis pay the price for our insane foreign policy. (Do we have a foreign policy?)

Pray for the Iraqis and the entire Middle East. Imagine what it would be like for your family if you lived in Baghdad. Pray the rosary for peace. Our Lady of Fatima is the answer. 

Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul, and Mary's Peace Plan

Read Pat Buchanan's article here.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we can't afford to continue being the world's policeman. Besides, we're not doing a very good job. As a matter of fact, we have a record of taking a bad situation and making it worse, often much worse. What happened in Iraq after we pitched out Hussein? The Christians have almost disappeared. The neo-cons said we were bringing western democracy to Iraq, but where is the evidence they want democracy? The country continues to be rocked by violence and chances are we have left them to duke it out in a civil war.

So what did we get for our billions? A more stable Middle East? Hardly. A more democratic Iraq? Not likely. But there are some results. Civilians killed: over 100,000; Military deaths: several thousand; Wounded and disabled vets? Several hundred thousand; Cost of the war? Over $800 billion and that's only a fraction of the true costs when you consider medical and disability expenses that will be ongoing for years.

So let me ask again -- how did the Iraq war benefit the taxpayers of the U.S.? Does anyone actually believe that Iraq represented a threat to the U.S.?................. Anyone?.............Anyone?............I'm waiting...........(sigh).

But have we learned anything? Watch for the big push to go after Iran next. The Neo-Cons never rest in their imperialistic goal to create a secular World Democracy. They're delusional!

Pray the rosary for peace as the Blessed Virgin asked at Fatima.  And consecrate yourself and your family to her Immaculate Heart. That is our only hope for a real and lasting peace.

What Kind of People Are We Becoming in Iraq?

I saw the video today of the Apache helicopter shooting people in the New Baghdad suburbs most of whom appeared to be unarmed. Two Reuters reporters carrying cameras were killed in the carnage. The helicopter also fired on a van that arrived to assist the wounded. Two children in the van were seriously wounded as well. Would it have made a difference if there had been a red cross on the van?

Why is it that so many so-called conservatives are such hawks? I can just hear a few defending everything that happened and shrugging her shoulders over collateral damage. Read the article posted on Pat Buchanan's website and watch the short version of the video below. The longer version is posted here. Do you think the actions were justified? Especially firing on the van?

War unleashes the worst in most people. During the Middle Ages the Church had many more holy days than today because fighting was forbidden on holy days. It seems as if today the ROEs (Rules of Engagement) are so loose that killing civilians in large numbers is inevitable and even desired.

What I personally found most horrifying about the video was the discussion in the cockpit as if this was a video game. At My-Lai Lieutenant William Calley said, "Waste them!" about the Vietnamese villagers before his men mowed down about 500 civilians. Doesn't seem attitudes have changed much. Just kill them all.

This quotation from the article illustrates the horrifying reality that can happen in war:

What is happening in Iraq seems to reflect what psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton calls “atrocity-producing situations.” He used this term first in his book “The Nazi Doctors.” In 2004, he wrote an article for The Nation, applying his insights to the Iraq War and occupation.

“Atrocity-producing situations,” Lifton wrote, occur when a power structure sets up an environment where “ordinary people, men or women no better or worse than you or I, can regularly commit atrocities…. This kind of atrocity-producing situation … surely occurs to some degrees in all wars, including World War II, our last ‘good war.’ But a counterinsurgency war in a hostile setting, especially when driven by profound ideological distortions, is particularly prone to sustained atrocity – all the more so when it becomes an occupation.”

Women in Iraq: Don't Get Pregnant or Else!

Major General Anthony Cucolo, head of Army forces in northern Iraq, issued an order in November forbidding pregnancy among military personnel under his command. In a recent telephone interview, the general said, "The message to my female soldiers is that I need you for the duration.” Military rules require that pregnant soldiers vacate a war zone within 14 days of the Army learning of the pregnancy. The general also said, according to news reports, "I can’t tell you how valuable my female soldiers are. They fly helicopters. They run satellites. They’re mechanics. They’re medics. Some of the best intelligence analysts I have happen to be female. You start losing them when you’re facing a drawdown, and you really hurt the unit.” The ban includes married couples stationed together.

The draconian nature of this measure has broad implications for women serving in Iraq. The ban doesn't include sexual actiivity so soldiers can have all the sex they want as long as they make sure they don't become or remain pregnant. The implications in terms of promoting birth control and abortion are obvious. This puts incredible pressure on the woman who becomes pregnant to have an abortion as well as giving the man, if he's a fellow soldier, a serious reason to pressure her to kill the baby. It also puts the general in the bedroom shaking his finger at the couple saying, "Uncle Sam needs you. No babies allowed."

This isn't the only example of anti-family sentiment in the Army. In November Alexis Hutchinson, a single mom, deliberately missed her deployment flight to Afghanistan because she had no one to take care of her 10-month-old son. Her mother intended to care for the boy, but cancelled and the Army refused to provide more time for an alternate placement plan demanding she put her child with protective services for foster home placement. Hutchinson did not comply and was briefly imprisoned. Her deployment is now on hold. Single parents aren't the only ones impacted by situations like this. The Army frequently deploys both parents to war zones requiring families to leave their children in the care of relatives or friends.

General Cucolo's ban on pregnancy draws one squarely back to the argument about women in the military. Why does the military even allow single moms to enlist or deploy women, other than nurses, to war zones? The answer is easy. An all volunteer military in a country that has murdered one third of its children for the last thirty years has no option. The pool of recruits is limited. But does that justify a general virtually standing in the bedroom at the foot of the bed with a condom in one hand and a disciplinary order in the other telling married couples when they can have children? You don't give up fundamental human rights when you join the Army. But this is the same anti-family military that thinks nothing of deploying both parents to a war zone and imprisoning a single mom whose childcare plan fell through.

What's next in this topsy-turvy world where individuals are seen as nothing but canon fodder and wage slaves?

Army general in Iraq issues pregnancy ban

Seven soldiers punished thus far under pregnancy ban