Ernest Hancock, Mari Connor, Kim Macias and Bily Foster from Air America Phoenix they have journeyed to Crawford TX to stand side by side with Cindy Sheehan as she waits for the President. Check in for the lastest audio provided by Dot our onsite volunteer from Crawford Texas

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Where in the world supporters are coming from















this is an audio post - click to play

posted by Bily at 12:10 AM  

1 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Greetings, Camp Casey Protestors:

Today you get a blast from the not too distant past.

In July 1990, there was an incident where US Ambassador April Glaspie told Saddam Hussein something like 'We have no opinion in your border dispute with Kuwait...Secretary Baker has ordered us to emphasize this instruction'. She essentially gave him the greenlight to go into Kuwait with that statement. He had known interests in doing so. Part of the reason was retaliation because Kuwait refused to change the prices of their own oil. Iraq (Saddam's country) had recently finished an eight year war with Iran, from 1980-88. At that time Iraq was seen as a friend because they hated Iran. Outside Teheran, anti-Americanism was pretty much nonexistent. Even in Teheran it wasn't necessarily a big deal. The war ended with no clear winner. Iraq was broke by the war (sound familiar?) and needed to fund themselves and the best way for them, naturally, was through oil prices and production.

At first, when news broke out about Saddam going into Kuwait, people were upset and didn't know where it was on the map (sound familiar?). 41 (who really was elected) sent troops into Saudi Arabia immediately. The reaction at the time was one of "I think those f*****-up Arabs ought to just kill each other". Racism, yes; true history, yes.

Soon it became not a matter (Take note) of not being against a war, but someone (for reasons unknown) came up with this 'Support the Troops'. At which point it happened is not clear, but by that time it was not a matter of being against the war, but if you didn't 'Support the Troops', you were a traitor, saddam lover and any number of horrible names. On the television news programs occasionally anti-war groups were interviewed and the Pro-War Cowards might interrupt with 'They're over there now, you might as well support 'em.'

This is the line they used and due to people wanting to belong to something, anything, they got away with their war with these playground tactics:

1. Charge all who oppose killing in this war with treason by adopting the slogan "Support the Troops". If you said you supported the troops and you wanted them to come home and be safe, that wasn't good enough. If you didn't go along with the fraud you were one of the people who undermined their morale by saying they shouldn't have to go fight and kill or get killed.

2. Justify by saying that whatever happens to any servicemember (mutilations, insanity, Gulf War Syndrome, death) that 'They signed on the dotted line'.

There was another thing about freedom of speech. The pro-war groups said that they were fighting for your freedom of speech so you needed to just shup up and let them do their job. How is fighting against someone on the other side of the world who was given permission to invade a neighboring country so he could control oil prices a threat to freedom of speech?

Their deceit worked.

All servicemembers took an oath to fight for and defend the Constitution of the United States. They didn't take an oath to die for big oil or some misguided egomania or megalomania.

One of the Black Church Leaders of some Baptist sect, if I recall, stated at first when there were rumors of a draft that he didn't agree with that and discouraged his parishioners going along with it. The next day or so he reversed himself and said that it was the duty of all people to follow the orders of their leaders. Maybe somebody got to him. Fortunately it never came to that, but you can't see the future.

These two points I hope you can remember, maybe it will be useful to you who are on the ground letting the world know that not everyone in the US has gone mad.

The people who support the war are living in a fantasy world where they think it's like a football game. Back in that time of Gulf War I the media was crowing and happily reporting the killing done by the people on the coalition side of the war on the infamous "Highway of Death". They thought it was so great killing soldiers and military convoys being destroyed as they retreated back to Iraq. Then the Kurds were encouraged by 41 to rise up against Saddam and it sounded as if help would be given in they did it. Instead 41 let the Saddam loyalists destroy the rebels and pour sulfuric acid over them. The US stood by and watched, doing nothing as the rebels were quashed. The worst thing is that they were led to believe that if they started a fight, they would get help finishing it. Instead, they were betrayed. Sick world we live in and it would be a better pursuit of time and money if we could work together to make sure there was enough food distributed, clean water and cooperation instead of competition among us all. Some who study famine have asserted that there is enough food to go around, but it doesn't always get into the hands of those who need it.

To those of you who are spending time, sacrificing to various degrees of many things, thank you and may you be encouraged and strengthened. Your contributions and solidarity are commendable, brave and very unselfish.

Keep up the good work.

5:13 AM

 

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