Home > One. Two. Three. Four---What the hell are we remembering for?
One. Two. Three. Four---What the hell are we remembering for?
by Open-Publishing - Friday 11 November 20059 comments
by Greg Felton
Do we seriously believe that our soldiers, airmen and sailors fought against Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan only to bequeath to us a world terrorized by Israel, the U.S. and Great Britain?
This Remembrance Day, I will show my respect for Canada’s war dead in a different way-I will not wear a poppy.
The poppy, John McRae’s In Flanders Fields and the commemoration of the two world wars are part of a ritual that has become a perverse anachronism. Simply put, the world that these wars engendered no longer exists, in spirit or in fact.
Remembrance Day, for the most part, commemorates victories in “good wars”-wars where we could clearly claim to be fighting on the side of right and justice. The men and women who died in these wars, gave their lives so that we today could live free from tyranny. But do we seriously believe that our soldiers, airmen and sailors fought against Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan only to bequeath to us a world terrorized by Israel, the U.S. and Great Britain?
What right do we have to indulge the conceit of our own virtue when we have become the enemy and are doing to Arabs and the Middle East what Hitler did to Jewish Europeans and Europe?
If you find this comparison a tad extreme let me show you how Bush prepared the U.S. public for the destruction of Iraq in his Jan. 28, 2003, State of the Union address:
“In this century, the ideology of power and domination has appeared again, and seeks to gain the ultimate weapons of terror. Once again, this nation and all our friends are all that stand between a world at peace, and a world of chaos and constant alarm. Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people, and the hopes of all mankind. And we accept this responsibility. (Applause.)...
“Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people. (Applause.) Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands. He’s not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them. ...
“We Americans have faith in ourselves, but not in ourselves alone. We do not know-we do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history. May He guide us now. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.”*
Now, here is an excerpt from Hitler’s Dec. 11, 1941, speech to the Reichstag that contains his reasons for invading the Soviet Union:
“The German people and its soldiers work and fight today not only for themselves and their own age, but also for many generations to come. A historical task of unique dimensions has been entrusted to us by the Creator which we are now obliged to carry out.... I have not sought war. To the contrary, I have done everything to avoid conflict. But I would forget my duty and my conscience if I were to do nothing in spite of the realization that a conflict had become unavoidable. Because I regarded Soviet Russia as a danger not only for the German Reich but for all of Europe, I decided, if possible, to give the order myself to attack a few days before the outbreak of this conflict.
A truly impressive amount of authentic material is now available which confirms that a Soviet Russian attack was intended. We are also sure about when this attack was to take place. In view of this danger, the extent of which we are perhaps only now truly aware, I can only thank the Lord God that He enlightened me in time and has given me the strength to do what must be done. Millions of German soldiers may thank Him for their lives, and all of Europe for its existence.Ӡ
Hitler and Bush are both messianic sociopaths who lied about an immanent threat to justify unleashing total war in the name of God. Canada went to war to defeat one of them, yet we are supposed to remember the other as the great saviour of the free world.
The false dichotomy between “evil” Nazis and “good” Allies allows for the abuse of Nazi imagery to justify Nazi-like aggression. Those who belong to the Israeli-U.S.- British axis use Hitler analogies to demonize Arab resistance fighters and Arab states, but this slander debases Remembrance Day and everything our veterans fought and died for.
Hitler led a great militaristic state driven by chauvinism, bigotry and expansionist zeal. No Arab state bears any resemblance to Nazi Germany. Israel and the U.S., though, are great militaristic states driven by chauvinism, bigotry and expansionist zeal.
Jews, the victims of Hitler’s genocide campaign, are waging a genocide against Palestinian Arabs. The U.S., which used to extol individual liberties and denounce torture, is now a police state that justifies torture in the name of the “war on terrorism.” Who will stand up to Isramerica?”
The cruel truth is that World War II didn’t end in 1945. The contrived “peace” of the Cold War was merely a long hibernation that ended when the Soviet Union collapsed. Hitler’s master race fascism didn’t die either; it found new ground in Israel.
It’s time to dispense with Remembrance Day until such time as we can commemorate the past without choking on our own hypocrisy. In the meantime, the motto “lest we forget” should be changed to “let us remember”:
Let us remember what fascism is and to speak out for its victims.
Let us remember that “never again” does not just apply to Jews.
Let us remember that the past has no value if its lessons are ignored.
Let us remember that the ally of yesterday can become the tyrant of today.
Let us remember that if we do nothing when great crime is being committed we are complicit.
Forum posts
11 November 2005, 17:50
FINAL SCRIPTS “THE OTHER IRAQ” TELEVISION SPOTS U.S. SPOT # 1 “THANK YOU”
VO NARRATOR: Saddam’s goal was to bury every living Kurd... He failed.
KURD CITIZENS: “Thank you.” “Thank you, America.” “Thank you.”
VO NARRATOR: The Kurds of Iraqi Kurdistan just want to say ‘thank you’... for helping us win our freedom.
KURD CITIZENS: “Thank you for democracy.” “Thank you, America.”
KURDISH HERO GIRL: “Thank you.”
U.K. SPOT # 1 “THANK YOU”
VO NARRATOR: Saddam’s goal was to bury every living Kurd... He failed.
KURD CITIZENS: “Thank you.” “Thank you, Great Britain.” “Thank you.”
VO NARRATOR: The Kurds of Iraqi Kurdistan just want to say ‘thank you’... for helping us win our freedom.
KURD CITIZENS: “Thank you, Great Britain.” “Thank you for democracy.” “Thank you.” ENDS
– Ubipetros
11 November 2005, 22:24
If you flip over the rock of American foreign
policy of the past century, this is what crawls out ...
invasions ... bombings ... overthrowing
governments ... suppressing movements
for social change ... assassinating
political leaders ... perverting
elections ... manipulating labor unions ...
manufacturing "news" ... death squads ...
torture ... biological warfare ...
depleted uranium ... drug trafficking ...
mercenaries ...
It’s not a pretty picture.
It is enough to give imperialism a bad name.
Read the full details in:
Killing Hope: US Military and CIA
Interventions Since World War II.
by William Blum
12 November 2005, 17:52
Ubipetros, wake up! read this. Or, since we are the "good" nation, this doesn’t count? Your God Bush has lowered himself (and all of us in the USA) to the same low moral standards.
US ’uses incendiary arms’ in Iraq
The US assault began exactly a year ago
Italian state TV, Rai, has broadcast a documentary accusing the US military of using white phosphorus bombs against civilians in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
Rai says this amounts to the illegal use of chemical arms, though the bombs are considered incendiary devices.
Eyewitnesses and ex-US soldiers say the weapon was used in built-up areas in the insurgent-held city.
The US military denies this, but admits using white phosphorus bombs in Iraq to illuminate battlefields.
Washington is not a signatory of an international treaty restricting the use of white phosphorus devices.
WHITE PHOSPHORUS
Spontaneously flammable chemical used for battlefield illumination
Contact with particles causes burning of skin and flesh
Use of incendiary weapons prohibited for attacking civilians (Protocol III of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons)
Protocol III not signed by US
Transmission of the documentary comes a day after the arrival of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on a five-day official visit to Italy.
It also coincides with the first anniversary of the US-led assault on Falluja, which displaced most of the city’s 300,000 population and left many of its buildings destroyed.
The documentary was shown on Rai’s rolling news channel, with a warning that the some of the footage was disturbing.
The future of the 3,000-strong Italian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq is the subject of a political tug-of-war, says the BBC’s David Willey in Rome.
’Destroyed evidence’
The documentary begins with formerly classified footage of the Americans using napalm bombs during the Vietnam war.
It then shows a series of photographs from Falluja of corpses with the flesh burnt off but clothes still intact - which it says is consistent with the effects of white phosphorus on humans.
Jeff Englehart, described as a former US soldier who served in Falluja, tells of how he heard orders for white phosphorus to be deployed over military radio - and saw the results.
"Burned bodies, burned women, burned children; white phosphorus kills indiscriminately... When it makes contact with skin, then it’s absolutely irreversible damage, burning flesh to the bone," he says.
Englehart interview
Last December, the US state department issued a denial of what it called "widespread myths" about the use of illegal weapons in Falluja.
"Phosphorus shells are not outlawed. US forces have used them very sparingly in Falluja, for illumination purposes. They were fired into the air to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters," the US statement said.
However, the Rai film also alleges that Washington has systematically attempted to destroy filmed evidence of the alleged use of white phosphorus on civilians in Falluja.
Italian public opinion has been consistently against the war and the Rai documentary can only reinforce calls for a pullout of Italian soldiers as soon as possible, our correspondent says.
Both the Italian government and opposition leaders are talking about a phased withdrawal in 2006.
President Talabani and the US say the continued presence of multi-national forces in Iraq is essential.
Peter
13 November 2005, 08:24
# 69/107 I appreciated you bringing up the chemical warfare activities in Iraq.
I think ubipetros made his post as a joke to demonstrate how bad propaganda can get, for even an elementary school child could produce a creative or do a more convincing job. But if I’m wrong its truly amazing that any rational person would accept such poorly contrived propaganda. My Grade 1 English book bears a remarkable and boring similarity to his text.
On Remembrance Day I avoid watching tv, listening to radio or reading newspapers. Instead I contemplate the trillions of dollars wasted in the production of weapons and munitions used for purposes of mass murder and incomprehensible destruction. When this first stage is temporarily in abeyance I observe the same corporate vultures return to the catastrophically devastated places they were instrumental in creating to reap windfall profits in no bid and cost plus reconstruction work. What a deal !!!
I entertain contemporary thoughts such as Lockheed Martin receiving $68 million dollars a day from the US Federal Government and wonder why they pay 7% in taxes while the average citizen pays 25%. The average citizen contribution, of $228.00 per year of federal taxes will go directly to LM. (How should the average citizen consider this compulsory payment, as a gift, as protection money or as being ripped off, what might he think of the tax differential?)
This week LM bought Sytex for $ 462 million, a prime contractor for the US military, providing interrogation services. I note LM’s overall slick pr tv propaganda. The images I see are totally different from their images depicting heroic services and visually captivating graphics.I hear the sounds of killing machines, munitions exploding, of the dying and wounded. In between the lull while machines are serviced, rearmed and soldiers rest, another branch of LM is now on the job to greet and interrogate survivors.What a deal!!
This is but one example of my reflections on November 11th: Remembering The Military Industrial Complex, and all The Merchants Of Death throughout past history.
We are witnessing the development of a new and unique type of corporation.Security Contractors, Agencies, Firms or Consultants that consist primarily of highly paid and well trained mercenaries.
Operating with few rules of engagement, they are in fact small private corporate armies. It is estimated that more than 20,000 presently operate in Iraq.
The iconic image of two charred corpses hung from a bridge in Bagdad reflects to some degree how they are perceived and singled out for special treatment.
Especially on November 11, I think about the difficulties we face in informing all those who are oblivious to such realities, who are distracted by emotion, symbolism, ignorance, fear or denial.
On this day I recommit to vigorously disseminating unpopular opinions and truths .
Every year on March 3rd I remember my Father an Army Doctor killed in the Black Forest of Germany in 1945. I think of the trauma and exhaustion he and his colleagues must have constantly endured as they struggled to treat the wounded and the dying. And then I think of something much worse, all the unnecesesary wars which have happened since since 1945.
And they made munitions in piles
and there wasn’t a war to be found
and then some nice kind people came
and conjured one out of the ground
off you go my sons
for they threatened your native sod
march for your mothers and your fathers
for your kings and for your gods
Bertold Brecht.
cheers, jt
13 November 2005, 11:01
Alas, "Ubipetros" was dead serious. He is one of those unthinking knuckleheads who looks at an American flag and gets all goose-pimply.
11 November 2005, 20:20
I am joining you, in fact I had not wore a poppy for many years ever since the vets of wars like in Vietnam had been put in the same group as WW1 and WW2.
12 November 2005, 01:25
I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer . . . be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. . . . Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Revelation 2:9-10, 3:9.
12 November 2005, 20:30
As a former veteran who served with honor during WWII I am outraged that Bush and Cheney lectured to veterans last Friday on patriotism, duty, and honor, and that Bush warhawks dared to appear with true heroes on platforms to give campaign speeches. They dishonored the veterans with their slimy propaganda, as they did with lies to the murder ot 2,000 American soldiers for what? For lies, for power grab, for oil, for military bases, for the ability to bully the entire Middle East. They have no shame, no honor, no credibility, yet they strut and smirk as though they had done something heroic for their country. They would not give one drop of blood in military service, nor that of any of their family, but have no hesitation in urging gullible young people to die for their scams. Scoundrels in business suits, presuming to teach HONOR, DUTY AND PATRIOTISM. Is that irony, or what?
13 November 2005, 20:51
former veteran said-" Is that irony or what".
Yes that’s quite Orwellian— but then "Big Brother" hath no shame in pursuing any action whatso ever in the search for new ’business ventures’.
Remember the ’savior’ of the so called (FAKE IMO) ’christian’ Fascist Cabal now at the controls isn’t the Jesus/Yeshua of NT enlightenment but rather Machiavelli.
Did any off the veterens remember to bring their barf bags or hearing deflector "bullshit protectors"???