This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Ron Paul: "What Have We Accomplished In Iraq?"
By Ron Paul
What Have We Accomplished in Iraq?
We have been at war with Iraq for 24 years, starting with Operations Desert Shield and Storm in 1990. Shortly after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait that year, the propaganda machine began agitating for a US attack on Iraq. We all remember the appearance before Congress of a young Kuwaiti woman claiming that the Iraqis were ripping Kuwaiti babies from incubators. The woman turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US and the story was false, but it was enough to turn US opposition in favor of an attack.
This month, yet another US president – the fifth in a row – began bombing Iraq. He is also placing in US troops on the ground despite promising not to do so.
The second Iraq war in 2003 cost the US some two trillion dollars. According to estimates, more than one million deaths have occurred as a result of that war. Millions of tons of US bombs have fallen in Iraq almost steadily since 1991.
What have we accomplished? Where are we now, 24 years later? We are back where we started, at war in Iraq!
The US overthrew Saddam Hussein in the second Iraq war and put into place a puppet, Nouri al-Maliki. But after eight years, last week the US engineered a coup against Maliki to put in place yet another puppet. The US accused Maliki of misrule and divisiveness, but what really irritated the US government was his 2011 refusal to grant immunity to the thousands of US troops that Obama wanted to keep in the country.
Early this year, a radical Islamist group, ISIS, began taking over territory in Iraq, starting with Fallujah. The organization had been operating in Syria, strengthened by US support for the overthrow of the Syrian government. ISIS obtained a broad array of sophisticated US weapons in Syria, very often capturing them from other US-approved opposition groups. Some claim that lax screening criteria allowed some ISIS fighters to even participate in secret CIA training camps in Jordan and Turkey.
This month, ISIS became the target of a new US bombing campaign in Iraq. The pretext for the latest US attack was the plight of a religious minority in the Kurdish region currently under ISIS attack. The US government and media warned that up to 100,000 from this group were stranded on a mountain and could be slaughtered if the US did not intervene at once. Americans unfortunately once again fell for this propaganda and US bombs began to fall. Last week, however, it was determined that this 100,000 was actually only about 2,000 and many of them had been living on the mountain for years! They didn’t want to be rescued!
This is not to say that the plight of many of these people is not tragic, but why is it that the US government did not say a word when three out of four Christians were forced out of Iraq during the ten year US occupation? Why has the US said nothing about the Christians slaughtered by its allies in Syria? What about all the Palestinians killed in Gaza or the ethnic Russians killed in east Ukraine?
The humanitarian situation was cynically manipulated by the Obama administration -- and echoed by the US media -- to provide a reason for the president to attack Iraq again. This time it was about yet another regime change, breaking Kurdistan away from Iraq and protection of the rich oil reserves there, and acceptance of a new US military presence on the ground in the country.
President Obama has started another war in Iraq and Congress is completely silent. No declaration, no authorization, not even a debate. After 24 years we are back where we started. Isn’t it about time to re-think this failed interventionist policy? Isn’t it time to stop trusting the government and its war propaganda? Isn’t it time to leave Iraq alone?
»
- 14490 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Ralph Nader is right in that the Right and Left can and should join together on those causes that they agree on:
1) End the war in Iraq. Ron Paul's description of the idiocy of US Actions in Iraq is excellent.
2) Stop Biden and his greedy son from starting WWIII in Ukraine. Back off NATO from the war drive with Russia.
3) End the miliatarization of the police.
4) Only corporate taxes and not income or sales taxes can fund the military. If the MIC wants war, they have to pay for it.
5) End the drug war. Decriminalize all drugs.
There a likely many more areas that leftists (such as this writer) can join with members of the right. This would be a huge step forward for saving this country from certain ruin!
Nader is a very liberal everything, he needs the evidence that govt is the worst spenders in history
Bomb to hell these Isis cockroaches...it's the least we can do towards reparations to Iraq..
why when countries, peoples end up going back to the Natural boarders that held for centuries before they were broken up piece measles, The fight is correct and just keeping it Wronged.....Payback is a Bitch.......travel much.....see how the World thinks of your arrogance ......Yes. Some believe in the American Dream, it,s just so few really achieve it.
Since MANY of ISIS are CIA operatives-well, we dont want to kill our own boys do we? are you a patriot or not? /sarc
Sorry, I meant to say cocksuckers..
Sit and make a list of who got rich off the Iraq war(s).
Now sit and connect the dots to see how close and connected they are with government/executive office.
There is your answer.
The banksters are in the business of trading tax payer debt and offspring in exchange for profits.
The faster they can convert citizen offspring into coffins, and the more in-debt they can drive the public, the bigger their yacht.
All governments are just people farms, organizations designed to extract wealth and energy out of a people (cattle), you are meat, do not complain when you are treated as such unless you plan on changing it.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pusx9wx0mJs/UPVgvR3AJJI/AAAAAAAAAVI/wID6zWGDV7...
http://youtu.be/HrxX9TBj2zY?t=47s
Ron Paul.
The best federal politician in recent American history, IMO.
I know what we made Mr.Sam it is an oligarchy with a false monetary system being used for over 100 yrs to funds hunrededs of wars... not a problem here for Iraq
"WE" - the more equal woar machine cronies and onwers of the debt-based petro-$ystem - have succeeded and achieved all of our goals so far. All others, pick up the crumbs that trickle down. HAHAHAHAHA
The common enemy of the United States of America and ISIS seems to be bankers. Yo, why not go after them and see what happens.
I think that the USA is in the pocket of the Bankers and Wall Street and the CIA funds ISIS like we funded them in Afhanistan to pester the Russians 20 years ago aka Al Queda
The idiot NeoCONZ are at it again-trying to say that "They were right all along" ROFL! and that ISIS have 'found the WMD's' these idiots need to be lined up with a noose around all thier necks for crimes against humanity
Someone needs to start a "top 10 reasons to invade iraq AGAIN!" list.
What is "Mission", Ron.
https://serve.com/isis/
???
"Someone needs to start a "top 10 reasons to invade iraq AGAIN!" list."
10. Due to the economy we're still getting military recruits!
9.
What has Ron Paul accomplished? Overpass graffiti? Ad blimps?
Cool story bro!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/18/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0GI03Z20140818 Trouble trouble boil and bubble. er, double...
"A NATO official said: "There are no fighter jets under NATO command involved in operations over Libya."
re. the Senate and House:
Obaba could sacrifice babies and children to Moloch on national TV and the Dems and FreeSh*tArmy (Dem voters) would still support him. So no hope from any Dem.
The Republicans do not vigorously oppose Obaba because they fear being called "racists". No spine, no courage, except for a minority of them like Lee and Cruz. And McCain when he has been good about his meds. Not a peep from the Repub leadership as the Chamber of Commerce wants cheap labor here instead of having to go to China, etc for cheap labor, and so has bought the Repub leadership.
Iraq? Afganistan? The best comment I heard was from a soldier who had done tours there. When asked, "Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?", answered, "You mean this week?"
Face it, with Islam, there are no "good guys". The ordinary folks may just be trying to have a peaceful life, but Moslem societies are ruled by Islamic religious leaders. And said leaders rule based on their Moslem creed that demands they convert the entire world to Islam (or kill "refuseniks"). So no hope for peace, let alone rationality there.
If it wasn't for the oil, who would care?
The nation is run by psychopaths.
Psychopaths have no empathy, and will not change - no matter what. This is what capital punishment is for.
How do you stop the psychopaths that run the nation?