-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 3:59 pm
Subject: Fwd: Iniquities of War, Inequities of Life
Finally, the truth is seeping out. Contrary to how Bush has tried to justify
the Iraq war in the past, he has now clumsily -- if inadvertently -- admitted
the primary purpose of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. He did this by
adding a signing statement to the defense appropriation bill, indicating that
he would *not* be bound by the law's prohibition against expending funds:
"(1) To establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing
for the permanent stationing of U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq," or
"(2) To exercise U.S. control of the oil resources of Iraq."
Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.
Attached Message
From:
Jim S. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:
Iniquities of War, Inequities of Life
Date:
Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:18:53 -0800
"Cowardice asks the question -- is it safe? Expediency asks the question -- is
it politic? Vanity asks the question -- is it popular? But conscience asks the
question -- is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it
is right."-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/013108a.html
*Iniquities of War, Inequities of Life*
By Ray McGovern
January 31, 2008
"For the oppressors, what is worthwhile is to have more -- always more -- even
at
the cost of the oppressed having less or having nothing. For them, to be is to
have and to be the class of the 'haves'."-- Paulo Freire, "Pedagogy of the
Oppressed"
Finally, the truth is seeping out. Contrary to how President George W. Bush has
tried to justify the Iraq war in the past, he has now clumsily -- if
inadvertently -- admitted that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was aimed
primarily at seizing predominant influence over its oil by establishing
permanent
(the administration favors "enduring") military bases.
He made this transparently clear by adding a signing statement to the defense
appropriation bill, indicating that he would *not* be bound by the law’s
prohibition against expending funds:
"(1) To establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing
for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq," or
"(2) To exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq."
But, if you have been asleep for the past five years, you may ask, what about
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and its ties to al-Qaeda?
A recent study by the Center for Public Integrity found that Bush made 260 false
claims about these in the two years after 9/11. He was followed closely by
then-Secretary of State Colin Powell with 254.
Nor can they any longer pretend they were deceived by faulty intelligence, since
accumulating hard evidence shows they knew exactly what they were doing.
Moreover, it has become abundantly clear that the "surge" of 30,000 troops into
Iraq was aimed -- pure and simple -- at staving off definitive defeat until Bush
and Vice President Dick Cheney are safely out of office.
Some, but not all, of those 30,000 troops are slated for withdrawal, but those
who still expect more sizable withdrawals have not been reading the tea leaves.
It is altogether likely there will still be some 150,000 U.S. troops, and even
more than that number of contractors, in Iraq a year from now.
In the administration's view, the oil-and-bases prize is well worth the
indignity
of refereeing a civil war and additional troop casualties.
That view was reflected recently in the words of a well-heeled suburbanite, who
suggested to me, "You must concede that a few G.I.s killed every week is a small
price to pay for the oil we need. Many more died in Vietnam, and there wasn't
even any oil there."
That person was unusually blunt, but I believe his thinking may be widely
shared,
at least subconsciously, by those Americans who are not directly affected by
the
war.
It is easier to assimilate and parrot the administration’s dishonesty than to
confront the reality that these are consequential lies. They bring untold death
and destruction -- and not only in Iraq, where several hundred thousand
civilians
are dead and one out of every six families has been displaced -- but to
thousands
of our fellow citizens as well.
The Human Cost
Not only have almost 4,000 American troops been killed, but another 30,000 have
been wounded in action. Based on V.A. documents obtained by Veterans for Common
Sense, nearly 264,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans already have been
treated
at V.A. hospitals, including more than 100,000 for mental health conditions.
According to a Harvard University report, V.A. is projected to spend up to $700
billion over the next 40 years for medical care and disability payments for
veterans of the two wars. Add the billions sunk every week into the quagmire of
Iraq -- it is madness.
Soon, you will have a trillion-dollar war, while our Treasury is bankrupt, our
economy is in shambles, our infrastructure crumbles, and oil company profits
soar.
For a fraction of the money wasted on an un-winnable
occupation-cum-armed-referee-duty in Iraq, premium health care could be provided
to every American, including those veterans whom we owe big time, and the almost
50 million of our brothers and sisters who lack health insurance.
The iniquities of war have widened the inequities in our society -- the gap
between the haves and the have-nots.
I am one of the haves; it is not right that I should have so disproportionate a
share of the nation's wealth and opportunity. And nowhere is this more obvious
than the access to excellent health care to which privilege has "entitled" me.
A recently discovered challenge to my health brought this home to me like a ton
of bricks.
Why Me?
The doctors said they needed more tissue from what they called the "mass" in my
lower abdomen, so they could determine what kind of cancer had set up shop
there.
There was some sense of urgency, so just days later a surgeon made room for me
at
the end of a very busy New Year's Eve.
The cutting was over; the stitches were in; the pain was slight; and there I
was,
wide awake in a comfortable hospital room, welcoming 2008 with painful
questions.
For the hundredth time I found myself asking, Why me?
But wait -- it may not be what you’re thinking.
The troubling question was why was I privileged to have prompt access to the
best
in medical care, when such is not available to most of our veterans and some 50
million sisters and brothers in America.
We are called to be concerned about our brothers and sisters. It did not seem
fair.
Why was it that I could expect excellent doctors to plan a course of action that
would shrink the grapefruit-sized cancerous mass and add still more years to my
68?
What about the others? Without access to good doctors and advanced medical
technology, would they not be likely to become aware until their cancer was the
size of a melon -- perhaps too late?
The anesthesia had worn off, and the only real discomfort came from the dangling
questions.
December had brought surprise and new awareness. I needed some quiet time to
process it all, and the turn of the year seemed appropriate. So, I turned off
the TV and scribbled what follows:
To hear I had been invaded by cancer was a bummer. But from the very start that
unwelcome surprise was softened by awareness that I was one of the lucky ones.
No, not "lucky" -- privileged.
A health insurance card lay in the white knapsack full of privilege that I carry
around with me, usually without much awareness on my part. The voice of
conscience was whispering that it is not right to be unaware.
One out of six Americans have no insurance card in their knapsack or in the
plastic bag that serves as their chest of drawers. Is that the America of which
we were once so proud?
It started with my swollen right leg. No big deal, I thought; I had simply
sprained that ankle too many times playing basketball. And besides, varicose
veins run in my family. Small wonder my blood was having trouble circulating
down that way.
But at my annual physical my doctor saw it differently. We needed to find out
what was causing the swelling. Sclerotherapy, a sophisticated, expensive
procedure seemed indicated, but would my insurance cover it? It would, so we
went ahead.
But the swelling got worse, suggesting some kind of blockage higher up. Enter
the world of multimillion-dollar technology -- C.T.-scan, P.E.T.-scan, and
pinpointing of the mass, followed quickly by a needle biopsy. All covered by
insurance.
It looked like lymphoma. But the oncologist wanted to be sure of exactly what
variety of lymphoma it was before he decided what the optimum treatment regime
might be.
Hence, the New Year's Eve surgery and extraction of tissue immediately
dispatched
to the Mayo Clinic for a thorough pathology report. See what I mean about
privileged?
Stress Tests...
My thoughts went back to the thallium stress test before the surgery. The
nurses
injected some dye and measured my heart on an accelerating treadmill to induce
stress. They encouraged me, stood ready to catch me if I fell off.
And I found myself thinking of less benign ways to induce stress -- stress
positions, sensory deprivation, and what President Bush calls "an alternative
set
of procedures."
And my thoughts went to Guantanamo and the hundreds of prisoners flown there in
shackles with no assurance they would survive the kind of deliberately induced
stress they would encounter there.
And then they strapped me onto a narrow gurney where I had to remain still for
twenty minutes while another million-dollar machine hovered low over my chest
and
took pictures. There were two technicians and nurses there to ensure my comfort
and allay my concerns.
And I thought of the gurneys of Guantanamo and the strapped-in prisoners
surrounded by other kinds of folks, including physicians and psychologists who,
in a mockery of the Hippocratic oath, do their best to inflict, not alleviate
pain.
...and Suicide
I also thought of the two dozen Guantanamo detainees who tried to starve
themselves to death two and a half years ago. They, too, were strapped onto
gurneys, while thick plastic tubes were forced through their noses to force-feed
enough nourishment to keep them alive, lest the Bush administration be
embarrassed.
On June 10, three detainees did succeed in hanging themselves, the first
successful suicides after 41attempts by some 25 individual detainees.
Those detainees' hope was for the release that comes with death; I could hope
for
healing.
The three who killed themselves incurred the wrath of Guantanamo commander, Rear
Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., who announced that the suicides were "not an act of
desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare against us."
In similar spirit, Colleen Graffy, deputy assistant secretary of state for
public
diplomacy, told the B.B.C. that the suicides "certainly (are) a good P.R. move
to
draw attention."
I wonder how Graffy would describe the actions of those U.S. veterans
experiencing such suffering that they, too, commit suicide.
A recent C.B.S. study showed that in 2005 alone, 6,256 veterans of Korea,
Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan took their own lives, many of them after
experiencing very long waiting lines for medical treatment. That is an average
of 17 suicides a day. Shame on us!
Many U.S. servicemen and women can blame their cancer on contamination from the
depleted uranium used in artillery and other shells and toxic chemicals that
have
saturated regions of Iraq, including populated areas, leading to a spurt of
cancer illnesses.
Against this background, I reflected on how fortunate I was that the cause of
the
cancer that invaded me would probably remain a mystery. I wondered how it
would
feel to be able to trace a fatal disease to the instruments of war; how it would
feel to be an Iraqi parent watching a child die of cancer, or living in fear
that
a new child might be born with serious birth defects.
No, I cannot blame my illness on someone's negligence, or cavalier disregard of
the consequences of highly toxic weaponry. But thousands of Iraqis can.
And so, too, can those U.S. troops who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq --
including in the virtually "casualty-less" Gulf War in 1991. How many Americans
are aware that, of the almost 700,000 deployed to theater during the 1991 Gulf
War, roughly one in three has sought medical care from the V.A.?
You didn't know that? Please ask yourself why.
Higher Powers, Favorite Philosophers
President Bush has recently taken to talking again about his "higher power" and
redemption.
The higher power with whom I am familiar is concerned first and foremost with
justice and then (only then) peace. In the biblical sense, peace is nothing
more
nor less than the experience of justice.
I would guess the president's higher power was appalled at the Coliseum-type
spectacle Monday evening, as the President of the United States played
cheerleader for Team America killing still more people -- to standing ovations
from his supporters in Congress.
Nor would the person President Bush has called his "favorite political
philosopher," Jesus of Nazareth, be likely to endorse the spectacle, much less
join in. He had a pretty clear take on all this.
As we reflect on the growing inequality in this country, manifested so clearly
in
whether or not one has access to quality health care, we might remind the
president of what his favorite philosopher had to say about goats -- not as in
"My Pet Goat," but goats portrayed as lining up for a serious, long-term
"alternative set of procedures."
"And the goats will turn and ask: 'Lord, when did we see you...ill...and not
attend to your needs?'
"And he will answer: 'As often as you neglected to do it for the least of these,
you neglected to do it for me'." (Matthew 25)
~~~
[Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical
Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C. He was a C.I.A. analyst for 27 years,
and is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (V.I.P.S.).]
To comment at Consortiumblog, click here:
http://consortiumblog.com/
(To make a blog comment about this or other stories, you can use your normal
e-mail address and password. Ignore the prompt for a Google account.) To
comment to us by e-mail, click here:
http://www.consortiumnews.com/contact.html
To donate so we can continue reporting and publishing stories like the one you
just read, click here:
https://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/consortiumnews/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=2043
---- Msg sent via CWNet - http://www.cwnet.com/
________________________________________________________________________
More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! -
http://webmail.aol.com
